Award Winners 2010

• The Documentary:Film:Award 2010 of Bayerischer Rundfunk and Telepool GmbH (worth 10,000 EUR) goes to the film

LES ARRIVANTS / THE ARRIVALS
by Claudine Bories and Patrice Chagnard

"The jury for Dok.fest Munich’s International Competition has seen many interesting films. The decision on awarding the Documentary Film Prize 2010 of the BAYERISCHER RUNDFUNK and TELEPOOL GmbH is however unanimous.
An office in Paris – this is where the first decisions are made about the future of entire families, who have come to France to ask for asylum. The film observes these dramatic events with compassion and accuracy.
Claudine Bories and Patrice Chagnard dedicate their film LES ARRIVANTS to a socially and politically charged theme without a moral wagging finger. The film does not force the audience to take a certain position; it leaves enough room for them to draw their own conclusions. This is film as its best – it is authentic in each moment and touches the audience without being mawkish.
LES ARRIVANTS shows the benefits and the limits of rules and the difficulties in handling them – for the immigrants as well as for the social workers. Moreover the film intelligently reflects the consequences of economic and political changes in treating people who seek asylum."

The international Jury: Peter Liechti, Monika Lobkowicz, Matthias Pfeffer, Heidrun Podszus, Jean-Marie Teno

• The DOK.fest Munich Horizons Award 2010 (worth 3,000 EUR) goes to the film

EL AMBULANTE
by Eduardo de la Serna, Adriana Yurcovich and Lucas Marcheggiano

"An old man visits Argentinian villages and makes fictional films with the villagers. Doing this makes himself and others happy. 61 films have been shot on small budgets. He and his films make a great impression on the villagers and on the history of the village itself. Working together creates a special opportunity to unify the people. True to the motto: This is your story. This film is a charming parable on the art of filmmaking and the effect of storytelling, which is both an original and universal theme. The international jury loves the spirit of the film and awards the Horizons Prize, donated by Dok.fest Munich, to EL AMBULANTE by EDUARDO DE LA SERNA, LUCAS MARCHEGGIANO, ADRIANA YURCOVICH."

The international Jury: Peter Liechti, Monika Lobkowicz, Matthias Pfeffer, Heidrun Podszus, Jean-Marie Teno

• Special mention Horizons Award 2010

LA CASA/ THE HOUSE
by Tayo Cortés

"The jury feels compelled to highlight one more film from the Horizons Competition. LA CASA portrays a Colombian family on the breadline. The Film shows the difficulties in maintaining human relations and other matters of the soul while living in a surroundings which are characterized by aggression and despair. In a sensitive combination of closeness and distance Tayo Cortes uncovers not only social and human despair, but also the protagonists’ success in achieving tender and loving relationships, despite challenging conditions. We are impressed by the story itself as well as the method of storytelling."

The international Jury: Peter Liechti, Monika Lobkowicz, Matthias Pfeffer, Heidrun Podszus, Jean-Marie Teno

• The BLM Film Award 2010 of the Bavarian Authority for Private Broadcasting (worth 5,000 EUR) goes to

SERGEJ IN THE URNE
by Boris Hars-Tschachotin

"The film begins with apparent familiarity, like an established sub-genre: the search for distant relatives. However the research produces unexpected results: the great-grandfather was, in many ways, a highly active intellectual, who not only fathered many children, but also engaged in resistance against the Nazis, especially in the early days, and later fought against the atom bomb. In his search for the great-grandfather’s sons who are spread all over the continent, Hars-Tschachotin happens to create no less than a mirror for European history. He does this through remarkably original, experimental and playful methods and means. He interrogates archive material, provokes a dialogue with photos and moving images, and with re-enactments he pulls the rug from beneath our feet. He doesn’t hesitate to put himself on the screen, in order to intensify further the amounts of reflection and doubt. Like a modern novel the film consists of a multitude of narrative methods that this fearless director uses with a great deal of sovereignty while he in a likeable manner also increasingly loses control of the story."

The German Jury: Ingo Fliess, Amelie von Kienlin, Katrin Rothe, Martin Thau and Gerhard Wissner Ventura

• Special Mention BLM Film Award 2010 for

HOFFENHEIM - DAS LEBEN IS KEIN HEIMSPIEL
by Frank Marten Pfeiffer & Rouven Rech

"A film about the building of a brand – not a sport film but a business film. Football is, of course, the core business but it plays only a supporting role. Instead the film shows the management and the fans, who are tasked with ensuring the credibility of the club. They are represented by the Chairman of the Supporters Association, a sympathetic dude from Baden, and the Director appointed by Mäzen Hopp, an attentive manager who used to have a successful business selling kids toys. The film follows these two protagonists from the Regionalliga Süd, to the 2^nd and 1^st Bundesliga, on level ground and with great filmic consistency and countless affectionate observations."

The German Jury: Ingo Fliess, Amelie von Kienlin, Katrin Rothe, Martin Thau and Gerhard Wissner Ventura

• The FFF-Documentary-Talent Award of the FilmFernsehFonds Bayern (worth 5,000 EUR) is shared between

WAS WIRD BLEIBEN
by Knut Karger and

ON THE OTHER SIDE OF LIFE
by Stefanie Brockhaus & Andy Wolff

WAS WIRD BLEIBEN:
by Knut Karger

"Knut Karger has succeeded in creating a thoughtful essay film, which nonetheless displays a good sense of humour and asks questions that will continue to work on the audience. We can see the affecting and arduous efforts of humanity to make headway against their fugacity. Without particular expectation to fabricate or to serve, the film follows the contours of the speculative reasons behind every truth. The scientific sobriety with which the questions are handled here and the visual clarity that leaves us with a few traces of what will no longer exist in the future make this theme, which could make you desperate, a “divertimento of vanitas.”"

ON THE OTHER SIDE OF LIFE:
by Stefanie Brockhaus & Andy Wolff

"Two young filmmakers, who have obviously overcome extreme circumstances, follow, with great documentary restraint, the path of two young people accused of murder in a township of South Africa – an area that is in a shocking state where murder is an everyday reality. The intimate insights into people and social structures are impressive, for example the depiction of the brutal hierarchy in the prison: everyone is a General; the newcomers are Nobodies. The filmmakers show courage in their own aesthetic and deny themselves extenuation and emotionalisation."

The German Jury: Ingo Fliess, Amelie von Kienlin, Katrin Rothe, Martin Thau and Gerhard Wissner Ventura

• The mimikri media Talent Prize (in-kind award for the subtitling of the next film) goes to

LA ISLA - ARCHIVES OF A TRAGEDY
by Uli Stelzner

"The victims of injustice deserve recognition and a voice. The perpetrators of injustice and the facts must be named. To find a way to involve the audience and to take responsibility for this is a great art. The mimikri media Talent Prize jury has unanimously decided to award the prize to the film LA ISLA by Uli Stelzner. This film succeeds in informing the audience about the events in Guatemala. But moreover we are emotionally moved by the gentle contact with the protagonists and the skilful handling of the archive material. Uli Stelzer has achieved something special: he has transformed pain and sadness into timeless poetry."