A worthy ending
Saturday’s closing ceremony at the Cinematheque took place before a sold-out movie theatre – so sold-out that there was a waiting list for tickets. The hostess of the evening, Hannah Wozene Kvam, guided an audience in a celebratory mood through a dignified yet unglamorous evening of awards and film clips. Sheldon Blackman provided the musical interludes, and Kate Pendry whispered in philosophising fashion about the value of seeing the world from a different angle. Finally, the closing film Ashes of Time - Redux was screened and the audience filed out into Bens Café for a fullblown concert with Blackman and band. DJ Harmony rounded off the evening at the mixing table.Waltz With Bashir won both the Audience Award and the Oslo Kino Release Award. The film will be aired at the TV channel NRK in the coming year and will receive NOK 50,000 in support for its theatrical release.
«Waltz with Bashir is a film that in a groundbreaking manner explores the traumas of war. The use of animation in telling a documentary story creates both distance and proximity to these traumas. A stunning and poetic film that we look forward to screen in our theatres.»
Films from the South’s new documentary award, Dok:Sør, went to War Child.
The FIPRESCI jury presented their choice, 24 City, written and directed by Jia Zhang Ke. The jury thought that the winning film was in an entirely different league than its competitors in the programme New Directions.
«The film’s point of departure is the Chinese state-owned factory 420, which is to be demolished to make room for a modern apartment complex. Through both fictional and real interviews with factory workers and through beautiful and telling photos from both past and present, Jia Zhang Ke slowly but surely paints a complex portrait of the old Communist China on its way to a market economy, and the societal changes this entails, for better or for worse. The film is both interesting and informative while also succeeding in moving the audience. The genre blend of documentary and fiction, and the way that the director uses this to tell the story of an entire generation, emphasise the fact that Jia Zhang Ke is among the most exciting filmmakers at present..»
The main award of the festival, The Silver Mirror, went to Hana Makhmalbaf and her film Buddha Collapsed Out of Shame. Kurosawa Kiyoshi’s Tokyo Sonata received a special mention.
Guest of Honour Raoul Peck was unfortunately unable to attend the closing ceremony and therefore received his award during the reception last weekend. Head of Programming Julie Ova read aloud Peck’s greeting to the festival and the audience, in which he thanked for the award and summed up the festival in a highly appropriate way.
«I am confident that the diversity of movies screened here, from so varied horizons, has left each one of us with an even more open and wise vision of the world.»
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This year's award winners
Ashes of Time - Redux
Waltz With Bashir
War Child
Buddha Collapsed Out of Shame
Tokyo Sonata
