FICTION COMPETITION

FICTION COMPETITION JURY
Jean-Marc Barr, USA
Katarína Krnáčová, Slovakia
Bojan Vuletić, Serbia

Prize for the Best Fiction Film
Men Don´t Cry / Muškarci ne plaču
(directed by Alen Drljević, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Croatia, Germany, 2017)

The theme of this year’s edition of the Bratislava International Film Festival was the art of film acting. The jury was unanimous in its choice for Best Film with a film where the ensemble of actors displayed such an intense emotional and inspirational level of acting in dealing with a tragic historical event. We also found it important to emphasize that the film’s main message of reconciliation was so necessary in today’s current political climate.

Prize for the Best Director
Soleen Yusef for House without Roof / Haus ohne Dach
(Germany, Irak, Qatar, 2016)

Best Director goes to a new talent, a woman, who had the courage to explore with a sincere sensitivity the men in a very patriarchal society, who also chose to film in a dangerous part of the world, in a nation that has yet to be created, Kurdistan, and who displayed a masterful quality of directing considering that this was her film school graduation debut.

Prize for the Best Actress

Laetitia Dosch for Montparnasse Bienvenüe / Jeune Femme

(directed by Léonor Serraille, France, Belgium, 2017)

This actress carried the whole film, from start to finish, with such an honest, authentic and rich performance as she portrayed a woman who in weakness eventually found a strength that inspired all of us in the jury.

Prize for the Best Actor

Navid Mohammadzadeh for No Date, No Signature / Bedoune Tarikh, Bedoune Emza

(directed by Vahid Jalilvand, Iran, 2017)

Best Actor goes to a gentleman who displayed such an outstanding range of emotions, who was honest and convincing at every moment of his character’s evolution in dealing with a man who is condemned to tragedy.

FIPRESCI JURY

Martin Černický, Slovakia
Aksel Kielland, Norway
Evgeny Mayzel, Russia

FIPRESCI Jury Award

No Date, No Signature / Bedoune Tarikh, Bedoune Emza

(directed by Vahid Jalilvand, Iran, 2017)

A convincing example of Iranian cinema dedicated to the ethical labyrinths of modern life.

STUDENT JURY

Michaela Kostková, Barbora Nemčeková and Veronika Suchá from Slovakia

Student Jury Award

Montparnasse Bienvenüe / Jeune Femme

(directed by Léonor Serraille, France, Belgium, 2017)

An authentic and creatively rendered look at the viability of a modern young woman. A convincingly mastered range of her frame of mind during her struggle with herself and the world, performed by Laetitia Dosch.

 

DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION JURY

Vincet Dieutre, France Petra Seliškar, Slovenia Ondrej Starinský, Slovakia

Prize for the Best Documentary Film Meteors / Meteorlar

(directed by Gürcan Keltek, Netherland, Turkey, 2017)

For his strong, sharp, poetic and humanist risk taken. For the intense fragility of his cinematographic choices

SHORTS COMPETITION

SHORT COMPETITION JURY

András Cséfalvay, Slovakia Diana Dąbrowska, Poland Alexei Dmitriev, Russia

Prize for the Best Short Film Islands / Les Iles

(directed by Yann Gonzalez, France, 2017)

For inviting the audience to an aesthetic orgy where weirdness meets acceptance.

Special Mention in Shorts Competition Amateurs / Amateurs

(directed by Naveen Padmanabha, India, 2016)

A funny space serenade that makes us feel connected in this disconnected world.

 

Awards of the 19th Bratislava IFF 2017

The Bratislava IFF Award for Artistic Excellence in World Cinema was bestowed upon one of the most distinctive European actors and a unique director Jean-Marc Barr.

The commemorative tile on the Film Walk of Fame for 2017 was dedicated to acclaimed Slovak actress Božidara Turzonovová for his lifelong contribution to Slovak cinema.

 

 

The MIT Press publishes a journal called “Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments”. Its Volume 19, Issue 4 of August 2010 featured a pioneering, scientific article by Nonny de la Peña and her 7 co-authors entitled “Immersive Journalism: Immersive Virtual Reality for the First-Person Experience of News”. Nicknamed “The Godmother of Virtual Reality” by Engadget, Forbes, and The Guardian, she is recognized as having created the genre of immersive journalism. The paper’s abstract beautifully exposes its potential, e.g. by saying “The sense of presence… affords the participants access to the sights and sounds, and possibly feelings and emotions, that accompany the news.”

More recently, in 2017, the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford, UK, published a report entitled “VR for News: The New Reality?”, written by Zillah Watson, who worked at BBC Research and Development, where she led the editorial development of VR experimentation for several years. This comprehensive report is undoubtedly the most complete account of the state of immersive journalism at the time of this writing.

On Wed 13 Dec pm, Stereopsia’s Professional Conference (PCON) will lead you through the world of immersive journalism of today through short stand-alone presentations followed by a discussion panel involving 6 experts: Dominik Baumann (BLICK, Ringier AG, Switzerland), Martin Heller (WELT, Germany), Martin Jönsson (Dagens Nyheter, Sweden), Kay Meseberg (ARTE, France), Sebastian Pfotenhauer (BLICK, Ringier AG, Switzerland), Thomas Seymat (Euronews, France). As for all other PCON speakers, you’ll find their photos and biographies on the PCON webpage.

During our combing of the world to build this session, we were amazed by the enthusiasm of all those we contacted for our initiative to cover “immersive journalism” in the new “World Immersion Forum” taking place in Brussels, which has one of the largest press corps in the world.