BIG STAMP in International Competition

The Jury:
Ibtisam Salh Mara’ana, film director
Branko Ivanda, film director
Janko Heidl, film critic

Petition, directed by: Zhao Liang
The main prize, Big Stamp, goes to the best film in the international competition program, ‘Petition’ by Zhao Liang. Besides recording several touching destinies of ordinary people seeking justice and fighting for their beliefs, this exceptionally moving film impressively exhibits the author’s apparent dedication to work, manifested in the fact that he has been persistent in making the film for more than ten years.

Special Mentions
Last Train Home, directed by: Lixin Fan
‘Last Train Home’ by Lixin Fan is a powerful drama which depicts a part of the Chinese society using a story about a typical family of migrant workers. Particularly impressive is the fact that it not only manages to grasp the unexpectedly intimate moments of truth in the family everyday life, but, using equal skills, it manages to deal with mass scenes, such as the one in the overcrowded railway station.

Glass House, directed by: Hamid Rahmanian
‘Glass House’ is a powerful film that, in the best tradition of Iranian cinematography, uses a very emotional approach to the problem of the position of women in Iranian society. However, the true shocking quality and author’s credibility of this documentary are achieved by focusing on personal stories of a few young girls.

BIG STAMP in Regional Competition
Toto, directed by: Peter Schreiner
‘Toto’ is a film of pure contemplation. Time comes to a halt and inner voices seem to whisper into our ears. Toto is on road to his roots, living in between two cultures. Peter Schreiner has the courage to make a formally strict film about a person we would never have noticed, and takes us on an inner journey into lost identity and childhood.

Special Mentions
Guilty, directed by: Milica Đenić
‘Guilty’ shows us how, even in modest production conditions, good selection of the main protagonist and a fixed structure can contribute to making of a film which, despite its simplicity, accurately, directly and loudly tackles the problem of drug addiction, and yet, not allowing the problem to dominate over the story about a very individualized young woman’s search for identity.

LITTLE STAMP for the best film of an author of up to 30 years of age
Chasm, directed by: Wojciech Kasperski
In terms of cinematography, editing, and even direction, we find the film more impressive than the other films offered in this category. Besides its documentary quality, its artistic impression is also remarkable. With very little speech, ‘Chasm’ drags viewers into the loneliness experienced by the protagonist. Following a gold prospector who cannot trust anyone, the director skillfully presents a man to whom his obsession and nature are more important than people. Although some parts of the film may seem to be overdirected at first sight, they are, actually, well-executed ellipses. The documentarist authenticity of the film is thus unquestionable.

Special Mention
Sanya and Sparrow, directed by: Andrey Gryazev
In terms of style, the film is very different from ‘Chasm’, the winner of the main prize. Dialogues dominate Grayazev’s documentary – dialogues that are realistic and full of emotions. Two friends working in a stone-grinding plant have different characters but they become close while waiting for their pay so that they could travel home. The author has grasped their quarrels, their teasing, their crying, Sanya’s arguments with his wife over the phone. These are the situations that help us familiarize with the protagonists and that provide the emotions needed to understand the life, not only of Sanya and Sparrow, but also of thousands of such workers.

Movies That Matter Award for a film that best promotes human rights
Jury:
Zoran Pusić, representative of the Civil Committee for Human Rights
Urša Raukar Gamulin, actress and activist
Igor Galo, actor and director

Petition, directed by: Zhao Liang
‘Petition’ is a documented story about ordinary people who have suffered injustice and their years-long, non-violent fight against almighty, merciless state bureaucracy in an uninterested, opportunistic environment. The film depicts events taking place in China, but itsplot, with minor alterations, could just as well be taking place in many other parts of the world, particularly in the countries of former Yugoslavia. The director manages to make the viewers understand the complexity and multifaceted nature of the problem using a “patchwork” made of a conformist society’s intolerance against individuals who oppose injustice, the fate of such individuals who are pushed to the margins of society by their own actions, and – as an untold premonition – possible deep social changes that usually start with unpromising fight against injustice.

Special Mention
Why?, directed by: Ljubica Janković Lazarić
The film ‘Why?’ is a shocking testimony of a girl who spent five years in a mental hospital, apparently only because she was lesbian. This Croatian version of ‘One Flew over Cuckoo’s Nest’ – the only difference being the fact that ‘Why?’ is a documentary film – warns on the terrifying outcomes that can result from the combined action of primitive prejudices and bureaucratic wringer into which such prejudices can push an individual, particularly if he or she is vulnerable and exposed.