Awards

Cinepolitica 2014 Winners

The Cinepolitica Trophy was awarded to the documentary The Square, directed by Jehane Noujaim, which the Jury appreciated for "on the one hand, the ability to describe adequately the typical dynamics of a social mutation that involves the relationship between collective movements and institutions, and, on the other hand, the ability to interpret the evolution of a transformation still not fully completed, but desirable, through the innocent and uncompromising perspective of a young protagonist".

The Award for Best Political Film was given to Kleber Mendonça Filho's Neighbouring Sounds, for "a unique approach to a complex socio-political reality, treated with a restrained expression and meticulous camera, editing and sound design. And for the use of urban landscape, both interior and exterior, as a mirror to the character's inner world".

The Special Mention of the Jury was handed out to Paradjanov, an unconventional biopic about the filmmaker Sergei Paradjanov, directed by Serge Avedikian and Olena Fetisova, "for the political depths and the distinguished artistic qualities of the film, for the usage of several varied elements of cinematic expression, for the evocation of an exemplary and iconic character, who created masterpieces despite all the vicissitudes of the totalitarian period, thus proving that the resistance through culture can defeat the system’s opposition".

The Cinepolitica Trophy went to Rock the Casbah, an Israel / France co-production directed by Yariv Horowitz, an intense drama about young soldiers trying to find support in the chaos that surrounds them, in the Occupied Territories in 1989. The jury appreciated the "realistic presentation of Israeli-Palestinian relations in the Gaza Strip, which stresses the drama of individual and collective attitudes and the absurdity of the conflict in this area".

 

The Best Political Film Award went to Camp 14: Total Control Zone (Germany / South Korea), directed by Marc Wiese, an enthralling documentary about a young man born and raised in a camp for political prisoners in North Korea. The jury gave the distinction "for realism and the patience in entering the mental world of a young man born in a North Korean concentration camp".

 

The Gatekeepers, directed by Dror Moreh (Israel / France / Germany / Belgium), was awarded a Special Mention "for the very particular nature of the testimonies about the fight against terrorism", according to the jury. Nominated for an Oscar this year, the documentary brings in front of the camera, for the first time, six of the leaders of Shin Bet, Israel's internal security agency. They make unprecedented confessions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The Cinepolitica Trophy, granted to the most accomplished film in the competition, went to Post Mortem, "for the subtle yet hard-hitting way director Pablo Larrain revisits Chile’s painful recent past, capturing the trauma of a nation through the lives of two apolitical people forced to confront the hijacking of their country. The film boldly depicts the violence of the Pinochet coup and its shocking disrespect for life and death".

 

The Award for the Best Political Film went to All That Glitters, by Tomas Kudrna, "for treating in a humorous and humane way a very current environmental issue that threatens the whole planet. Though the action takes place in Kyrgyzstan, its themes reflect global politics as a whole".

 

The Jury's Special Mention went to The Boy Who Was a King, by Andrei Paounov, "a beautifully made documentary delving into the mysterious charm of royalty on a people transitioning from monarchy to communism and the indefinable chaos of the post-Soviet period".