WINNER OF THE EUROPEAN FILM ACADEMY DOCUMENTARY 2005 - Prix Arte

European Film Academy Documentary 2005 - Prix Arte goes to the film
UN DRAGON DANS LES EAUX PURES DU CAUCASE (The Pipeline Next Door)
by Nino Kirtadzé, France

In co-operation with the European cultural channel Arte, the European Film Academy annually honours an outstanding achievement in documentary filmmaking. This year's jury was made up of Noemi Schory from Israel (producer/ director/ director of Sam Spiegel Film and Television School Jerusalem), Jacques Laurent from Belgium (producer) and Alessandro Signetto from Italy (president of Associazione Documentaristi Italiani). They spent the weekend from October 21 to 23 watching the eleven nominated documentaries at Berlin's Arsenal cinema and decided on the winner.

The jury explained the decision as follows:

In THE PIPELINE NEXT DOOR filmmaker Nino Kirtadzé tells with masterly cinematography a modern fable, the tragic-comic tale of a small village threatened by global player BP. She weaves a complex, very humane tapestry of the villagers, their despair, weaknesses, greed, juxtaposing it with the large landscape cut open by the ever advancing dragon-like pipeline. The film treats the clash of cultures, the uneven battle between a global enterprise and the villagers with complexity, without black and white romanticism- it touches without stooping for sentimentality.

The award will be presented during the Awards Ceremony at the Arena in Berlin on Saturday, December 3.