Editor

Stranded wins VPRO Joris Ivens Award 2007
This evening in Pakhuis de Zwijger, during the closing ceremony of the twentieth IDFA, the winners of the various competition programmes were announced. Among the winners are Stranded (France) by Gonzalo Arijon, which took the VPRO Joris Ivens Award, and To See If I'm Smiling (Israel) by Tamar Yarom, which won both the Silver Wolf and the Volkskrant Audience Award.

VPRO Joris Ivens Competition Award
The VPRO Joris Ivens Award was presented to Gonzalo Arijon for Stranded (France). In Stranded, the survivors of a plane crash in 1972 relate how they were able to survive more than ten weeks in the inhospitable Andes mountains. Jury chair Diane Weyerman praised the cinematic qualities of the film, which the jury found both “emotional and poetic”. Stranded was pitched at the Forum in 2005. The VPRO Joris Ivens Award consists of a sculpture and € 12,500.

The jury of the Joris Ivens Competition also awarded a Special Jury Prize to Kim Longinotto for Hold Me Tight, Let Me Go, which focuses on the day-to-day life at a school for dysfunctional children. The jury praised Longinotto’s “remarkably disciplined aestheticism.”

Silver Wolf Award
Tamar Yarom received the Silver Wolf Award for To See If I'm Smiling (Israel), about the experiences of young women in the Israeli army in the territories occupied by Israel. Jury chair Rudy Buttignol, through Cees van Ede, described the film as “a brave and powerful testimony to the corrosive effect of power.” The Silver Wolf consists of € 10,000, made available by the NPS.

The winner of the Silver Cub Competition, for documentaries up to 30 minutes, was also announced. The Tailor (Spain) by Oscar Pérez, according to the jury “a bittersweet comedy on immigration”, won the Silver Cub Award, worth € 5,000.

First Appearance Award
Robert Nugent received the First Appearance Award for End of the Rainbow (France, Australia), in which a multinational in Guinea, West Africa, hires the local population to operate a gold mine. Jury chair Arik Bernstein, described the film as a “critical and multi-facetted story of globalisation.”
The First Appearance Award consists of € 5,000.

IDFA Student Award
The very first IDFA Student Award was presented by Heddy Honigmann to Elina Hirvonen for Paradise – Three Journeys in This World (Finland), in which the stories, the dreams and the (dis)illusionment of illegal African immigrants is central. The IDFA Student Award consists of € 2,500. A special mention was given by the jury to One Day by Ditto Haarlov-Johnsen.

The Volkskrant Audience Award
This year, audiences cast more than 32,000 votes for the films shown during IDFA. The most votes were cast for To See If I'm Smiling (Israel) by Tamar Yarom. The Volkskrant Audience Award consists of € 5,000, and was made possible with support from Stichting Alter Ego.

Movies that Matter Human Rights Award
The Movies that Matter Human Rights Award, for the best documentary on human rights and human dignity, went to Jerusalem is Proud to Present (Israel) by Nitzan Gilady. The film is about the organisation of the Pride Parade for homosexuals in Jerusalem. Jury chair Micha X. Peled presented a stipend prize of € 2,500 to Nitzan Gilady.

The Dictator Hunter by Dutch director Klaartje Quirijns was given a special mention by the jury. The film portrays the commitment and determination of a Human Rights Watch lawyer fighting to have former President Habré of Chad brought to trial.

Moviesquad DOC U! Award
The five-strong DOC U! youth jury recognised Planet B-Boy (USA) by Benson Lee with the
Moviesquad DOC U! Award. In the film, five B-Boys prepare for the most prestigious dance competition in the field of breakdance, The Battle of the Year.

The Stimuleringsfonds Documentary Award 2007
Elizabeth Rocha Salgado won the Stimuleringsfonds Documentary Award 2007 for her film plan Zintuigen, deuren naar de ziel [Senses, Doors of the Soul]. In Zintuigen, deuren naar de ziel, Elizabeth Rocha Salgado goes in search of the cause of obsessions. According to the jury, the plan expressed “a clear and well thought-out vision on the part of the maker, in which form and content were brought together in an exciting manner and in which an everyday topic was presented in an almost mysterious way.”

The award, a sum of € 125,000, is made available each year by the Stimuleringsfonds Nederlandse Culturele Omroepproducties and is intended for the realisation of the best film plan, developed as part of the IDFA Documentary Workshop.

Special Award for Hupert Sauper
Festival director Ally Derks present an award of € 2,500 to Hupert Sauper, director of Darwin’s Nightmare from 2004. To mark the twentieth year of the festival’s existence, the public chose the twenty best documentaries from the past twenty years, whereby Darwin’s Nightmare was the undisputed public favourite. The film shows how the international trade in fish and weapons literally consumes the poor local population by Lake Victoria.