Marek Šulík’s “Ms. President” was named the winner of the Opus Bonum section at Ji.hlava Documentary Festival Saturday.
The film, which also opened the festival, was one of the buzziest titles this year, provoking discussions about upcoming U.S. elections and zooming onto the fifth president of Slovakia, Zuzana Čaputová – the first woman ever to be elected to that role. However, after completing her term, she did not seek reelection. It was produced by Barbara Janišová Feglová.
The director told Variety that constantly forced to face “an aggressively misogynistic atmosphere in society, Čaputová was really tired after five years.” Now, it seems that “the populists have the upper hand.”
“It really feels like something out of a bad movie that could be called ‘The Return of the Bad Guys,’” he said.
Šulík’s win marked an end of an especially lucky night for Slovak and Czech documentaries, with Czech director Filip Remunda picking up two awards for “Happiness to All,” about a nuclear physicist-turned-bricklayer, and Slovakia’s Daniela Meressa Rusnoková dominating the First Lights section with “Grey Zone.”
The title refers to babies born long before term and therefore not legally considered as full human beings. Apart from the main prize, her film was also noticed for sound design by Richard Fűlek. She also got the Visegrad Award.
“World Between Us” by Marie Dvořáková also triumphed, with the director awarded for cinematography as well, while “Dajori,” directed by Martin Páv and Nicolas Kourek, picked up the Audience Award. Finally, Tomáš Hlaváček was named the winner of Czech Joy with his take on the debilitating housing crisis, “The Impossibility.” Earlier this week, Hlaváček opened up about the many struggles of making participatory documentaries.
“For me, making a doc is a kind of social work. Even when we know we won’t change the world, [having] this community is empowering,” he noted.
Moving further away from the region, “The Sky Above Zenica” by Zlatko Pranjic and Nanna Frank Møller won Testimonies with its story of an environmental organization trying to stop a factory from polluting neighboring lands, even as politicians stand idly by. Activists were also at the heart of Pamela Hogan’s crowd-pleaser “The Day Iceland Stood Still” – which got a special mention for the best film on politics – about Icelandic women who went on a one-day strike in the 1970s, paralysing the whole country and forcing their bosses (and partners) to appreciate their work.
“Part of it had to do with: ‘Let’s make the world know that these ordinary women did this extraordinary thing.’ Women’s stories aren’t usually told, but it can empower all of us,” she told Variety.
Malaysian filmmaker Tsai Ming-liang walked away with the contribution to world cinema award. Earlier that day, he discussed his “Walker” series with the audience, which might actually be far from over.
“The other day here at Ji.hlava, I came out of the restaurant. It was so misty and foggy – beautiful. I hope one day I can shoot another ‘Walker’ here,” he laughed.
He opened up about his slow-walking main character, inspired by a unique historical figure: Xuanzang, the Tang dynasty monk, who was later featured in Chinese classic “Journey to the West.”
“This monk was quite adventurous. He decided to walk from China all the way to India. His story had a lot of influence on me – he’s my favorite [historical] character. If you watch these 10 films, you will notice references to some of the characters he had to encounter [in the book].”
Anong Houngheuangsy, who stars alongside Lee Kang-sheng, also joined him at the event.
“I met him in 2016, in Thailand. I was intrigued by his life, he used to be a migrant worker, and I filmed him. Now, I think I can’t let him go back to his normal work. He’s very talented and I’ll make more films about him,” said Tsai Ming-liang, before addressing the audience.
“And you? How do you feel about watching a movie without a story?”
You can find the full list of awards here:
Opus Bonum
Main Award
“Ms. President,” dir. Marek Šulík (Slovakia, Czech Republic)
Best Central and Eastern European Documentary
“Happiness to All,” Filip Remunda (Czech Republic, Netherlands, France)
Award for Original Approach
“Cleaning & Cleansing,” Thomas Fürhapter (Austria)
Best Editing
“The Goodbye,” dir. Toia Bonino (Argentina)
Best Cinematography
“In Praise of Shadows,” dir. Catherine Martin (Canada)
“Students Jury Award
“The Goodbye”
First Lights
Main Award
“Grey Zone,” dir. Daniela Meressa Rusnoková (Slovakia)
Special Mention
“Becoming Outline,” dir. Miriam Bajtala (Austria)
Best Sound Design
Richard Fűlek for “Grey Zone”
Best Cinematography
“World Between Us,” dir. Marie Dvořáková (Czech Republic, Slovakia)
Award for Original Approach
“Me + You,” dir. Zohra Benhammou, Romy Mana (Belgium)
Visegrad Award
Main Award
“Grey Zone”
Special Mention
“Comrades,” Joanna Janikowska (Poland, Italy)
Testimonies
Main Award
“The Sky Above Zenica,” dir. Zlatko Pranjic, Nanna Frank Møller (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denmark)
Special Mention for Best Film on Politics
“The Day Iceland Stood Still,” dir. Pamela Hogan (Iceland, United States)
Special Mention for Best Film on Knowledge
“Pistachio Wars,” dir. Yasha Levine, Rowan Wernham (New Zealand, United States)
Special Mention for Best Film on Nature
“Every Little Thing,” dir. Sally Aitken (Australia)
Fascinations
Main Award
“Saigon, Kosovo,” dir. Tin Dirdamal, Runway AI (Kosovo, Vietnam, United States)
Special mention I.
“Dinosaur’s Egg,” dir. Sruthil Mathew (India)
Special mention II.
“space_invaders.exe,” dir. Malaz Usta (Netherlands, Syria)
Exprmntl.cz
Main Award
“Hopeful Visitors and Grieving Guides: Notes from the Travel Notebook of a Dark Tourist,” dir. Jiří Žák, Matěj Pavlík (Czech Republic)
Special mention I.
“Ruvja and Morena,” dir. Julie Slovenčíková (Czech Republic)
Special Mention II.
“Pyramid,” dir. Matěj Smetana (Czech Republic)
Audience Award
“Dajori,” dir. Martin Páv, Nicolas Kourek (Czech Republic)
Czech Joy
Main Award
“The Impossibility,” dir. Tomáš Hlaváček (Czech Republic)
Special Mention
“Happiness to All”
Best Editing
“Echt – The Art of Jan Merta,” dir. Tomáš Merta (Czech Republic)
Best Sound Design
“once i got in, it was hard to get out,” dir. Nora Štrbová (Czech Republic)
Best Cinematography
“Fakir,” Roman Ďuriš (Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland)
Award for Original Approach
“Dajori”
Students Jury Award
“World Between Us”
Contribution to World Cinema Award
Tsai Ming-liang
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