DOCUMENTARY FEATURE AWARDS
BEST FEATURE DOCUMENTARY & BEST DIRECTOR
CHAR…THE NO MAN’S ISLAND
Director: Sourav Sarangi
2012 | India
97 min
Meet Rubel, a 14-year old boy that smuggles rice from India to Bangladesh by crossing the Ganga river that serves as the international border. After the Ganga river eroded his home on mainland India, Rubel and his family moved to Char, a fragile island that formed within the large river where they settle on a barren field controlled by border police. Though Rubel dreams of going to his old school in India, reality forces him to continue smuggling items to Bandladesh despite the conditions. Through monsoons clouds that brings flood water, Rubel fights on – ‘Char may disappear but we won’t, smiles the boy.
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY & BEST SOUND EDITING
THE WELL – WATER VOICES FROM ETHIOPIA
Directors: Paulo Barberi & Riccardo Russo
2011 | Ethiopia | Italy
56 min
This is the Horn of Africa, a region of the world that is periodically shocked by terrible droughts. Each year to prepare for the coming drought, Borana herders will gather their livestock and walk for days to the dry Oromia Lowlands (South of Ethiopia) to retrieve water from their secular astonishing “singing” wells. With its strong photography and its epic narration, the film follows their life during a whole dry season, showing a unique traditional water management system that regulates what water is available as the property and right of everyone, without any money being exchanged.
BEST EDITING
ELEMENTAL
Directors: Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee & Gayatri Roshan
2012 | USA | India | Australia | Canada
93 min
Elemental tells the story of three individuals united by their deep connection with nature and driven to confront some of the most pressing ecological challenges of our time.
DOCUMENTARY SHORT AWARDS
BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY
WOMEN OF FUKUSHIMA
Director: Paul Johannessen
2012 | Japan
27 min
Six Japanese women offer brutally honest views on the state of the clean-up, the cover-ups and untruths since the nuclear accident in Fukushima, and how it has affected their lives, homes and families.
BEST DIRECTOR
BASEBALL IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA
Directors: David Darg & Bryn Mooser
2012 | Haiti | Canada
28 min
Baseball in the Time of Cholera is a powerful insight into the tragedy and scandal of Haiti’s Cholera Epidemic through the eyes of a young baseball player.
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
MACHINE MAN
Directors: Roser Corella & Alfonso Moral
2011 | Bangladesh | Spain
15 min
A reflection on modernity and global development, Men as Machines, explores the use of human physical force to perform work in the XXI century. The film takes place in the capital of Bangladesh where the “machine men” execute extreme physical labor in place of machines, becoming part of the driving force behind the city.
BEST EDITING
E-WASTELAND
Director: David Fedele
2012 | Ghana | Australia
20 min
Have you ever wondered what happens to your electronics at the end of their life? Almost 50 million tons of e-waste (electronic waste) are generated worldwide every year. A large volume of second-hand and condemned electronic goods arrive in developing countries from the “developed” world, with a significant quantity arriving as e-waste, exported illegally as “second hand goods”. Without dialogue or narration, E-WASTELAND presents a visual portrait of unregulated e-waste recycling in Ghana, West Africa, where electronics are not seen for what they once were, but rather for what they have become.
BEST SOUND EDITING
DANCING THE REVOLUTION
Directors: Vaida Blazyte & Mara Cavalli
2011 | Tanzania
20 min
A glance into lives of “colourless” African artists, Albino Revolution Cultural Troupe in Tanzania, fighting against stigmatization and killings of people with albinism through performing arts.In recent years Tanzania became infamous for a number of tragic cases of albino murders which were caused by a false belief that certain body parts of albinos transmit magical powers. Since then many albino support groups have been established to fight prejudice and rejection from society. Albino Revolution Cultural Troupe, which was formed in 2000, organize musical and theatre performances at conferences, cultural events and campaigns against stigmatization and killings of albinos.
JURY PRIZE – DOCUMENTARY CATEGORY
TRANSPARENCY (sponsored by DEEDA Productions)
BONSAI PEOPLE – THE VISION OF MUHAMMAD YUNUS
Director: Holly Mosher
2011 | Bangladesh | USA
78 min
Unleashing the power of the free market to eliminate poverty, hunger, and inequality, Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, did his part to fight poverty by micro-lending $27 to 42 people. This initial act, which has now grown to 8 million women and 8 billion dollars, has been replicated around the world. But he didn’t stop there… whenever he sees a problem he starts a business, creating a mix between business and social work, which he’s coined “social business” demonstrating to the world that complex problems sometimes do have simple answers. It’s not about hand outs, it’s about hand ups.
STYLISTIC ACHIEVEMENT (sponsored by G-Technology)
CHAR…THE NO MAN’S LAND
Director: Sourav Sarangi
2012 | India
97 min
Meet Rubel, a 14-year old boy that smuggles rice from India to Bangladesh by crossing the Ganga river that serves as the international border. After the Ganga river eroded his home on mainland India, Rubel and his family moved to Char, a fragile island that formed within the large river where they settle on a barren field controlled by border police. Though Rubel dreams of going to his old school in India, reality forces him to continue smuggling items to Bandladesh despite the conditions. Through monsoons clouds that brings flood water, Rubel fights on – ‘Char may disappear but we won’t, smiles the boy.
LENS TO ACTION (sponsored by CineCause)
ELEMENTAL
Directors: Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee & Gayatri Roshan
2012 | USA | INDIA | AUSTRALIA | CANADA
93 min
Elemental tells the story of three individuals united by their deep connection with nature and driven to confront some of the most pressing ecological challenges of our time.
ETHOS
OUT OF THE DARKNESS
Director: Stefano Levi
2011 | Nepal | Germany
82 min
The Nepalese surgeon Dr. Sanduk Ruit, his American colleague Dr. Geoff Tabin, and their team of local assistants hike with an entire hospital on porter’s backs to the very remote highlands of Nepal’s Northeast. For 25 USD and 5 min per operation, they restore sight to cataract blinded people in the most remote and inaccessible areas on Earth. Out of the darkness is an emotional documentary that shows how this simple and inexpensive surgical procedure is not only life-changing for those affected by cataract, but also influences the economic structure of these remote communities which are dependent on the well being of the family.
JURY PRIZE – IMPACT VIDEO CATEGORY
INNOVATION
FUTURE LEARNING
Director: Eli A. Kaufman
2012 | USA
13 min
Students are the future, but what’s the future for students? To arm them with the relevant, timeless skills for our rapidly changing world, we need to revolutionize what it means to learn. Education innovators like Dr. Sugata Mitra (professor at MIT), Sal Khan (founder of Khan Academy) and Dr. Catherine Lucey (Vice Dean of Education at UCSF), are redefining how we engage young minds for a creatively and technologically-advanced future.
IMPACT
FAMILIA AYARA
Directors: Gonzalo Escuder & Nacho Gomez
2013 | Spain | Columbia
19 min
Don Popo’s life changes when he discovers hip-hop at the age of eleven. From that very moment, hip-hop became the tool that allowed him to dream of a more just and beautiful world: one that is full of wonderful possibilities.Through his Foundation, Familia Ayara, he tries to revive that same experience in as many kids as possible, always using hip-hop as a tool for positive action.
SPECIAL JURY MENTIONS – DOCUMENTARY CATEGORY
FUTURE OF HOPE (Iceland | UK | 2010 | Director: Henry Bateman)
WHEN THE BOYS RETURN (Palestine | Norway 2012 | Director: Tone Andersen)
REPORTERO (Mexico | US | 2012 | Director: Bernado Ruiz)
(R)ESISTENZA (Netherlands | Italy | 2011| Director: Francesco Cavaliere)
SPECIAL MENTIONS – IMPACT VIDEO CATEGORY
UNSEEN (UK | 2012 |Director: Upneet Kaur-Nagpal)
FIRST PERIOD: A FILM ON GREEN SCHOOLS (India | 2011 | Director: Aditi Banerjee)
THIS FILM IS ABOUT (Brazil | 2012 | Director: Eduardo Hunter Moura)
INTERNATIONAL AID HURTS PALESTINIAN CIVIL SOCIETY (Palestine | 2012 | Directors: Rama Mari & Dalia Association)