Report IFFS Jury, Don Quijote Award at TIFF 2022

https://www.tiff.no/en/news/prisvinnere-pa-tiff-2022?fbclid=IwAR1TLG4A6pxRhJpx_MskZE598RKF3lO6ah67WMiaW5A9AtYmO81hOzMOtng

January, 17th to 23rd 2022, Latitude: 69° 38′ 56.04″ N
Considered to be the northernmost city in the world with a population above 50,000, Tromsø held one important film festival every January, since 1991.

After one year without FICC Jury due to pandemic, the Festival invited again the International Federation of Film Societies to be present and award the Don Quijote to one of the films in the main programme.

The film festivals around the world faced, again, challenging times due to the pandemic situation. Although the mass vaccination in some regions, uncertainty was the most heard word in the last months, a true nightmare for programmers and organizations that have a special task that is promoting audience gatherings around films. Tromsø IFF was not an exception. Contention measures put in place by governments largely reduced the number of audiences and, in the extreme case of Rotterdam IFF lead to cancelations.

There was a shadow on top of any preparations but Lisa Hoe and her team believed in the possibility and complying with Norwegian Government rules brought on the northern lights of Cinema.

This year’s jury was composed by João Paulo Macedo (Portugal), Peter Stuart Robinson (Norway) and Holger Twele (Germany) and watched the main programme of the festival. A challenging selection of films, in Norwegian première, was presented to the different juries.

The Jury watched all the films from the Main programme, in the venues together with the audience. Despite the reduced capacity imposed by the local authorities, people attended the screenings in considerable numbers and shared the cinema experience with enthusiasm and joy.
The main competition included:

Bergman Island, Mia Hansen-Løve, France, Belgium, 2021
Brighton 4th, Levan Koguashvili, Georgia, Russia, Bulgaria, Monaco, 2021
Good Mother, Hafsia Herzi, France, 2021
Miracle, Bogdan George Apetri, Romania, Czech Republic, 2021
Mr Bachmann and his class, Maria Speth, Germany, 2021 (DOC)
One Second, Zhang Yimou, China, 2021
Parallel Mothers, Pedro Almodóvar, Spain, 2021
Red Rocket, Sean Baker, USA, 2021
The Souvenir: Part II, Joanna Hogg, UK, 2021
Zero Fucks Given, Emmanuel Marre, Julie Lecoustre, France, Belgium, 2021
MEDUSA, Anita Rocha da Silveira, Brazil 2021

The discussions around the films were part of the Jury daily routine which allowed deep analysis and became an interesting experience. At the end, it was easy to arrive to unanimous decisions regarding the Don Quijote Award to MIRACLE, Romania, Czech Republic 2021, by Director Bogdan George Apetri and a Special Mention to the documentary film MR. BACHMAN AND HIS CLASS, Germany 2021, by Maria Speth.

The jurys statement:
The FICC jury awards its Don Quixote prize to a film that plays with the audience’s expectations in an impressive, sometimes even oppressive way. What is really happening and what is merely in the minds of the viewers? Could it even be supernatural? This is a chambre-play-like road movie about guilt and revenge, in which the landscape and the social environment nevertheless play an important role, and a young woman becomes the victim of a still male-dominated society. The award goes to the film MIRACLE by Bogdan George Apetri.
The winner film: MIRACLE, Romania, Czech Republic 2021.
Director: Bogdan George Apetri

The FICC Special Mention goes to a timely film. These are days of doubts, fears and suspicions, especially of those who seem different to us. This is a film that gives courage and hope to us and the next generation. More specifically, it shows how, with the right social skills and historical awareness, it’s possible to overcome cultural and religious differences. Above all, there is a need for role models and educators who have the welfare of the children they protect at heart, as shown in the documentary MR BACHMANN AND HIS CLASS by Maria Speth.
Special mention goes to: MR. BACHMAN AND HIS CLASS, Germany 2021.
Director: Maria Speth

THE FESTIVAL PROFILE

Tromsø International Film Festival had its 32nd edition marked by the shadow of pandemic constraints which conditioned the organization up to the last minutes. Organizing the festival in these conditions was a race against the clock; however the setup was correctly done by the Festival Director Lisa Hoe and a great team festival team.
Taking a good profit for the venues and locations, the TIFF organizes some events that stand out as peculiar and great experiences. Specially appreciated the Verdensteatret Cinematheque – a beautiful 1916 cinema fully operated by TIFF and Tromso Film Society along the year – this cinema is the oldest one still in activity. Comfortable and well equipped brings the mix of a special place to celebrate Cinema. Other two cinemas Aurora kino Fokus,
KulturHuset, modern cultural venues were the stage for screenings and closing ceremony. The Festival also had screenings at Studentsamfunnet Driv (Driv Students House), that hold also the Seminar of NFK-filmklubber the Norwegian Federation of Film Societies and the 60th anniversary party of the Tromso Film Society.

The full Festival programme included other options:

FOCUS NORWAY – offering a selection of national films world premieres
HORIZONS – a wide selection of world films
EAST SIDE STORIES – feature films and documentaries from Russia and the ex-Soviet republics.
THE PRICE OF INEQUALITY – In 2015, TIFF featured a side program about inequality, and since then, this topic has only become more actual, which is why we have chosen to take up this thematic again 7 years later.
RETROSPECTIVE: MIA HANSEN-LØVE
FILMS FROM THE NORTH – Films from the North presents the best of new films made in Sápmi, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Canada and Iceland
CRITICS’ WEEK – a selection of Norwegian Association of Film Critics
OVERDRIVE – not the usual festival films
SPECIAL SCREENINGS – This section offers a whole range of unique film experiences, like film concerts in the closed-down swimming pool Alfheim and screenings at our outdoor Winter Cinema on Stortorget.
TIFF UNG – a program for youth aged 15-19 years selected by the Festival and students from TVIBIT and Breivang High school
TIFF DIGITAL – For the 2nd time in TIFF’s history, a selection of films will be available to watch online.
OFF SCREEN – arts, talks, critic’s seminar, performing arts and conferences.
WINTER CINEMA – Stortorget, on ice open air cinema is the iconic, coolest and biggest venue for physical screenings at the festival on.
In spite of the pandemic constraints the Festival team presented a full programme of activities. Always complying with the authorities, the main venues of the festival had most of the times the full capacity possible, with people showing its appreciation and interest in the proposals. Considering this, the Festival fully achieved the objective of allowing a safe experience to all participants. We remain with the expectation of a comeback for a full festival experience.

We believe that Tromsø International Film Festival is a rich experience to share with all colleagues with a strong recommendation to live if you have the chance.

Holer Twele, Peter Stuart Robinson, João Paulo Macedo.