Hanna Sirniö, text
Jonne Renvall, pictures
Tytti Pohjola and Elina Eskola, translation
International jury: Anke Lindenkamp from Germany, Lulu Ratna from Indonesia, Jean-Gabriel Périot from France, Nakai Matema from Zimbabwe and Pertti Paltila from Finland.
The level of the International Competition was very high, especially in the fiction category and the range of subjects was particularly varied this year. The jury, consisting of five people, spent nine hours choosing the winners. Grand Prix, the main prize of the International Competition went to the German Michaela Kezele for Milan (2006). According to the jury, the film depicts realistically the effects of war on the everyday life in the home front. A record-setting number of 3,000 films from 80 different countries were sent to the competition and the final entrants came from 36 countries.
Antoine Boutet was surprised to win the prize for best documentary.
The winner for best documentary was Zone of Initial Dilution (2006) by the French Antoine Boutet. The jury found the style of the film to be very disciplined and measured, which emphasizes the inhumanity of constructing a power plant on the river Yangtze. Boutet is not yet able to comment on the importance of the prize because he has little experience of documentary competitions.
– I didn’t expect to be awarded, but I’m happy that I won, says Boutet.
Of the 400 films that were sent, 42 made it to the the Finnish Competition. In the short film category the first prize went to Zaida Bergroth’s film Heavy Metal (2006), a touching story of a teenage boy growing up overnight in the Finnish countryside.
Lasse Naukkarinen and Raija-Liisa Seilo, members of the Finnish competition jury, considered the level of both long documentaries and short films very high. In the short film categories as many as eight prizes and eight honourable mentions were given out.
Anne Lantto was a first-timer in the jury.
– We would’ve liked to give out a lot more prizes. Selecting the winners was a laborious and lengthy process, says Seilo.
Finnish long documents in particular were praised by the jury. Documentaries with over 30 minutes’ runtime are not included in the International Competition which is a short film category.
– The absence of Finnish documentaries in the International Competition gives a slightly distorted impression of the category, Naukkarinen comments.
The only Sámi film in the Finnish Competition, Sápmelaš (The Sámi, 2006), was awarded for best filming. Sámi director Anne Lantto who was also in the jury, believes that the prize has a positive effect on the public image of Sámi film.
Karin Hannula and Aleksi Kremsu appreciated the originality of the films.
– Tampere Film Festival is one of the biggest film festivals in Finland, says Lantto.
According to the youth jury, the choice was very difficult because the films were all unique. The prize went to Jalmari Helander for Fakiiri (The Fakir, 2006). The jury says that the film is a bewildering and powerful story facing the viewer with life’s limitedness.
– Fakiiri rose above the others because it is dark and individual, says Aleksi Kremsu.
Updated 12 March 2007 16:21
