Editor

54th TRENTO FILMFESTIVAL, THE GOLD GENTIAN TO THE ENGLISH FILM “CONFLICT TIGER”
The English director Sasha Snow, with his film Conflict Tiger, is the winner of the 54th TrentoFilmfestival – mountain exploration adventure.
The International Jury awarded the most prestigious prize, the Gold Gentian - Gran Premio Città di Trento – from among the fifty films in competition, to a film that “creates suspense and intense emotions”, set in the forests of Eastern Russia. This film, between fiction and documentary, is able to highlight the dilemma of conservation for the animals and of man’s necessity for survival in the challenging and tough environment of Siberia, on the border between Russia and China.
The Gold Gentian for the best film on exploration and adventure was awarded to the film Jenseits von Samarkand by the German directors Thomas Wartmann and Lisa Eder. It is the love story, told through the eyes of a young Uzbek woman, who reveals her values and aspirations, her fears and her doubts and at the same time shows the life of a community where a love marriage is every woman’s overriding dream.
The Gold Gentian of Italian Alpine Club (CAI) for the best film on alpinism was not awarded.

Three Silver Gentians were awarded to films of three different categories.
For the best artistic technical contribution, to the French film Tameksaout by director Ivan Boccara, that deals with a Moroccan family in their every day life while challenging our concept of time.
For the best television production to the Swiss director Christian Frei’s The Giant Buddhas, a news report on the loss of a world heritage, the giant carved Buddhas of the Bamiyan valley in Afghanistan. Thanks to complex and thorough research, the director combines an international event with personal stories of people who were involved in it.
For the best short film to Hotel Infinity by the director Amanda Boyle (former production assistant of films such as The Grand Lebowski, Notting Hill, Billy Elliot). This film is a metaphor of endless expansion and its consequences, where the author wonders about sustainability in an ever expanding world of limited resources and confines of space.

The Jury’s Special Prize was awarded to the film Zdroj – The source by Martin Mareček. It is a documented and courageous denouncement, through a risky accumulation of film footage, in the controlled area of BP Azerbaijani Oil Pipeline, with which the author uncovers the human and environmental costs of the oil business in Azerbajian.

The Audience’s Prize was awarded to the film Dreaming Lhasa (India – Great Britain), by the Tibetan directors Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam. The actor Richard Gere is one of the producers of this film.

All the awarded films and those that were previewed in Trento for Italy, will soon be screened by TrentoFilmfestival during special evenings organised in several Italian towns.