IFFR 2015 Hivos Tiger Awards winners with Festival director Rutger Wolfson. Photo by Felix Kalkman.

44th International Film Festival Rotterdam
21 January - 1 February 2015

Rotterdam, 30 January 2015
 

Hivos Tiger Awards, Fipresci Award, Big Screen Award, KNF Award, NETPAC Award, MovieZone IFFR Award handed out to 8 different filmmakers from across the world

Hosted by Festival director Rutger Wolfson, the IFFR 2015 Awards Ceremony was held this evening at IFFR’s main venue de Doelen. The three winners of the Hivos Tiger Award Competition prize were LA OBRA DEL SIGLO by Carlos M. Quintela, VANISHING POINT by Jakrawal Nilthamrong and VIDEOPHILIA (AND OTHER VIRAL SYNDROMES) by Juan Daniel F. Molero. Each was awarded a cash prize of €15,000. The FIPRESCI Award went to Isabelle Tollenaere for BATTLES. The Big Screen Award of €10,000 went to SECOND COMING by Debbie Tucker. The cash prize will go towards the costs of distribution in Benelux. The KNF Award went to Michael Noer for KEY HOUSE MIRROR. The NETPAC Award for the best Asian feature film screening in Official Selection went to POET ON A BUSINESS TRIP by Ju Anqi. The MovieZone IFFR Award chosen by the young people's MovieZone jury from EYE went to James Napier Robertson for THE DARK HORSE. 

On announcing the awards Wolfson commented “There were so many intriguing, thought provoking, passionate films in our selection this year. We hoped and expected much healthy discussion around the line-up and we weren’t disappointed. Congratulations to the winners and just as importantly congratulations to all films in our Official Selection this year. We are proud to boast you were part IFFR 2015.”

HIVOS TIGER AWARDS 
The Hivos Tiger Awards Competition jury was comprised of writer, director and producer Rolf de Heer, producer Ichiyama Shozo, director Maja Miloš, art photographer and director of Spanish Film Archive Jose Maria Prado Garcia and actress Johanna ter Steege. On making their decision they commented “In dealing with both living and broken dreams, LA OBRA DEL SIGLO (Carlos M. Quintela) confronts themes both intimate and epic. With its wonderful performances, with its humour and poignancy and boldness of execution, the film resonates with history.” “VANISHING POINT (Jakrawal Nilthamrong) combines and juxtaposes image and sound to create a powerful style. It grapples with ideas and story-telling in a provoking and different way, making it a visceral cinematic experience.” “Juan Daniel F. Molero’s VIDEOPHILIA (AND OTHER VIRAL SYNDROMES) explores the relationship between the young and the rapidly changing world with unflinching truth. Its anarchy and visual flair reflect its subject matter. The film dives deep into disturbing, necessary waters.”

FIPRESCI AWARD
The IFFR 2015 FIPRESCI Award is given to a filmmaker with a World Premiere in the Bright Future section by a jury comprised of five international journalists and members of the FIPRESCI  (International Federation of Film Critics). Jury president Roger Koza, (Argentina), Caroline Weidner (Germany), Anita Piotrowska (Poland), Tara Judah (Australia) and Jan Pieter Ekker (The Netherlands) on making their decision commented “BATTLES is a unique visual essay that blends elements of fiction with a more traditionally structural documentary style. Each chapter builds upon the last without being prescriptive. The ambiguity, universality and performance elements lend the film a powerful, lasting effect. Tollenaere's original examination of the traces of war and persistence of the past create a striking imaginary landscape. With its piercing sound design and impressive cinematography, the film offers a fresh perspective on the naturalisation of the culture of war. A strong debut, Tollenaere's well-crafted mise-en-scene displays a clear talent for cinematic language and she definitely has a bright future.” The three winners of the Hivos Tiger Awards 2015 were supported by the Hubert Bals Fund.

BIG SCREEN AWARD
Nominated for this prize are ten films with no Benelux distributor confirmed at the time of its selection to screen at the Festival, the winner is selected by an audience jury comprised of experienced and passionate film enthusiasts. Ten fresh discoveries from the festival's main sections Spectrum and Bright Future compete for both The Big Screen Award and the KNF Jury Prize. On selecting Debbie Tucker for SECOND COMING the jury commented “SECOND COMING shows the daily life of a middle-class Jamaican family in London, focusing on life as it is. Daily happiness combined with daily problems. The viewer gets the feeling that he is part of the family, the way of life of this family is recognizable to everyone. The house is furnished in a way we see around us, with details of their lifestyle we recognize from our own family life when we were kids. The universal happy family life contradicts with the specific and intense problems unfolding. We feel the loneliness of the main character, as well as being hopeful in the situation she as a person is in. The film makes a strong appearance with its terrific actors and nuanced script, giving the viewer characters who are convincing and sensible. The director takes the time to empathize and connect with a family both near and distant to us. The clever dramaturgy highlights specific aspects of the story while leaving other aspects in the dark, which results in an exciting storyline.” 

KNF AWARD
The KNF (Circle of Dutch Film Journalists) Award is chosen from the same shortlist of ten films as the Big Screen Award. The KNF jury comprised of Maarten van der Meer (TrosKompas), Jim Pedd (Film Totaal), Sasja Koetsier (De Filmkrant), Sven Gerrets (Cinema.nl) and Nico van den Berg (MovieScene), singled out Michael Noer for KEY HOUSE MIRROR. On making their decision they commented “Dealing with life, love and loss the winning film has moved the entire jury. The director’s original use of perspective puts the viewer directly in the blind spot of the protagonist. Painful yet sincere, the alternation of hope and tragedy becomes tangible through natural acting and a loose style of filming. Combined, this brings the pungent and current subject matter grippingly close. As the Dutch film critics jury we strongly believe that, with the support of NCP Holland, the film deserves a place in Dutch theatres.” KNF has been awarding IFFR selections since 1983, when Jim Jarmusch took the first KNF Award for STRANGER THAN PARADISE.

NETPAC AWARD 
The NETPAC Award went to Ju Anqi’s POET ON A BUSINESS trip, selected by a jury comprised of three Asia cinema specialists Zakir Raju (filmmaker and critic from Bangladesh), Zhang Yaxuan (producer and film critic from China), Zhang Wenjie (programmer and Festival director from Singapore) chosen by the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema. The film was singled out “For being a courageous film about a journey of discovery, constructed through poetry and the physical body, its honesty imbues it with a poignant humanity. With its unique hybrid of documentary and fiction, it shows us a China that has since changed drastically offering a sharp commentary on the present geopolitical situation.”

MOVIEZONE IFFR AWARD
The MovieZone Jury allows youngsters to experience a film festival from the inside and gives them the chance to form their own opinion about films. The MovieZone Jury is an initiative of EYE Film Institute and IFFR and is made possible by financial support of NVB, NVF and the ministry of Education, Culture and Science. This year’s jury included five young people between the ages of 16 and 20 years old who watched fifteen films. The MovieZone IFFR Jury chose THE DARK HORSE by James Napier Robertson as the winner commenting “The film stood out for its strong script and emotional acting. THE DARK HORSE is not just a film to amuse the audience, but it also carries a philosophical message, which can be applied to all of us. A beautiful movie filled with very strong emotional scenes, a great script and intensely engaged actors.  This combined with a humoristic swing and good choice of music makes this movie a great experience for everyone. Our advice: just go and watch it yourself, then you’ll understand!” 

International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) offers a high quality line-up of carefully selected fiction and documentary feature films, short films and media art. The festival's Tiger Awards Competitions, Bright Future, Spectrum and Limelight sections contain new work by auteurs from all over the world including many World Premieres. In the Signals section, IFFR presents retrospectives and themed programmes. IFFR actively supports new and adventurous filmmaking talent through numerous industry initiatives including co-production market CineMart, its Hubert Bals Fund and Rotterdam Lab.