Studio Virc

Our Special Mention goes to a film that opens insights into the most intimate moments of a family consisting of women from different generations who disagree about the traditions of their Roma community. While the main character longs for freedom and independence, her grandmothers fears the disintegration of tradition. It was especially interesting to us that all actors are actually part of the community and partly improvised their own stories. While this feature film shows some dark and oppressive situations in the young girl’s life, we quickly realise that she also finds a lot of love and understanding in her family. We think that this is important, because otherwise it would simply be a confirmation of outsiders’ pre-existing prejudices.

Film odlikuje spretna uporaba tehnik opazovalnega dokumentarca, s katerimi režiserka več let spremlja junakinjo, ko polna ljubezni in predanosti premaguje težave iz preteklosti in sedanjosti, od spolne zlorabe v otroštvu do težav materinstva in poklicnih krivic, ki jih doživlja kot evangeličanska duhovnica. Poglobljeno pokaže, kako se duhovnica Jana pogumno upre družbenim pričakovanjem in cerkvenim dogmam, gre proti toku in se postopoma prelevi v junakinjo, ki se postavi zase.

Italian: Per il suo valore politico e documentario: il cortometraggio fornisce uno sguardo autentico sul passato attraverso le preziose e toccanti testimonianze raccolte, evidenziando come le sfumature della s3ssu@lità e le aspettative di genere si siano evolute nel corso degli anni.

Slovene: To je zelo ustvarjalen, duhovit in močan film o tem, kako so babice doživljale spolno življenje. Je zanimiv, z inteligentno in duhovito animacijo in ima močan in osredotočen konec.

To a film which handles the themes womanhood and memory with bold choices of filmmaking. It’s hard to believe that just two generations ago women’s identity was so ignored. And it still is: that’s why it’s a film which needs to be seen.

The International Jury wanted to award the Grand Prix to a story with powerful symbolic imagery depicting the unspoken and brutal truth of domestic violence against women.

Award for the powerful use of animation as a storytelling tool and the courageous and sensible way of approaching a meaningful and challenging theme.”

An universally valid story that goes beyond all frontiers. The simplicity and the drawings – almost childish – perfectly narrates the subject.

Engaged, daring, provocative, highly imaginative, Granny’s Sexual Life is immaculate in interweaving different elements of expression. The outstandingly crafted animations form a counterpoint to the brutal testimonies, opening a dark abyss of civil-historical dimensions. Balancing the weight of the topic with matter-of-fact voiceover delivery and tragic-comic animation language, the film creates a new space in which the experience of this centuries old tale becomes visceral. A potent combination that stays in the body and the mind. Simply excellent!”

In the film, four women reminisce about old times when they were young. Reality is reduced to a handful of lines, similarly to Viktor Kubal's work, and perfect animation depicts the bleak life of women at the beginning of the twentieth century. The theme of the film is still relevant in many countries.

This provocative animated film confronts deeply rooted taboo topics in a shape of a trustful conversation between different generations. The past is current. Some forms of torture can still be discreet and ignored, and while the story takes place in Slovenia, it makes us pay attention to what’s going on in the contemporary world. The director found a loving witty way to discuss serious issues. The Special Mention in the Confrontations Competition goes to Granny’s Sexual Life by Émilie Pigeard and Urška Djukić.

BALKAN STARS $10 000 (The co-production award in this category is presented by Al Jazeera Documentary Channel): Woman of God by Maja Prettner, Iza Strehar, Boštjan Virc

Italian: Per la potente e singolare esplorazione, attraverso la forma del documentario animato, del rapporto con la sessualità delle donne slovene nella prima metà del Novecento. Le due registe, con un esuberante, esplosivo e fecondo uso dell’animazione, rievocano la costrizione, l’abuso, l’impossibilità di vivere una sessualità indipendente dagli uomini. La nonna del titolo diventa la nonna di tutte e di tutti, in un processo di simbolizzazione dei rapporti di potere del maschile sul femminile con cui tutti noi dobbiamo confrontarci.

We decided to give the prize for the BEST BALKAN FILM to a short movie that impressed all of us in the jury with its explosive power: “GRANNY’S SEXUAL LIFE” by URŠKA DJUKIĆ, ÉMILIE PIGEARD. We want to reward the courage of the authors to give back a voice to the women that didn’t have it in the past. All this through a provocative artwork that sews together images, animations, and sounds, into a crescendo of emotions for a greater political demand. It invites all of us to reflect on the privilege of narration, self-representation, and liberty in the arts, denied to a lot of people, in the past, and in some cases, also today.

Open (Online) Jury Award in the section Vedoanimato

Curator's Choice Award

Best Action Sequence

Sopostavljanje zgodovinske realnosti in fikcije v nagrajenem filmu povezuje fragmente v pomensko celoto in ustvarja novo resnico, hkrati pa problematizira naše sprejemanje te iste resnice in vsake druge, ki nam jo servirajo mediji. Z uporabo dokumentarne forme nas sili v razmislek o nekritičnem podeljevanju kredibilnosti in avtentičnosti vsebinam zgolj na podlagi oblike diskurza, ki ga asociiramo z resnico.