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The Minister of Culture of the Czech Republic Award for the Best Film:
Arna's Children, directed by Juliano Mer Khamis and Danniel Danniel, Israel, Netherlands, Palestine
When you sign on as a juror for the One World International Human Rights Film Festival you know you will be meeting people whose rights are being wronged and whose stories are deeply moving. But few of us jurors expected to meet a Jewish woman leading a dozen or so Palestinian children in the Jenin Refugee Camp to express their hatred of Jews, in an effort to transform that hatred into to a positive force. Nor that these children would develop as very human characters in a tragedy rocking Israel and the Middle East and sweeping a number of them to their deaths. But that is the power of passionate film making and of the program the majority of the jury has voted as Best Film of this Festival. It is entitled "Arna's Children."
But the jury is made up of passionate film makers who, confronted with choices among 15 films, can hardly be expected to make unanimous decisions. In fact, a minority of this jury, two out of five, voted to name another program as Best Film, "S-21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine", about recollections of the horrors of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. Here is their statement:
We have two , "VOTUM SEPARATUM" in our jury. Marcel Lozinski and Patricio Guzman believe that the film, "Arna's Children",does not qualify the actions of its heros as terrorism and that it does not show who is the one behind the scene pushing these children toward suicide. With this negation the film makers are simplifying things and putting in question their responsibility towards the conflict between Israel and Palestine in a moment when the entire world is being threatened by terrorism."
In spite of the difference of opinion on these matters, the jury was able to unite in a unanimous decision on its other major award, naming as best director Rithy Panh of "S-21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine."
Harnessing the power of film to human rights is no easy thing and the jury would like to thank the organizers for giving us a role in a most human rights film festival.
The Best Director Award:
S-21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine, directed by Rithy Panh, France
The jury was united in a unanimous decision on this major award. This is an impressive, personal and very human film which highlights the horrible consequences of totalitarianism. It is an universal film about all forms of totalitarian systems which, in the name of the criminal ideology, have resulted in the deaths of millions of people during the 20th century. This documentary should be a warning against political fanatism, which continues to threaten us in the 21st century. S-21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine is a clever, enriching and topical film.
The Václav Havel Special Award
for the film with the most significant contribution to human rights awareness:
S-21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine, directed by Rithy Panh, France
This film shows us how frightening and cruel things can happen when people focus in on the darkest attributes and instincts of other people and then use these attributes to manipulate them. It is a factual and eloquent anatomy of total power and it is also evidence of the difficulties in reconciling the past.
I sense a great warning in this film. Nobody can say:"It couldn't happen in our country!"On the contrary, unbelievable things happen all the time in societies where there is an atmosphere of deferring to authority. This atmosphere can change free will into manipulation, free decision–making into deference to orders, civil activities into paralyzing fear. We have experienced it here in Europe and we can never say that we have won for once and for all.
This documentary reminds us, that nobody – and especially not those of us who have experienced a totalitarian state – should believe that living in a free society means that they don't need to be aware of these issues and that they are safe forever. These filmmakers have brought this message to our attention.
I want to thank the organizers of the One World Festival and all the filmmakers for their efforts to restore dignity to a lot of unhappy people.
The Mayor of Prague Award
for the best short documentary:
My Body, directed by Margreth Olin, Norway
The Short Forms Competition films exhibited a broad array of styles, lengths and formats that collectively made a strong statement for how issues of human rights can be expressed in every style of filmmaking. The Mayor of Prague Award Jury worked together in a very positive and fluid manner, reaching consensus on three finalists which we then discussed at greater length.
The jury has decided to give the Mayor of Prague Award to a film with gifted cinematography, expert editing and perfect storyline development. The film presents an important message of the damage that western society has done to the individual's self image, physical as well as mental. The filmmaker's command of a wide variety of film and video formats, and their expert layering combined with a pointed sense of humor and a daring self-exposure, qualify her for the award. The jury is happy to give the award for Best Short in the 2004 edition of One World Festival to the Norwegian filmmaker Margreth Olin for her film, "My Body".
Honorable Mentions of the Mayor of Prague Jury
Given the strength of the three finalists, the jury would like to extend two Honorable Mentions.
The first of those two films is a strong cry of outrage and anguish for a conflict that affects the whole world. The Jury felt this film concisely and powerfully travels to the heart of the problem in the Israel and Palestine conflict by dissecting the relationship of those who hold the power and the powerless. In contrast to its title, the film presents a fully realized story in an eight-minute framework. The jury would like to give an honorable mention to the Israeli filmmaker Avi Mograbi for his film, "Detail".
There was another film we felt was exceptional for its visual lyrics and for its strong humanistic message. The clever structure of phone calls, and spoken poetry over the phone line, combined with the close relationship between a Swedish filmmaker and an American inmate, give the film a deep emotion that crystallizes the intense need for justice and the humane treatment of those caught in a dehumanizing prison system. The jury would like to give an honorable mention to the Swedish filmmaker Michel Wenzer for his film "Three Poems by Spoon Jackson".
The Rudolf Vrba Award
for the best film in the Right to Know Category:
To Live is Better than to Die, directed by Chen Weijun, China
This documentary deals with the problem of HIV and AIDS, which are global problems and which people should be aware of. The Rudolf Vrba Award Jury feels that the winning documentary is very professional and they especially value its report on mutual responsibility between people and on each state's responsibility for its citizens. The film is very important in relation to human rights issues. The jury has chosen a meaningful quotation from the film: "This film is about life, love and death."
Special mention: Lest We Forget, directed by Jason DaSilva, USA
The value of the film lies in revealing human rights violations in the USA, a country that is considered to be a democratic state. The Jury also valued the fact that this documentary evokes compassion for the suffering of innocent people who are victimized by state authorities.
The Czech Radio Award
for the best use of sound or music in a documentary:
Surplus, directed by Erik Gandini, Sweden
This film uses sound in a very elaborate and creative way. Sound in all of its forms - i.e. real sounds, artificial sounds, spoken comments and music – strongly emphasises the rhythmic factor of the whole film. The principal statement of the film is based on sharp contrasts and sudden editing. The result is a dynamic, ironic and ultimately unjoyful statement on the paradoxes and contradictions of a society that is painfully going through the process of so-called globalization. This film is composed in the same way as a music composition where individual audio plans form a single rhythmic complex. Monologues by famous personalities (and ordinary people as well) are edited, phased, permeated and articulated into elaborate rap songs. The director used all factors in this film in a very efficient, harmonious and balanced way in order to form an alarming statement about a contemporary, disharmonious and unbalanced world.
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