IDFA Forum Award & Golden Funnel Award
presented October 26, 2010
at the Opening Ceremony of the Jihlava IDFF
IDFA FORUM AWARD
Laurien ten Houten of IDFA's Docs for Sale announced the winner of this year's IDFA Forum Award. Thanks to the partnership of the Institute of Documentary Film with the Industry Section of the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam, each year one East European Forum project gets the chance to be pitched at IDFA’s The FORUM. In November, Daria Khlestkina and Marina Razbezhkina will present their project The 16th Republic to a broad range of funders and other professionals in Amsterdam.
The 16th Republic
16-ya Respublika , Russia, 90 min, DVD, HD, Creative, Social issues
Moscow auto giant ZIL was central to the lives of thousands of workers for more than 80 years, proudly calling itself a 'talent foundry', a 'city within a city' and the '16th republic'. Stalin, Brezhnev, Khrushchev and Gorbachev all travelled in ZIL’s iconic limousines. After a 20-year interval, the plant receives an order for new luxury cars. Three convertibles are supposed to take part in the Victory Parade on May 9, 2010. Few specialists from the elite, previously classified department of Original and Special Automobiles remain, and they are all retired. But the deadline must be met. While the secret division is scrambling to build cars for the Defense Minister, passions are boiling over in other parts of the plant. The convertibles are ready but suddenly the client no longer needs them. The ups and downs in this limousine story are but the tip of the iceberg.
GOLDEN FUNNEL AWARD
The Golden Funnel Award is annually given to a project which makes the most dramatic improvements over the course of the East European Forum workshop. Projects are evaluated by the workshop tutors. This year the award was given to the project Dust Dream (dir. Maciej Gorski, prod. Monika Braid). The exact shape and form of the Award is decided on the basis of the awarded project and tailored to the specific needs of the filmmakers. The support may take the shape of a two-day editing session with a renowned editor, participation at a selected documentary event or any other form of assistance that will be considered beneficial.
Dust Dream
Dust Dream , Germany, Poland, United Kingdom, 60 min, Digi Beta, Adventure and Sport
Charismatic coach Jagdish Singh and his boxing protégées have garnered success and awards, including the first Olympic medal for India, placing the dusty Indian city of Bhiwani firmly on the international sporting map. Yet controversial training methods remain under scrutiny by suspicious sports authorities with Coach Jagdish excluded from key champion fights. Dust Dream charts Jagdish’s fight for official recognition alongside the personal journey of three of his students – including one of the first female Indian recruits – as they dedicate their lives to the demanding regime of the Bhiwani Boxing Club and the promise of a better future. As Jagdish Singh prepares his boxers to compete at London 2012, he is simultaneously fighting for the recognition of his own name and that of his boxing club.
Both awards are included in our Follow-up Support programme, created to keep track of documentary projects and films by our current and former participants over long term.
