In Sweden, France, and Poland, ECFA juries recently selected new nominees for the next ECFA Award. Strikingly, at each festival, a domestic title was honoured. An unexpected display of national pride, or proof that high-quality content is being created across Europe?
BUFF – Int’l Children & Young People’s Film Festival (Malmö, Sweden)
ECFA Feature Award: DANTE (Linda Hambäck; Sweden)
ECFA Jury: Catarina Ramalho (Portugal), Hidde de Vries (the Netherlands), Miriam Vogt (Germany)
Quote from the Jury Statement: “This curious story made us sit on the edge of our seats and had both us and the audience laughing out loud. The film shows children a world that is both very close and yet far away. It is an unusual invitation for audiences to reflect on the systems that keep us in place and to imagine a future beyond them. Sometimes it takes something small to change a community’s perspective. And so, this film teaches us not to judge a book by its cover.”
Festival Ciné-Jeune de l’Aisne (Laon, France)
ECFA Short Award: SULAIMANI (Vinnie Ann Bose; France) (See thumb photo)
ECFA Jury: Florence Dupont (France), Florence Boone (Belgium), Gloria Morano (Luxembourg)
Synopsis: One evening, two young women bump into each other by chance in an Indian restaurant. The meal brings back emotions and memories, a shared sense of nostalgia that brings them a little closer to home… for as long as the meal lasts.
Let’s Dok Festival – Documentary Films for a Young Audience (Warsaw, Poland)
ECFA Doc Award: CLEAR SKY (Marcin Kundera; Poland)
ECFA Jury: Kamila Szwarc (Poland), Angeliki Petru (Greece), Monica Koshka-Stein (Germany)
Synopsis: Wowa and Roma spend the last days of their holidays in their hometown. Explosions, sirens, and the army on the streets cast a shadow over their reality. Childhood, however, continues regardless of the war.