On Sunday 28 January 2018, a three person professional jury announced the three winners of this year’s Ammodo Tiger Short Competition at IFFR. The winning films of the equal awards each worth €5,000 are Mountain Plain Mountain by Araki Yu and Daniel Jacoby, Rose Gold by Sara Cwynar and With History in a Room Filled with People with Funny Names 4 by Korakrit Arunanondchai. The jury also nominated WHAT’S THE DAMAGE by Heather Phillipson to compete in the short film category of the European Film Awards (EFA) later this year.
The jury consisted of Chinese filmmaker Ying Liang, Dutch graphic designer Mieke Gerritzen and Kenyan filmmaker Jim Chuchu, founder of The Nest Collective. IFFR’s Tiger Short Competition was recently renamed after its new partner Ammodo, an organisation supporting art and science; read more about that here.
On Mountain Plain Mountain by Araki Yu and Daniel Jacoby, the jury commented: “In this fascinating short film, we watch people performing mysterious choreographies in an environment that hints at an animal presence. In a particular kind of equestrian sport, the directors find the microcosmos into which all the loneliness and the isolation of human beings is to be found. Humor, both self-deprecating and game-feeling, lets us feel the warm heart and energy of human beings.”
About Rose Gold by Sara Cwynar, the jury said: “This is the world millions of teenage girls see through their phones every single minute of the day. The film covers a new realm with found footage, different layers composed as a spectacular collage of color and objects. The movie provokes a non-political soft world where the iPhone becomes a cult object. The film has been chosen because of the innocent imagery that also makes us feel uncomfortable, because we know that our world isn’t sweet and soft only.”
With History in a Room Filled with People with Funny Names 4 by Korakrit Arunanondchai elicited the following jury remarks: “There are moments of breathtaking beauty in this ambitious, sprawling, yet deeply moving film. Beauty is found in surprising forms; in the fiery optimism of protesting crowds, the nostalgia of aging lovers hanging on to hazy memories, and in the longing of human-sized rats searching for their place in this world. This film reminds us that for all our tech-enabled and capital-fuelled hubris, we remain lonely as we reach for greater meaning, staying inevitably mortal.”
“An amazing and original work with unexpected imagery composed as a new aesthetic.” – The jury on WHAT'S THE DAMAGE
The jury nominated Heather Phillipson’s WHAT’S THE DAMAGE for the European Film Awards later this year. The jury said: “There is infinite room in the world for cultural works that dissect, critique and rebuke the ghastly political phenomenon that is Trump, and WHAT’S THE DAMAGE is a worthy addition to that canon. An amazing and original work with unexpected imagery composed as a new aesthetic.”
Photo in header: Photo: Bram Belloni
