Related Articles
Spécial Envoy: Ghislain ZOBIYO
FRANKFURT, October 15 (BIPMedia) – Eight documentary films were awarded at the end of a fourth unprecedented edition of the « Golden Tree International Documentary Film Festival » (GTIDFF), which took place October 10th to 13th, 2019 in Frankfurt in Germany.
Started on October 10th, the 4th edition of the GTIDFF has offered film lovers from all over the world (Asia, Africa, United States, Europe, …), a festival worthy of major film competitions. The documentary film was in the spotlight in the 4 categories including Long Documentary, Medium-length Documentary, Short Documentary and Mini Documentary.
The central theme of this edition was « Roots and Inheritance of Culture ». It was a question for the organizers of the GTIDFF, to show both the differences that exist between the cultures in the world, but especially to highlight, the values ​​and the common ideals and their inheritance which link these cultures from generation to generation, to better appreciate each other.
The Pe-selection of the films for the official competition at this edition, was a titanic job done by the members of the pre-selection jury, noted the President of the pre-selection of the jury Mr Pedro Barbadillo, at the the opening ceremony of the festival. There are approximately 3500 pre-selected films. A very high participation which shows a craze on the part of the directors at this festival which is only 4 years old. In the first edition, the GTIDFF had 387 pre-selected films.
It is finally 53 cinematographic works in the 4 categories mentioned above which were thus retained for the official competition. Among them, eight were rewarded during the awards ceremony. Mr Thom Palmen, President of the Jury, marked his satisfaction with the quality of the works in competition.
The Long Documentary « Distant Constellation » (1:22:00) by director Shevaun Mizrahi (USA) won the Best Feature Film Award.
The film « But Now is Perfect » (00:55:00) by director Carin Goeijers (Netherlands), received the Best Medium-Length Documentary Award.
Director Luis Alejandro (Cuba) won two awards for his film « Los Viejos Heraldos ((00:23:00)» (The Old Heralds): The Best Short Documentary Award and Best Cinematographer Award.
Director Benjamin Bryan (New Zealand) received the Best Mini Documentary Award for his film « Home » (00:06:00).
The film « Forman vs Forman » (1:17:00) by director Helena Trestikova (Czech Republic) received the Best Director Award.
Director Maceo Frost (Cuba) received the Best Editor Award for his film « Too Beautiful ».
The film « Stammering Ballad » (1:40:00) by director Nan Zhang (China) received the Golden Tree Jury Award.
Finally, director Ido Weisman (Israel) won the Public Choice Award for his short documentary « Uzzi » (00:20:00).
Throughout this event, the festival-goers of the GTIDFF have been able to discover the films, the culture, the realities and the experiences of the different horizons of the world, in the prestigious Cine Star Metropolis, an emblematic place of the cinema of the city of Frankfurt.
For Ms. Libin Wang, Chair of the GTIDFF, « the power of documentary is to bridge the gap between countries, between nationalities and cultures ». That’s the essence of the GTIDFF.
Several other activities have enriched this edition. This is the case of debates around six forums. Various high-level speakers allowed the participants to have a better understanding of the issues of the documentary and to exchange on topics as varied as « How can online documentary platforms withstand giants like Netflix? » Can Documentary save the planet? or Challenges and opportunities of international co-production, the future of documentary, facing new technology (5G, Virtual Reality (VR),…), etc.  »
In a later publication, we will give you the content of some of the forums, the professional meetings with the masters of the 7th art, the numerous interviews with the speakers, in particular with Mr Gan Chao, Vice-President of Youku and member of the jury of GTIDFF or Antonio Cadierno Parodi, director / producer and distributor of documentaries as examples.
Joint film project presentation meetings have allowed project leaders to meet potential collaborators or co-producers. This is the case for the film « Death in the City » by director Balaka Ghosh (India), who is at the post-production stage but is seeking support. The same is true of the movie « Music Monks » by director Drs Qiao Li Wang (China).
Ms. Libin Wang, Chair of the GTIDFF closed this edition with satisfaction, without failing to emphasize the importance of the GTIDFF in bridging civilizations through documentary. She stressed the need for better co-production and cooperation between China and other countries of the world, to promote a better understanding in international exchanges.
Ms Libin announced the holding in November 2020 of the 5th edition of the « Golden Tree International Documentary Film Festival », with a rise number of awards (12 awards) to be awarded .
Â
