International Festival of Ethnological Films, Belgrade, 2021

Statements of the jury (Peter I. Crawford, Vlado Zrnic, Maja Novakovic)

The Dragoslav Antonijević Grand Prix

The Whale from Lorino, Maciej Cuske

Respecting the ethnographic and cinematic approach to the chosen subject matter, this film represents a strong experiential sense of the “edge of life” in terms of the existence and spirit of a nation. The multi-layered survival on the edge as shown here is strangely reminiscent of all the issues of uncertainty facing today’s global mission of humanity. Coldness, perseverance, tenacity, and ultimate survival it resulted in a true relationship with the phenomenon of the grace of the natural order of things.

The award for the best national film

Blue Frontier, Ivan Milosavljević

This is a fascinating portrait of a fisherman, which demonstrates how cinema language, when it comes to conveying a sensuous experience, is something quite different from the verbal explanation of, for example, a written text. Anybody watching this film will now what the jury means by this.

The award for the best international film

Dark Red Forest, Jin Huaqing

Whether drawn in by what some people may consider exotic imagery of nuns facing the harsh environment of the high mountains of Tibet, this film, and its wonderful cinematography, lets the viewer into an intriguing world and phenomenon that leaves no viewer unaffected.

Zenerù, Andrea Grasselli

In a world full of visual images in rapid succession all around us, and films that are based on editing almost as quick as the glimpse of a human eye, it is an immense relief sometimes to watch slow films that gently but also mysteriously allow you to immerse into a completely different kind of reality, and in doing so marrying some of the basic endeavours of both anthropology and film.

The award for best student film

Kanarta: Alive in Dreams, Akimi Ota

We would like to start this jury statement by saying what a difficult task we had been given in this category. The general quality and cinematic standard of the student films is mindboggling. We ended up giving the award to a film that combines filmic qualities and sensuous understanding with detailed and careful anthropological research, admitting the most viewers to a world apart.

Special mention

The Snow Calls, Marjan Khosravi

Special mention for student film goes to an intimate portrait of the family and the position of a brave woman in a patriarchal environment that keeps us hoping and in suspense at how the family life will change with new birth.