Festival internazionale Segni della Notte - Urbino
Internatonal Festival Signs of the Night - Urbino
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17° Festival internazionale Segni della Notte - Urbino (3° Editione) - November 26-30, 2019
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MAIN AWARD

Field of Infinity
Guli Silberstein
Great Britain / 2018 / 0:05:22

ITALIAN PREMIER

Inspired by both Italian Renaissance paintings and contemporary news broadcasts from Gaza protests at the border with Israel - the work processes human gestures and figures in landscape into a dark and colourful scramble. The work aims to open up an array of reflections, including concerns about the political image, image of the political, the politics of the image, and the image of image.

 

Jury Statement:

For the rhythm achieved by intertwining sound and image which are skilfully employed to express those "other" images abstracted from their original narrative contexts, to become anew concrete in the perception of the viewer.

Director Statement:
Really happy to receive the main award in Festival internazionale Segni della Notte at Urbino Italy. I'm with the festival for quite many years now, and have always appreciated Dieter's and the team's support of filmmakers work including my own. My film Field of Infinity is an invitation to reflect about the nature of images in political context and an experiment in aesthetics, and I'm delighted and thankful that the jury and hopefully the audience found it worthy. I'm looking forward to continue to work with the festival to distribute together cinematic messages and message of independent cinema.




SIGNS AWARD

The Signs Award honours films, which treat an important subject in an original and convincing way



Breath
Dah
Ermin Bravo
Bosnia-Herzegovina / 2018 / 00:13:30

ITALIAN PREMIER

Igor works at the rehabilitation centre where Edita is treated. A random encounter will unfold in an unusual relationship. Without any word, two creatures will recognize and change each other. What happens when you share the last moments of your life with a stranger?


 

Jury Statement:

The jury appreciates the balance achieved in telling the story. The sober style in treating a delicate theme by the means of a silent dialogue involves the viewer both as a witness and as a participtant.




MENTION FOR THE SIGNS AWARD

Father to Son
Vader op Zoon
Thomas Stokmans
Netherlands / 2018 / 0:07:00

ITALIAN PREMIER

In this musical debut film, there seems to be hardly any verbal communication between a father and his young son. But when dad plays his saxophone, the boy listens attentively. He gets a sip of dad’s coffee. A very small, intimate film with its heart in the right plce.a

 

Jury Statement:

The jury appreciates the efficaciousness of creating an atmosphere within the short duration of the movie by means of silence and absence of dialogue. The acting of the child as well is remarkable.



NIGHT AWARD
*
The Night Award honours films, which are able to balance ambiguity and complexity characterised by enigmatic mysteriousness and subtleness, which keeps mind and consideration moving




California on Fire
Jeff Frost
USA / 2018 / /0:24:50

California on Fire utilizes time, sound, and the catastrophic effects of climate change as a backdrop to examine loss. Each of the film's five chapters are based on the stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, sadness, and acceptance. To create California on Fire, artist Jeff Frost trained as a firefighter, gained full access to more than 70 wildfires, and shot over 350,000 photos from 2014 to 2019. It has been featured in PBS Newshour, TIME Magazine, National Geographic, and Artnet.

 

Jury Statement:

The jury appreciates the project, the skill and the style. The main theme, that is the images of fire, becomes a pretext to allude to something else, especially through the mastery in employing rhythm changes.


MENTION FOR THE NIGHT AWARD


Dystopian Patterns
Isabelle Nouzha
Belgium, Lebanon / 2019 / 00:06:46

ITALIAN PREMIER

Something happened to that city. Could be Beirut.


 

Jury Statement:

A special mention for the technique employed and the composition of the photography.


MENTION FOR THE NIGHT AWARD


In Vitro
Larissa Sansour, Søren Lind
United Kingdom, Palestine, Denmark / 2019 / 0:28:00

ITALIAN PREMIER


In an underground compound built in the aftermath of an eco-disaster, two scientists discuss the effects of memory, trauma, exile and nostalgia while preparing to replant the soil above. It's a powerful film, both for its multidimensional material – special effects, split-screens, monumental archive images – and for its moving narrative thread linking different generations of Palestinian women. By combining a futuristic natural disaster with a very real historical past, the artists succeed to give their film at the same time an extremely innovative and political dimension.

 

Jury Statement:

The alternative of shot reverse shot technique delivered through splitting the screen is a choice that succeeds in pointing out both narrative and experimental nature of the movie. The dialogues are intriguing and keep the mind working.



EDWARD SNOWDEN AWARD

The Edward Snowden Award honors films, which offer sensitive (mostly) unknown informations, facts and phenomenons of eminent importance, for which the festival wishes a wide proliferation in the future.

Behind The Cloud There Lives A Sun
Kumar Mayank
India / 2019 / 0:15:00

EUROPA PREMIER

Waiting near the bus stop to take her son to a family gathering out of the town, a victim of domestic violence silently questions her way of life.

 

Jury Statement:

This work points at a very important issue which is of an ideological nature. The scene of the little boy being aggressive towards his mother reveals a sad fact about sexist behaviour, which may take start inadvertently by simply imitating familiar gestures. The silent development of the narrative is very effective
.

Director Statement:

We are very glad to have our little film being honoured in the festival. It feels great to have the nuances of the subject material and the underlying intention being understood and recognized. The film was intentionally made to look amateurish and with banal visuals which could have easily been mistaken for an amateur production and overlooked, especially coming from a new filmmaker. But it is very encouraging to have the film being read and evaluated in its entirety and a few mistakes even being forgiven. This is the best pat in the back an emerging filmmaker with no budget, wanting to tell a story in a little unconventional way can get!








THE AWARDS OF THE STUDENT JURY


MAIN AWARD


Realms
Valtakunnat
Patrik Söderlund
Finland / 2019 / 0:20:28


A voyage through time, evolution and the kingdoms of life towards the natural destruction wrought upon the planet by the human species. Exploring geological epochs and kingdoms of life, Realms voyages through deep time from the primeval ocean to a post-human future. The film employs visual storytelling, seeking to replace the anthropocentric worldview with greater attention to the complex interrelationships and dependencies between organisms, and between animate and inanimate nature.

 

Jury Statement:

The jury has decided to choose this film characterized by a minimal and enlighted shape. The way of it not having a clear narration and characters improves its power to reach a climatic circle around the mystery of nature.




SPECIAL MENTION


Father to Son
Vader op Zoon
Thomas Stokmans
Netherlands / 2018 / 0:07:00

ITALIAN PREMIER

In this musical debut film, there seems to be hardly any verbal communication between a father and his young son. But when dad plays his saxophone, the boy listens attentively. He gets a sip of dad’s coffee. A very small, intimate film with its heart in the right pla

 

Jury Statement:

This special mention was highly deserved by this short dutch film wich enchanted the jury by the purity of the characters, interpretated by a delightful decision on the colors. A fantastic pictorial work.





SIGNS AWARD

The Signs Award honours films, which treat an important subject in an original and convincing way



Hammock
Kentaro Kishi
Japan / 2018 / 00:29:59

ITALIAN PREMIER

War photographer Kentaro, who went missing in the Middle East. 3 years later, his daughter Kanae had become a primary school student. In those days, her mother Momoko returned back to Japan with the relic camera in her hands. Momoko implored Kanae to go to America together...

 

Jury Statement:

This Japanese short film fades the photographic narration into the highly-excavated points of view of the characters. Thanks to this capacity it has been given a deep analisys from different and exhaustive angles.

Director Statement:

I'm really happy for the great News It is so honored that very small made in Japan movie was screened at an Italian film festival and received a great award. "Hammock" was born in a record of about 10 years, including the birth of my daughter, and traveling to Palestine in 2007. I tried to extract "Potential of prayer" from a photo taken at Abraham's Tomb. Thanks to the judges for the wonderful comments. ──I would like to make an effort so that more people can watch "Hammock" in the future. Thank you so much.






MENTION FOR THE SIGNS AWARD


Summertime
Aleksandra Mazon
Poland / 2018 / 0:42:00

INTERNATIONAL PREMIER


One day from Katarzyna’s life. Heat and the bus that became a trap. One incident that made Katarzyna mature.

 

Jury Statement:

Summertime has given a full analisys on the radicality of the fracture between different mankinds. The use of black and white helped a fluent composition of hotspots of moral/human intensity throughout the film.

Director Statement:

We are very pleased that such a wonderful and humanistic festival have appreciated our work. Thank you very much for this award and we are happy to see that our movie has touched the hearts of young people. We’re sending lots of good energy and hugs from Poland.
Team of SUMMERTIME.








NIGHT AWARD
*
The Night Award honours films, which are able to balance ambiguity and complexity characterised by enigmatic mysteriousness and subtleness, which keeps mind and consideration moving




Breath
Dah
Ermin Bravo
Bosnia-Herzegovina / 2018 / 00:13:30

ITALIAN PREMIER

Igor works at the rehabilitation centre where Edita is treated. A random encounter will unfold in an unusual relationship. Without any word, two creatures will recognize and change each other. What happens when you share the last moments of your life with a stranger?

 

Jury Statement:

The Night Award was given to this film because of its obscure content; the chosen images and silent dialogs improve the total construction, without falling into any clichè.



JURY AWARD

Silent Storm
Tempête silencieuse
Anaïs Moog
Switzerland / 2019 / 0:13:00

ITALIAN PREMIER

From the Atlantic coast to those of the Mediterranean, the director meets women whose faces bear witness to ruined hopes. Mourning finds in the movement of the waves a dimension of painful meditation. "Silent Storm" is a soft and strong film, in terms of image but also by its poetic and precise editing, which works perfectly with the strength and lucidity of the words used by the characters in the film. The director Anaïs Moog has gathered extremely poignant testimonies in exceptional sensitivity and modesty.

 

Jury Statement:

Because of its narrative scheme, its powerful and clean images, the Helvetian film gives a feeling of universality throught visual and linguistic poetry. The figure of the seas turn itself as a talking item.

Director Statement:

Fragments of voices appear and then disappear in a movement of wave, a skin marked by time confronts itself to the salient rocks carved by the winds, water as a mental image is torning to leave place to voices that are silent while hands are plunged in nets that look like shrouds.