IDFA

The Joris Ivens Award for the best feature-length documentary = at the=20 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam 2005. =

IDFA is the world's pre-eminent documentary event. Due to the hard = work and=20 vision of Ally Derks and her colleagues, IDFA is now a global brand. = IDFA - and=20 I include here all the ancilliary pleasures that the name implies, The = Forum,=20 The Jan Vrijman Fund, Docs for Sale, Kids and Docs etc., is at the very=20 epicentre of contemporary documentary cinema. This year's Jury was = made up=20 of film makers: among us was Leonard Retel Helmrich, whose film The = Shape of=20 the Moon was honoured with the Joris Ivens Award last year.

After a week of virtually uninterrupted screenings, I am happy to = report that=20 documentary cinema is in very good shape. It is a source of regret that = I cannot=20 say the same about the state of our world. We're in deep trouble. Many = of the=20 films we viewed, perhaps in a post-9/11 climate of enhanced seriousness, = addressed key contemporary issues, asking the profoundest questions = about our=20 responsibilities to a world that we are changing and that is changing = us.

The term documentary does not lend itself to easy definition - = and among=20 the 21 titles we viewed were very different examples of the genre - = including films that tested the boundaries of the form and pointed us in = new=20 directions. In making our selection we were looking for films that = honoured=20 cinematic tradition, while engaging with current realities. Films that = offered=20 an enhanced distillation of reality and surprising and memorable images. = Films=20 that used sound, including music, creatively and that made us think - = rather=20 than told us what to think. And finally, films that took us, when the = lights=20 came on, back into the world, with fresh perspectives and new insights. = We were=20 not disappointed.

As our week of viewing progressed, we found ourselves wondering, what = in=20 these increasingly dangerous times, is our primary documentary role. Are = we the=20 bugler on the city walls warning of approaching danger; entertainers = offering=20 distractions and delights, or are we simply diarists of dystopia, = documenting=20 our collective descent, as we stumble into an evolutionary cul-de-sac? = Dark=20 thoughts for dark times. But you will be pleased to know that among the = films we=20 viewed, there were several that offered wonderfully up-beat accounts of = the=20 resilient and resourceful human spirit. For example, Doug Block's 51 = Birch=20 Street; Mercedes Stalenhoef's, I Never Want to be Famous; = Taggart=20 Siegel's, The Real Dirt on Farmer John and Alberto = Vendemmiati's La=20 Persona de Leo N. Intimate stories, made with respect and with = love.

Much has been said and written about the relationship between TV and = cinema.=20 TV rarely emerges with credit from these analyses. Creative = collaboration=20 between TV and documentary cinema must be enhanced and we were = especially=20 pleased to see prominent TV credits on many of the films we screened. = This is as=20 good a place as any to acknowledge and applaud the role of those TV = executives=20 who deploy their resources to advance the cinematic ambitions of = documentary=20 filmmakers.

The documentary should take us behind the news, offering a more = profound, a=20 deeper poetic engagement and not simply give us longer versions of TV = news. We=20 have chosen films that celebrate these aspirations and hope that our = choices=20 encourage film makers and their funders, in and outside TV, to offer us = more=20 great films which take us into this territory.

Singling out = individual films from a strong selection is always tough. Despite the = obligation=20 to make and then defend our selection, our Jury discussions were = informed by a=20 sense of real solidarity with our fellow film makers. Rather than sit in = judgement on their films we all want to stand in celebration at their=20 astonishing achievements in bringing these ideas, these images and these = stories=20 to the screen.

Thankyou filmmakers for making these films and thankyou to your and = our=20 editors on whom we rely, but who rarely emerge from the shadows to = accept the=20 plaudits that we all enjoy. Thankyou IDFA for offering such wonderful = screening=20 opportunities to so many great films.

And now to the nominations:

Le Voyage des Femmes de Zartale
(The Zartale = Women's=20 Journey) by Claude Mourieras
Set in the Afghan village = of=20 Zartale this is a perfectly paced film, a literal and metaphoric = journey. A=20 deeply respectful, observational account of a society coping with = change. This=20 is the best kind of ethnographic film making, combining proximity and=20 appropriate distance, without a hint of the folkloric. The lack of = commentary=20 enhanced our engagement with the women at the centre of this story. A = wonderful=20 and important film that deployed TV funding to embrace cinematic=20 traditions.

China Blue by Micha X. Peled
A crucially = important documentary for our times. Told from the inside, this is an = account of=20 modern slavery in a global market. It shames us all. Blue jeans are the = iconic=20 style item of the departed century and perhaps the next one too. The = Jury wish=20 to applaud the integrity, resourcefulness and courage of the film makers = who=20 took us on a shocking journey - one that confronts us with the real = human=20 costs of our easy choices and our bargain hunting.

La Casa de mi Abuela (My Grandmother's = House) by=20 Adan Aliaga
A wonderfully cinematic evocation of change, = based on=20 the relationship of Marita, the grandmother and impulsive, six year old = Marina,=20 this film manages to combine lightness of touch with seriousness of = purpose.=20 Creatively shot and edited, it is a film that achieves seamless, poetic=20 convergence between form and content. Full of surprising visual treats, = it is=20 replete with metaphor, but never loses sight of a sometimes tragic = reality. It=20 is a film about memory, loss and love. And we loved it.

Special Jury Award
One film which many of you = will have=20 expected to see on this short list of three nominees, has instead been = honoured=20 by the Special Jury Award. We felt it deserved to be singled out. A = powerful,=20 cinematic experience, it offered us a series of shocking and = indelible=20 images. An unremittingly merciless and nightmarish scene. A vision of = Hell. Not=20 the Hell of our theologians but one constructed by our politics, our = markets and=20 our food technologies. Nikolaus Geyrhalter has given us = Unser=20 Taglich Brot (Our Daily Bread). He has not told = us what=20 to think - but has given us much food for thought. This is a great = and=20 important film and we are delighted to honour it with the Special Jury=20 Award.

And finally - to bring our report to a close I am delighted to = report=20 that the Joris Ivens Award for Best Feature Documentary at the 2005=20 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, goes to = La Case=20 de Mi Abuela (My Grandmother's House) by Adan Aliaga.=20 Felicitaciones Adan.

Thankyou.

Luke Holland (Spokesperson) and fellow Joris Ivens Jury Members, =
Carmen=20 Cobos
Jehane Noujaim
Leonard Retel-Helmrich
Tamara = Trampe

Amsterdam 3 December 2005