Swiss documentary films win awards in Duisburg and Graz
12.11.2007
The film “Sieben Mulden und eine Leiche” by Thomas Haemmerli (production: Ican Film, Zurich) was awarded the Audience Award, amounting to 1,000 euros, at the 31st Duisburg Documentary Film Festival (November 5 – 11, 2007). “The Giant Buddhas” by Christian Frei was awarded the Jury Prize at the 19th International Alpine and Adventure Film Festival, which was held in Graz from November 7 – 10, 2007. Also in Graz, Fulvio Mariani won the prize in the “Adventure” category, amounting to 1,000 euros, for his film “Wings On Your Feet”.
The primary aim of the Duisburg Documentary Film Festival is to foster the reflection of and debate on the art of perceiving reality in contemporary German-speaking documentary film productions. The program is comprised of films in which “reality is the most elegant challenge of visual narration”. All of the films screened at the festival are from Germany, Switzerland and Austria and have been produced during the past year. In the film “Sieben Mulden und eine Leiche”, Thomas Haemmerli gives a cinematic account of his own family. The film had its international premiere at the Festival Hot Docs in Toronto in April 2007 and was presented thereafter in Locarno and Hamburg.
The program of the Alpine and Adventure Film Festival in Graz encompasses five main themes, ranging from “Alpine Documentation” and “Climbing on Rock and Ice” to “Adventure” and “Nature & Environment” and “Alpine & Foreign Cultures”, with “The Giant Buddhas” being presented in the latter. Christian Frei’s film, produced in 2005 with its premiere in Locarno, is about the destruction of Buddha statues in the Bamiyan Valley in Afghanistan. It has already been presented at more than 30 film festivals all over the world and honoured with many awards – one of which was a Silver Dove in Leipzig. In the 50-minute film “Wings On Your Feet”, the director Fulvio Mariani from Ticino joined John Falkiner and Paolo Tassi on their journeys of discovery on skis through the magnificent landscapes of Lebanon, Patagonia, Kashmir, the Dolomites and Mount Etna.
Zurich, November 12, 2007
The program of the Alpine and Adventure Film Festival in Graz encompasses five main themes, ranging from “Alpine Documentation” and “Climbing on Rock and Ice” to “Adventure” and “Nature & Environment” and “Alpine & Foreign Cultures”, with “The Giant Buddhas” being presented in the latter. Christian Frei’s film, produced in 2005 with its premiere in Locarno, is about the destruction of Buddha statues in the Bamiyan Valley in Afghanistan. It has already been presented at more than 30 film festivals all over the world and honoured with many awards – one of which was a Silver Dove in Leipzig. In the 50-minute film “Wings On Your Feet”, the director Fulvio Mariani from Ticino joined John Falkiner and Paolo Tassi on their journeys of discovery on skis through the magnificent landscapes of Lebanon, Patagonia, Kashmir, the Dolomites and Mount Etna.
Zurich, November 12, 2007