A documentary about three Bosnian teenagers who hope to compete in a future Olympics has won the TIDES Award for Outstanding Canadian Documentary at the Vancouver International Film Festival. Vancouver native Ryan Sidhoo (producer of Handle With Care: The Legend of the Notic Streetball Crew) directed The Track. It reveals how these young athletes hone their skills on a damaged luge track from the 1984 Winter Games in Sarejevo.
“Despite limited resources and a training ground marked by the scars of conflict, they hold fast to a shared Olympic dream,” declared jurors Anja Block, Igor Drljača, and Asia Youngman. “Told with quiet strength and striking intimacy, the film reminds us of the power of perseverance and the enduring importance of hope.”
Rogers presented the award, which comes with a $15,000 cash prize. Special mention in this category when to Modern Whore, which was directed by Toronto-based Nicole Bazuin.
The SUMMIT Award for Outstanding Canadian Narrative Feature went to The Things You Kill, which was written and directed by Toronto-based Alireza Khatami. It’s a psychological thriller about a Turkish university professor searching for answers following the suspicious death of his mother. The Directors Guild of Canada presented this award, which also comes with a $15,000 cash prize.
“Its meticulous sense of craft and intentional pacing was at once challenging and enthralling,” stated jurors Gillian McKercher, Melanie Miller, and Amar Wala. “Ultimately, it is just a remarkable piece of fillmmaking.”
Two VIFF juries honour Blue Heron
VIFF presented the Horizon Award (Outstanding First or Second Canadian Narrative Feature) to Blue Heron. Victoria-born and Toronto-based Sophy Romvari’s debut film is about a family of Hungarian immigrants who settle on Vancouver Island in the late 1990s. Problems arise when the oldest child starts behaving erratically.
“Time stands still in this deeply personal film as the director attempts to conduct the uncontrollable inevitability of loss, reminding us about the power of the universal language of cinema,” stated jurors Karen Chapman, Mike Johnston, and Sung Moon.
Blue Heron also won the ARBUTUS Award (Outstanding BC Film), which was presented by Creative BC. Jurors Sabrina Rani Furminger, Thea Loo, and Tarique Qayumi noted that the film gripped them “with its gutsy formal approach, blending genre with confident direction and deftly weaving together a heart shattering autofiction”.
The VIFF award comes with a $3,000 cheque. In addition, Creative BC is giving the filmmaker $10,000, plus she will received a $15,000 post-production services credit from Company 3.
Special Mention for the ARBUTUS Award went to The Track.
International prize goes to film from Balkans
The Lochmaddy Foundation presents the VANGUARD Award, which is for best international film. This year’s winner is Stefan Djordjevic’s Wind, Talk to Me. The VIFF website describes this Serbian-Slovenian-Croatian co-production as a “gentle meditation on family and loss”. It features many of the director’s relatives in the cast, as well as an adorable dog. This award comes with a $5,000 cash prize.
“The film utilizes a quiet, minimalist approach that simultaneously feels full with emotion and compassion for the subject of the film as well as all the participants,” jurors Atoine Bourges, Ryan Ermacora, and Sanja Živković stated. “The film succeeds in immersing the viewer in a region and landscape through thoughtful cinematography, sound design and considered pacing.”
Special mention in this category went to Thus Spoke the Wind, which was directed by Armenia-based Maria Rigel.
Watch the trailer for Wind, Talk to Me.
The winner of the SHORT FORUM Award was No Skate!, a French romantic comedy directed by Guil Sela.
“A love story charged with vibrant, youthful energy, it blends humor and sincerity with effortless grace,” jurors Özgün Gündüz, Asher Penn, and Devan Scott declared. “Despite being shot in some of the world’s most familiar locations, the film nonetheless manages to leverage an iconoclastic visual style defined by long lenses and compressed compositions to reveal contemporary Paris as the bustling, grungy metropolis it is so rarely shown to be.”
Nikon presented this award, which comes with a $5,000 cash prize. Special mention for the SHORT FORUM Award went to “chin (ripe)”, directed by Vancouver filmmaker Solara Thanh Bình Đặng.
Watch the trailer for No Skate!, which was filmed in Paris.
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