EXCLUSIVE – After five successful, sun-filled days at the international gastro-cinema festival in Bologna, Slow Food on Film proudly announced the results of the competition at 6pm this evening.
Awards are as follows:
DOCS COMPETITION – Under 35’
The Golden Snail
SILENT SNOW
by Jan Van Der Berg
The Netherlands, 2007, HDV, 14’, col.
Mention:
THE POET OF GRAPPA
by Stefano Scarafia
Italy, 2006, DVcam, 10’, col.
Motivation:
The jury awards the Golden Snail for the best Short Documentary to SILENT SNOW by Jan Van Der Berg. The film is visually striking and uses the subtle, delicate and unsentimentally-told story of two young girls in an isolated and unfamiliar land to shed light on a powerful story of global significance.
The jury would like to give a special mention to Stefano Scarafia’s beautiful film THE POET OF GRAPPA, which tells the story of Romano Levi, an extraordinary man from the Langa hills in Piedmont, who was given the name “The Angelic Grappa Maker” by wine critic Veronelli. The jury would also like to use this opportunity to celebrate the life of Romano, as he sadly passed away a few days before the festival.
SHORTS COMPETITION
The Golden Snail
ALONG CAME THE RAIN
by Alejandro Fernàndez Almendras
Chile, 2006, 35mm, 14′, col.
Mention:
MAMMAL
by Astrid Rieger
Germany, 2007, DVCPRO, 7’25’’, col.
MARIE SPAPEN, protagonist in
ALICE, OR LIFE IN BLACK AND WHITE
by Sophie Schoukens
Belgium, 2006, s16mm, 15’, b/n e col.
Motivation:
The film LO QUE TRAE LA LLUVIA was unanimously chosen for the essential, nimble and effective way it alludes to the conflict between local culture and standardized ways of life. It perfectly interprets the Slow approach with the simplicity born of a beautifully calibrated style.
Special Mention to MAMMAL by Astrid Rieger: for the originality of the surreal style with which the difficulties of a journey of growth are described through the symbolic values linked to food.
Special Mention to MARIE SPAPEN, the protagonist of ALICE, OR LIFE IN BLACK AND WHITE, for the intensity and the measure of the acting which effortlessly expresses the complexity of an adolescent awkwardness revealed through a complicated relationship with food.
BEST FOOD FEATURE
The Golden Snail
THE WIND BLOWS ROUND
by Giorgio Diritti
Italy, 2005, Minidv, 110
Motivation:
Members of the Food & Film Academy chose their own favorite feature from the five nominations up for Best Food Feature. After the votes were counted, the winner was declared as THE WIND BLOWS ROUND by Giorgio Diritti. SLOW FOOD ON FILM was delighted to award the prize to a small, independant film successful in capturing the attention of the public through word of mouth and relying simply on the genuine success of an authentic slow idea.
DOCS COMPETITION
The Golden Snail
THE PRICE OF SUGAR
by Bill Haney
USA, 2006, DVCpro, 90’, col.
Mentions:
CRY SEA
By Cafi Mohamud e Luca Cusani
Italy, 2007, MiniDV, 55’, col.
STRAWBERRY FIELDS
by Ayelet Heller
Israel, 2006, DVcam, 60’,col.
Motivation:
The jury awards the Golden Snail for Best Documentary to THE PRICE OF SUGAR by Bill Haney. The film documents the exploitation of Haitian workers on the Dominican sugarcane plantations and reveals how slavery is still very much a reality. The award is also intended as a protest against the fact that Father Christopher Hartley, leader of the farmers protest, was removed from the Vatican and sent to Ethiopia.
The jury would also like to give a special mention in honour of CRY SEA by Luca Cusani and Cafi Mohamud, which combines the urgency to address the problems of fishing in Africa with high cinematographic quality.
And another Special Mention goes to STRAWBERRY FIELDS, by Ayelet Heler, a compelling story which gave the festival a series of striking images, and evoked the truth about a land condemned to suffer.
BEST TV SERIES
The Golden Snail
COOKING IN THE DANGER ZONE
by Mark Perkins, with Stefan Gates
UK,2007, DV, 16 ep. x 27’
Motivation:
Cooking in the danger zone won because the format and the content make it one of the most original series within the food-television genre structure, standing out for its choice of destinations, narrative style, presentation and the way in which the program-makers relate to people and contexts. Without ever taking on folkloristic overtones, and with a fast rhythm and contemporary language, the show manages to represnet foods in its essence, as a primary and fundamental social and cultural value but at the same time absolutely necessary to life itself