【Grand Prize】
『What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?』
Director： Alexandre KOBERIDZE
Georgia, Germany / 2021 / 150 min
～The winnig film’s director will receive 500,000yen
In this beautiful portrait of the city of Kutaisi, the camera gives its impartial gaze to its people, animals, trees, rainwater pipes and all the existence. Using unilateral violent device called “camera,” this film succeeds to make a fair relationship with subjects, and its image leads us to the open conversation of cinema with the world. Magically fantastic fiction shall function not to make us believe the false world but to make us regain the trust to the world that has been cut off in the present time. By questioning 〈What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?〉 the film’s unique challenge shows us a ray of hope in the future of cinema.
【Grand Prize】
『Anatomy of Time』
Director： Jakrawal NILTHAMRONG
Thailand, France, Netherlands, Singapore / 2021 / 118 min
～The winnig film’s director will receive 500,000yen
The film 〈Anatomy of Time〉 intertwines different layers of time, the past and the present of its characters, in an intriguing and highly challenging way. By interweaving sequences, in which time almost seems to stand still, with suddenly erupting elements of a cruel and violent history, it creates a fluid cinematic space, that transcends the borderlines between present and past. Through images of the aged body and the imprints, history left on them, we experience time as a concrete physical texture, while we also can sense its spiritual nature. Parts of characters’ motivations and their individual contexts, or certain scenes are not fully explained and remain enigmatic, giving sometimes a feeling of strangeness, and allow the audience the freedom of making its own interpretation. The director takes us on a journey, where the real and the unreal are not opposing each other. He invites us, to connect the pieces of the story and to re-define our own viewpoint continuously. Another captivating dimension of the film is the sensitive way to embrace the ambivalence of the elements, nature, characters and situations.
■Audience Award
『Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy』
Director：HAMAGUCHI Ryusuke
Japan / 2021 / 121min
■Student Jury Prize
What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?
Director：Alexandre KOBERIDZE
Georgia, Germany / 2021 / 150 min
