The Tampere Film Festival Awards 2010

The official press release:

Miia Tervo’s Lumikko (2009) won the Grand Prix of Tampere Film Festival’s International Competition. It is a document based on a phone conversation with a young girl and Pekka Sauri in the radio program Yölinja. Lumikko is only the third Finnish film that has ever received the Grand Prix. Earlier the reward was won by Hannu Peltomaa's Rantojen miehet (1971) and PV Lehtinen’s Hyppääjä (2000). The Jury characterizes Lumikko as follows: ”This hybrid of imagery, voices and music is brilliantly brought together to form a visionary depiction of a human mind and soul.” Furthermore, Lumikko received the EFA Tampere Nomination. Therefore film will be competing for the title of the best European short film.

The Best Animation award was given to Gudrun Krebitz’s I Know You (2009, Germany, Austria). The Best Fiction award went to a Thai film Tiang naa noi koi rak (2009), directed by Wichanon Somumjarn. In the Best Documentary category the award was divided ex aequo between Philip Widman’s Destination Finale (2008, Germany) and Jay Rosenblatt’s The Darkness of Day (2009, USA).

The International Jury awarded two Diplomas of Merit. They were given to Rita (2009) by Antonio Piazza and Fabio Grassadonia from Italy and to a French animation Je criais contre la vie. Ou pour elle (2009), directed by Vergine Keaton. The Jury members were Philip Cheah (Singapore), Pablo Lamar (Paraguay), Karen Rais-Nordentoft (Denmark), Selma Vilhunen (Finland) and Wu Wenguang (China). The Audience Award went to Wagah (2009, India) directed by Supriyo Sen.

Miia Tervo’s Lumikko (2009) also took the main prize of the National Competition under 30 minutes' category. The Jury comments on the filmmaker: ”She skilfully uses the material and stays always in control – and at the same time she gives the viewer plenty to think about”. Arthur Franck’s and Oskar Forstén’s document Ruuhka (2009) won the Special Prize.

The main prize in the over 30 minutes' category was awarded to Pia Andell’s document Göringin sauva (2010). The Special Prize went to a documentary Freetime Machos (2010), directed by Mika Ronkainen. The Diploma of Merit was given to a document Mies ja videokamera (2009), directed by Petri Hagner. The Jury members were Kaarina Hazard and Heikki Jokinen from Finland, and Sirkka Möller from Germany.

The Risto Jarva Prize was awarded to Miesten vuoro (2010), a document directed by Joonas Berghäll and Mika Hotakainen. The Jury states: “The filmmakers have an exceptional ability to bring forward the male’s most personal feelings and a sensibility to treat tough life stories in a purifying way." The Jury members were Kati Nuora, Raija Nurmio, Hannes Vartiainen and Pekka Veikkolainen. The Audience Award went to Miesten vuoro, too.

Teemu Nikki’s fiction Äiti ei enää keilaa (2009) won the Prize of the Youth Jury, and the Diploma of Merit went to animation Benigni (2009), directed by Elli Vuorinen, Pinja Partanen and Jasmiini Ottelin. The Student Award was snatched by A Kosovo Fairytale (2009), directed by Mark Middlewick, Samantha Nell and Anna-Sofia Nylund.

The 40th Jubilee Year of Tampere Film Festival was a box-office success. Before Sunday morning, there were 12 sold-out screenings, among them Reindeerspotting – pako joulumaasta (2010) and Miesten vuoro (2010). The ¡Viva el corto! series was a success as well, four of the screenings were sold out: Terror, Mexodus, Gustavo Taretto and Ibero-America 2. There were 850 accredited guests and members of the press at the festival, of which 120 were international guests.