17th INTERNATIONAL FILM FORUM “ARSENALS” RIGA
September 18-26, 2004
www.arsenals.lv

INTERFILM JURY AWARD

The International Film Forum “Arsenals” is held biennially only since 1986 in Riga, the capital of Latvia. It runs this year from 18-26 September. The Forum demonstrates a challenging and innovative spectre of films (the total number is around 150) made in the latest two years and consists of an international competition screening, a Baltic film competition, a panorama of world cinema, thematic programmes, and a retrospective. The selection criterion of the international film competition is originality. The selection committee is looking for films which are remarkable thanks to their contents or to the means of expression. Consistent with the philosophy of “Arsenals”, each of the Forum directors is awarded the Magic Crystal prize with the engraving “The Best Director”. All of the Forum works are unique and, in a sense the best; therefore, the winner of the Main Prize of the Forum ($ 10’000) is decided not by some prestigious jury, but by sheer luck: one of the Forum directors find a golden button, cut off the coattail of Arsenals President, August Sukuts, slipped into their wine glass during the closing ceremony.

Nevertheless, since 1994, the films of the Arsenals Competition Screening have been judged by a jury of five members of FIPRESCI, the International Federation of Film Critics; the Baltic Film Competition by a Baltic Competition jury of three members and this year for the first time an ecumenical jury of three members from INTERFILM has been invited to award its prize to a film of the International Forum Competition and a documentary film in the Baltic Competition. The INTERFILM Jury with the mebers

Hans Hodel (Switzerland)
Anita Uzulniece (Latvia)
Christine Weissbarth (Germany)

awarded its prize in the International Forum Competition to the Hungarian feature film

Hukkle, by Gyorgy Palfi, Hungary 2002.

This first feature film is a sensitive and humorous cinematographic research of the reality of the everyday life in a Hungary village, He shows in poetic pictures a human respect for human beings, animals and nature.

Synopsis: The film gets its title from one of its characters – an old man, who is sitting on the bench in some Hungary village and has hiccups. At the same time, different events are going on: men drink in the bar, a beekeeper gathers honey, a man follows a shepherd girl, two persons proudly watch their prize winners dogs copulate, a cat and a young girl die having eaten from the same dish…The film is intertwined with the investigation of mysterious murders, the result of which, perhaps, will turn the village life upside down. There are almost no dialogues, which proves once again that picture in cinema is more important than text. Interestingly, that landscapes and animals play as important role as the actor.

In the Baltic Competition, the INTERFILM-Jury awarded its documentary film prize to

Keep smiling! by Askolds Saulitis, Latvia 2004

The film tells a tale of four friends searching the forests of Latvia for traces of soldiers missing since the 2nd world war. The directors camera observes events from a personal point of view, thus confronting the viewer with the past and with the need to memorize history and give signs of reconciliation.

Synopsis: It is a story about men who spend their free time in the forests digging muddy earth. They search the track of wars, namely, soldiers, who have been and would be considered to be missing – unless the quest of the heroes of this film. Sometimes they dig out a tank or plane, sometimes they help a tragic love story to become true, letting a wife to “meet” her husband, who 60 years ago went to war and did not return…This black-and-white film with a well twisted story reminds that war is war – no matter where, in Europe or Iraq, a long time ago or nowadays. If we ignore our past, we ignore our future, says the director of film Askolds Saulitis. The film is based on a novel “Diggers” by Viktors Duks, nominated for the EPPI Award in 2003.
Its director Askolds Saulitis is 38 years old, and he has as of late, attracted the attention of audiences with several documentaries. Twice now he has received the Best Documentary Film Director prize at the national latvian film festival “Lielas Kristaps”. “Keep Smiling!” was also nominated for the Best Film prize, but received prizes for Best Script and Best Music instead.