This award consisting of CHF 5'000 is conferred jointly by two institutions of the churches working in development cooperation, Fastenopfer (Catholic) and Bread for All (Protestant), to the director whose film best reflects the situation of men and women in Africa, Asia and Latin America and stands for human rights and solidarity.
The Ecumenical Jury of the 27th Fribourg International Film Festival, appointed by INTERFILM and SIGNIS and consisting of
Anne-Lise Jaccaud Napi, Vevey (Switzerland) Marie-Thérèse Mäder, Zürich (Switzerland) Elizabeth Pérès, Issy Les Moulineaux (France) Jean-Claude Robert, Antélias (Lebanon) - President
awards its Prize to the film
Three Sisters / San Zimei directed by Wang Bing, France/Hong-Kong (2012)
Three Sisters guides us to Yunnan in a province in China. We follow the three sisters Yingying, ten years, Zhenzhen, six years, and Fenfen, four years, living under conditions of immense poverty. The mother disappeared and the father is obliged to work in a town far away. The film shows with majesty and respect the reverse of globalization, the consumption and its consequences on the ones left behind, the most fragile members of the society, the children. The cinematic perspective discovers a world that confronts the precarious situation in the everyday life of the three sisters with their love, tenderness and a deep sense of responsibility between them.
The Ecumenical Jury also made a Commendation for the film
Watchtower / Gozetleme Kulesi by Pelin Esmer, Turkey (2012)
The film underlines the human and efficient manner in which a man, hurt in his past, helps a woman in distress.
(Extraits)
