And the winners are...
These are the winners of this year’s Oslo Grand Pix Fiction, Oslo Grand Pix Documentary and The Audience Award.
Six days and close to 160 screenings of 70 films from about 20 countries from Europe and North America has come to an end and the first edition of Oslo Pix is over. About 12 000 people has found their way to the cinemas the last week.
These are the winners of this year’s Oslo Grand Pix Fiction, Oslo Grand Pix Documentary and The Audience Award.
Grand Pix Fiction
The jury's statement:
It is difficult to talk about the winning film without resorting to banalities and simplifications. This is a paradox, because the film is far from being banal or simplifying. It is a film that slowly and almost imperceptibly draws us in through complex moral dilemmas in an apparently simple way, much due to solid directing and dramaturgical flair.
Most of the films the jury has seen this week confirm taken-for-granted perceptions of right and wrong, useful and destructive.
In this regard, the winner stands out by not satisfying the spectators’ need to have their own moral point of view confirmed. The film raises questions, but does not try to formulate answers, nor does it claim to possess them. As we move closer to the core of the story, and the story moves closer to us, what initially seems like a clear-cut work becomes more complex and ambiguous, and deeply human in its refusal to postulate clear moral truths.
The winner of The Oslo Grand Pix Fiction Award is The Fixer by Adrian Sitaru.
The Grand Pix Fiction Award is given to the best of nine films in the main competition for fiction films. The award is a cash prize of NOK 75 000 given by Oslo Pix. The purpose of the award is to strengthen the position of qualities film in the Norwegian marked, and the cash prize therefore goes to the Norwegian distributor who buys the film for cinematic release.
Honourable Mention
The jury would like to give honourable mention to a romantic film, where the contrasts between humanity and natures brutality and beauty are reflected through expressive imagery. One gets so close to the protagonist’s despair and lack of confidence that one can sense it physically on one’s own body. The young man’s sense of duty and responsibility links him to his environment. After having suffered a stroke, his father is ridden with fear of the future, and feels bitterness and anger towards his son. Instead of meeting him on an emotional level, the son exposes him resorts to drinking and negligence of his duties.
By describing these hard, taciturn people with tenderness the director conveys a faith in love. By opening up for love, he also develops the courage to fight for a better life. As a spectator one dares to believe that there is hope for mankind.
Honourable Mention goes to God’s Own Country by Francis Lee.
Grand Pix Documentary
The jury's statement:
The winning film is heartfelt, empathic and never judgemental.
The filmmaker treats the film's environment, central theme and fascinating gallery of people with warmth and humour, and lets the loyalty of love speak for itself.
It is touching and also painful to see a family so duty-bound to a society that neither rewards nor allows for a framework of dignity in the very challenging life-situation the family finds itself in.
To this end the film is sharp, unsentimental, and compassionate. That which can be seen as a frustrating diagnosis is revealed in a different light: The magic of humanness.
The winner of this year's Oslo Grand Pix Documentary Award is Communion by Anna Zamecka.
The Grand Pix Documentary Award is given to the best of seven films in the main competition for documentaries. The award is a cash prize of NOK 50 000 given by VG TV and goes to the director of the film. The purpose of the award is to secure further production of documentaries that sheds light on topics that move emotions, minds and societies.
Honourable Mention
The jury wishes to give honourable mention to a film that is powerful, brutal and beautiful. We encourage everyone to see this film when it goes on general release in Norway.
Honourable Mention goes to I Am Not Your Negro by Raoul Peck.
The Audience Award
The audience has spoken and the winner of the audience award is Mellom oss, directed by Charlotte Røhder Tvedt. Producer Mari Monrad Visten and production company Medieoperatørene.
We live in a time where we share more and more about ourselves on social media. But are we really getting any closer to each other? During the spring of 2016, filmmaker Charlotte Røhder Tvedt asked normal people across the country to film their world. The result is the first Norwegian documentary to consist of only crowdsourced video. Over 900 submissions has become one story, assembled by a skilled filmmaker with an eye for connections and contrasts. Read more here.
