Amnesty International Slovenia Award

 

The Amnesty International Slovenia Award (AIS) for best human rights documentary was given to Blood Relation by Noa Ben Hagai, Israel 2009.

 

The award was presented by the Amnesty International Slovenia Director, Nataša Posel.

The jury comprised of Matjaž Hanžek, Peter Finnigan and Konrad Wirkowski deliberated on five competition films and selected Blood Relation by Israeli director Noa Ben Hagai.

Jury statement:

The jury believes that Blood Relation examines fundamental issues by utterly individually but matter-of-factly intertwining international and family lines.

There are not “add-ons” in the film – in his own way each film character experiences the crucial elements of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The film shows that transcending the limit and personal involvement constitute the first step towards a reciprocity. 

Special mention

Crude, Joe Berlinger, USA, 2009

Crude clearly and lucidly portrays the fight of the indigenous peoples in Amazonia against a multinational corporation.

The award was presented to Roman Lisac, Honorary Consul of the State of Israel to Slovenia.

FOREWORD

“Effaced” Stories

As an additional festival venue, the 12th Documentary Film Festival has for the second time running teamed up with the Kinodvor Cinema, apart from which for the second time it also proudly features a competitive section dedicated to human rights films. Indeed, the documentaries are perfectly suited for shedding light on the burning issues, where human rights play prominent role. Notwithstanding it is (too) often the case that the human rights issue is equated exclusively with different forms of physical abuse, e.g. torture or unjust prison sentence. What about the rest? Do not, for example, the curtailment of the right to a healthy diet, wilful pollution, misleading people and tampering with official data on hazardousness or preventing mixed religious and ethnic relationships have the same significance as a quick execution be it physical or ideological? This year’s festival, in its competitive as well as other sections, will feature these ‘borderline’ issues, often failing to be exposed by the media – as they lack the appropriate amount of scandalous nature.

I’ve repeatedly pointed out that documentary films have been ‘hot news’ lately, by which I do not mean merely their popularity commercially-wise, but mostly their importance as informative and enlightening beacons. At a time of so-called infotainment and corporate ownership/media control, when public announcement of news is predominantly conditioned by the widespread interest expressed by that same public, documentary film as a rule has become a far more significant source of information and especially a discloser of “effaced” stories.

Simon Popek


With the exception of Vapor Trail (Clark) (English subtitles) and Retrospective of Bosnian Documentary Film (original language), all films have Slovenian subtitles.