GRAND PRIZE «LE REGARD D’OR»
«Le Regard d’Or» (Golden Gaze) or Grand Prize of the
Fribourg International Film Festival, consists of CHF
30,000, the State of Fribourg contributing CHF
20,000 and the Municipality of Fribourg, CHF 10,000.
This award is conferred on the director (CHF 20,000)
and the producer (CHF 10,000) of the winning film
designated by the International Jury.

The members of the International Jury of the 22nd
Fribourg International Film Festival are:
Celina Murga (president)
Hugues de Wurstemberger
Prune Engler
Michel Khleifi
Tobias Noelle

This award goes to: "Flower in the Pocket"
Directed by: Liew Seng Tat
Malaysia, 2007
The director managed to take a tender and poetic
look at a complex and rich particularity of his society,
without forgetting the cinematographic adventure.

SPECIAL MENTION: "Geomen Tangyi Sonyeo Oi" (With the Girl of Black Soil)
Directed by: Jeon Soo-il
South Korea / France, 2007
The International Jury awards a special mention to
"With the Girl of Black Soil" for the extraordinary
performance of the young actress who guides us
through her world of human misery.

SPECIAL JURY AWARD GRANTED BY THE SSA AND SUISSIMAGE
This award (CHF 5,000) is conferred by the Swiss
Authors Society (Societe Suisse des Auteurs – SSA)
and Suissimage on the director of the winning film
designated by the International Jury for inventiveness
in script and directing, for renewal of cinematographic
language or for thematic and formal audacity.

This award goes to: "El Camino"
Directed by: Ishtar Yasin
Costa Rica, 2008

The film draws its power from the thin line between
fiction and documentary, between poetry and reality.

THE SWISS OIKOCREDIT AWARD
This award, conferred by the International Jury,
amounts to 5,000 Swiss francs. Oikocredit grants
loans, especially micro credit, to the neediest, the
nonbankables, to give them at last a chance to grow.
Priority goes to groups for the realization of their fare
trade projects and to micro-finance institutions. In this
spirit, the prize is bestowed upon a male or female
producer whose financial support enabled a male or
female director to complete his or her first or second
long feature.

This award goes to: "He Fengming
Fengming, Chronicle of a Chinese Woman"
Directed by: Wang Bing
China, 2007
An exceptional and touching testimony, presented in
a minimal, daring and radical form.

AUDIENCE AWARD
This award (CHF 5,000) is bestowed by the Swiss
Federal Agency for Development and Cooperation on
the director of the film selected by the public.

This award goes to: "La Zona"
Directed by: Rodrigo Pla
Mexico, 2007

ECUMENICAL JURY AWARD
This award (CHF 5,000) is conferred jointly by two
organisations of development, «Action de Careme»
(Catholic) and «Pain pour le Prochain» (Protestant), to
the director whose film best reflects the values upon
which these two organizations are basing their
support of the struggle of poor populations in African,
Asian or Latin American countries. The Ecumenical
Jury is composed of a representative of the two
associations, and a representative each of the Swiss
Catholic Media Agency and the Protestant Cinema
Agency.

The members of the Ecumenical Jury of the 22nd
Fribourg International Film Festival are:
Jean-Michel Zucker (president)
Regine Luthy
Bernadette Meier

This award goes to: "El Camino"
Directed by: Ishtar Yasin
Costa Rica, 2008
This award goes to the film El Camino by Ishtar Yasin
for the universal nature of its denunciation of the
scourge called sexual child abuse and the silence that
surrounds it, by showing the courage and the
determination of a twelve year old girl and her mute
brother. With the sophistication of the subjective
image reflecting the children’s look at the enigmatic
adult world, the director tells a true tale without
pathos or vain pedagogy, the poetic transposition of
which is undertaken with purely cinematic means.

SPECIAL MENTION

"He Fengming Fengming, Chronicle of a Chinese Woman"
Directed by: Wang Bing
China, 2007
For the courageous restitution of half a century of
China’s Maoist history with a quite conceptional
cinematographic installation that depicts the painful
relationship of a woman with her personal history that
became a daily struggle. The exaltation of the
extreme richness of her emotions and notably of her
conjugal love adds a particular spark to this shattering
testimony.

THE FIPRESCI JURY AWARD
Conferred by the representatives of the International
Federation of the Cinematographic Press, this award
aims to promote cinema as an art and encourage
new, young cinematographers.

The members of the FIPRESCI Jury of the 22nd
Fribourg International Film Festival are:
Jose Carlos Avellar (president)
Lotfi Ben Khelifa
Malvina Grochowska
Claude Loser
Leo Soesanto

This award goes to: "Geomen Tangyi Sonyeo Oi" (With the Girl of Black Soil)
Directed by: Jeon Soo-il
South Korea / France, 2007
From a number of impressive films that let the
audience freely interpret their subject matter as they
were openly constructed, one was finally chosen – for
its humanistic and cinematographic qualities, for its
intelligent use of silence, elliptic narration and off-
screen information, the Jury decided to honour With
the Girl of Black Soil by Jeon Soo-il.

E-CHANGER AWARD
Conferred by E-CHANGER, a Fribourg-based agency
of North-South co-operation, this award (CHF 5,000)
is bestowed by the Youth Jury. Its aim is to
encourage the younger people to express themselves
at the festival, but also to give preference to a film that
takes into account the problems they encounter in
today’s world. It is bent on awakening students and
apprentices to the fact that, beyond entertainment,
cinema is an irreplaceable means to discover the
riches of other cultures and to learn tolerance and
justice.

The members of the E-CHANGER Jury of the 22nd
Fribourg International Film Festival are:
Shendra Stucki (president)
Aline Baeriswyl
Pablo Ferrari
David Muhlemann
Vincent Saerens
Julien Tannier
Katarina Tereh

This award goes to: "God Man Dog"
Directed by: Singing Chen
Taiwan, 2007
Many films would have deserved the award of the
Youth Jury, but we had to make a choice, and it was
not an easy one. After a long and passionate
discussion we decided to award the film "God Man
Dog," a Taiwanese fiction by Singing Chen.

We appreciated the originality of its script, its images
and its characters. The filmmaker managed to create
a specific mood that deeply touched us. The
presence of music increased the emotional power of
many scenes. The subtle humur added a lighter
touch to some of the sad situations of the film. The
film also embraces a number of different and universal
topics that everyone can identify with.

FICC «DON QUIJOTE AWARD»
The members of the IFFS (International Federation of
the Film Societies) are:
Regula Treichler (president)
Ursula Philipp-Schurmann
Christi Grunwald-Merz

This award goes to: "Geomen Tangyi Sonyeo Oi" (With the Girl of Black Soil)
Directed By: Jeon Soo-il
South Korea, 2007
The film depicts the family life of a nine year old girl,
living with her father and her mentally retarded brother
in a mining village. The growing responsibility for her
brother and her everyday life become unbearable: the
father loses his job at the mine and - after some
additional blows of fate - increasingly resorts to
alcohol. The maternal, caring attitude of the girl finally
leads to radical decisions.

The powerful images of the dying industrial landscape
reflect the story in an impressive way. The film delivers
a convincing and respectful representation of the
protagonists, whose integrity is never betrayed. At the
same time, the director has created a work of global
validity.

SPECIAL MENTION: "He Fengming Fengming, Chronicle of a Chinese Woman"
Directed by: Wang Bing
China, 2007

In deliberately static shots, this three hour
documentary creates enough space for seventy year
old Chinese woman He Fengming to talk about her
life and about her fate during the phases of cleansing.

We believe that this film deserves particular
recognition as a historic document and as a personal
testimony.

Grand Prix “Le Regard D’or”
«Le Regard d’Or» or Grand Prix of the Fribourg International Film Festival is granted by the State of Fribourg (20’000 CHF), and the Municipality of Fribourg (10’000 CHF). This amount is given to the director (20’000 CHF) and the producer (10’000 CHF) of the winning film selected by the International Jury.

The members of the International Jury of the 21st Fribourg International Film Festival are: Francois Verster, Chris Fujiwara, Ana Katz, Jacqueline Veuve and Freddie Wong

The award goes to:
“A Casa de Alice” (Alice’s House)
Directed by: Chico Teixeira (Brazil, 2006)
For its intimacy, complexity, superb acting and precise point of view on a universal human story
.
Special Mention:
“Sang Sattawat” (Syndromes and a Century)
Directed by: Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Thailand/France/Austria, 2006)
The International Jury gives a Special Mention to Syndromes and a Century by Apichatpong Weerasethakul for its mastery of filmic language and profound expression of a personal sensibility.

Special Jury Award Granted By Ssa And Suissimage:
This award consists of 5’000 CHF given by the Swiss Authors’ Society (Société Suisse des Auteurs) and by Suissimage to the director of the winning film selected by the International Jury for inventiveness in script-writing and directing, for renewal of cinematographic language or for thematic and formal audacity. This award goes to:

“Roma wa la n’touma” (Rome Rather Than You)
Directed by: Tariq Teguia (Algeria/France/Germany, 2006)
For its rich filmic texture, emotional power and bold and striking interplay of sound and image.

Special Mention:
“Jin tian de yu zen me yang?” (How is Your Fish Today?)
Directed by: Guo Xiaolu (Great Britain/China, 2006)
The International Jury gives a Special Mention in the Special Jury Award category to How is Your Fish Today? by Guo Xiaolu for its sense of humour, its visual poetry and its innovative juxtaposition of narrative layers.

The Swiss Oikocredit Award:
This prize, conferred by the International Jury and consisting of 10’000 CHF, is bestowed upon a producer thanks to whom a director was able to finish his or her first or second film. Oikocredit places its confidence in and finances non-bankable projects.
This award goes to:
“Love Conquers All“
Directed by: Tan Chui Mui (Malaysia, 2006)
The International Jury gives the Swiss Oikocredit Award to Love Conquers All by Tan Chui Mui for its effective use of ambiguity and irony in constructing a surprising and subtly elliptical narrative.

Special Mention:
“Malon Tisha’a Kochavim” (9 Star Hotel)
Directed by: Ido Haar
Israel, 2006
For its concrete and engrossing documentary depiction of Palestinian workers risking arrest in order to earn their livelihoods, the International Jury gives a Special Mention in the Swiss Oikocredit Award category to Ido Haar’s “9 Star Hotel.”

Audience Award:
This award, consisting of 5’000 CHF, is bestowed by the Swiss Federal Agency for Development and Cooperation on the director of the film selected by the public. The members of the International Jury of the 21st Fribourg International Film Festival are:
Chantal Kolly (Jury Deliberation Mediator), Madeleine Bex, Marie Bruchez, Oliver Füglister, Samuel Jordan, Hansjürg Mischler, Patrick Monney, Laurence Schaller and Christian Scheuner

This award goes to:
“El Otro” (The Other)
Directed by: Ariel Rotter (Argentina, 2007)
“The Other” can be anyone of us, near or far. Who has never tried in the space of an instant to escape from their day-to-day reality? “The Other” is a sober film, with no frills, with few words and with little music, but it is a film with richly charged moments of silence.

Special Mention:
“Junun” (Dementia)
Directed by: Fadhel Jaibi (Tunisia, 2006)
Dementia is a film that leaves none indifferent. One loves it or hates it.
The film forces us to confront a bipolar reality, once dark, once light, a reality too often repressed.

Ecumenical Jury Award:
This award consisting of 5’000 CHF, is conferred jointly by two institutions working in development cooperation, «Action de Carême» and «Pain pour le Prochain», to the director whose film best reflects the working criteria of the two institutions in the field of North-South cooperation. The members of the Ecumenical Jury of the 21st Fribourg International Film Festival are:
Hilde Van Liempt, Arnaud Bénureau, Myriam Bouverat, Trudie Joras

This Award goes to:
“Le Cercle des Noyés” (The Drowned Men)
Directed by: Pierre-Yves Vandeweerd (Belgium/France, 2007)
For the director’s desire to bring to light lesser-known subjects often ignored. For the voice given to black intellectuals affirming their rightful place in Mauritanian society. For the description of a forgotten past or a past “to forget”, fashioned in black and white silent images. In an uncomplicated style and with a respectful distance that always places the individual at the centre of his work, the director resuscitates those that the government attempted to strip of their humanity in the late 1980’s.

Special Mention:
“Junun” (Dementia)
Directed by: Fadhel Jaibi (Tunisia, 2006)

For its radical form and its literary force in service of a no holds barred critique of the contradictions of Tunisian politics.

The Fipresci Jury Award:

Bestowed by representatives of the International Federation of the Film Press, this award aims to promote cinema as an art and to encourage new, young filmmakers. The members of the FIPRESCI Jury of the 21st Fribourg International Film Festival are: Pamela Biénzobas, Sergei Anashkin, Pradip Biswas and Hassen Euchi

This Award goes to:
Le Cercle des noyés
The Drowned Men
Directed by: Pierre-Yves Vandeweerd (Belgium/France, 2007)
Given for its masterfully balanced use of film as a form of art and a vehicle for memory and political awareness, and for its beautiful and sober proposal of how to represent the tortured and the disappeared body through the image.

E-Changer Award:
Given by E-CHANGER and consisting of 5’000 CHF this award is bestowed by the Youth Jury. Its aim is to encourage youth to express themselves at the festival, but also to give preference to a film that takes into account the problems they encounter in today’s world.

The members of the E-CHANGER Jury of the 21st Fribourg
International Film Festival are: Charles Bourrier, Fabrice Berset, Arnaud Brochu, Caroline Cho, Filippo Demarchi, Xuan Nhi Duong, Teng Kai Ly and Mark Olexa

This Award goes to:
“A Casa de Alice” (Alice’s House)
Chico Teixeira (Brazil, 2006)
The simplicity with which the filmmaker actively engages the audience in his depiction of one family underscores the fascinating realism of the film.
The film carries the spectator into the day-to-day life of a middle class Brazilian family and its problems. The camera pierces into the intimate lives of the characters revealing both their strengths and weaknesses. One becomes attached to the characters and becomes a member of the family. Nothing is superfluous- the only music that one hears is that of the radio. Chico Teixeira has delivered a subtle and intimate film.

Special Mention:
“Ichijiku no kao “ (Faces of a Fig Tree)
Kaori Momoi (Japan, 2006)

The Youth Jury’s choice to award the film with a Special Mention reflects the Jury’s desire to encourage the filmmaker in her current direction. The Jury found that the film possesses much strength, ranging from its accomplished photographic composition, its well-honed, colorful filmic reality, to its strong ever present symbolism. The film also alludes to a sort of stylistic melting pot ranging from pop art in its treatment of color to “Manga” in its stylized, exaggerated performances. In conclusion, it is a beautiful film that proposes an innovative and fresh approach to cinema.

The IFFS Jury “Don Quijote Award:”
The IFFS Jury of the 21st Fribourg International Film Festival is composed of: Peter Cargin, Simon Baumgartner, Robin Schellenberg
This Award goes to:
“Le Cercle des Noyés” (The Drowned Men)
Pierre-Yves Vandeweerd (Belgium/France, 2007)
Given for the sobriety of its tone in recounting through collective witnesses, a story of man’s inhumanity to his fellow man. The film gives substance to memories which otherwise might have vanished.

Special Mention:
“El Otro” (The Other)
Directed by: Ariel Rotter (Argentina, 2007)
For its depiction of a man at the centre point of his life, who steps out of routine, and assuming others identities, finds a positive role in life again.