On the occasion of the closing ceremony held this Saturday, October 12, the jury of Fifac – Amazon-Caribbean International Documentary Film Festival, chaired by Gessica Généus, awarded the following prizes:
FIFAC Grand Prix – France Télévisions (feature films in competition)
The Vertigo Man de Malaury Eloy Paysley
Guadeloupe – France | 2023 | 1h34 | Creole, French | Athénaïse – Lyon Capitale TV
Vertigo is anxiety, a state of confusion, a temporary madness. These are the men who are going around in circles, trapped in Pointe-à-Pitre. For a long time, Eddy walked around it day and night. This city which was that of the people, of revolts crushed in blood. It is nothing more than a ghost town. And yet isn’t there something that resists the frenetic pace of change and that persists in the memories of fallen separatists like Ti Chal or in the silence of Kanpèch, a former worker at Darse? Seers anchored in a wavering city, holders of a memory buried in the folds of their silences, the meanders of their inner voices, the characters I film are suspended on the edge of the city’s abyss, on the edge of the chaos of the world. They become my anchor points, I join them, I listen to them, I follow in their footsteps and immerse myself in their gaze. Their vertigo is ours.
Jury Prize (feature films in competition)
Stranded by Nicos Argillet and Stéphane Corréa
Guyana – France | 2024 | 1h42 | Portuguese, French | YUZU Productions in co-production with Berenice Medias Corp., Compass Films, MAMO
In the heart of the Amazon, on the border between French Guiana and Suriname, illegal gold miners are destroying the tropical forest in the hope of a better life.
Special mention from the jury
Mother Snake de Tessa Leuwsha
Suriname – Netherlands | 2023 | 1h11 | Dutch, take resources | Pieter Van Huystee Film & TV
A woman looks back on her life, through narration and song. In Mama Sranan, director Tessa Leuwsha uses a stream of fascinating colorized archival footage to illustrate the lives of Surinamese women like her grandmother, who was a washerwoman. She was born in a hamlet in 1905 to a white mother and a black father – a shame. His father is forced to leave and his mother disappears in turn. She is scorned as a mixed-race person, does not go to school, and quickly becomes aware of the state of colonial relations (“we work and they watch”). She has a child whose father is still elsewhere, in the service of the Dutch. Determined to make the most of her life, she moved to Paramaribo, where she had three other children whom she raised alone. Meanwhile, she sees her country moving toward greater self-esteem. However, before Suriname’s independence in 1975, all her children left for the Netherlands and she ended up following them, with a heavy heart: “In Holland, paradise is like a shadow, just in front of you or behind you, never with YOU “. Despite everything, she finds a place that allows her to reconnect with her homeland, her spiritual roots and herself.
Best Short Film Award
Palomar by José Luis Jiménez Gómez
Cuba | 2023 | 13′ | Spanish | EICTV Cuba
In rural Cumanayagua, Cuba, Cristian (14) forms an emotional bond with pigeons when he builds a dovecote with his father. This relationship helps him maintain the memory of his murdered grandfather and heal the wounds of his past.
High school jury prize (feature films in competition)
Boss souls by François Perlier
Haiti – France | 2023 | 1h20 | Haitian Creole, French | Corpus Films with Bleu & Rouge Productions, with the participation of TV7 Bordeaux
The “bossales” were the African slaves who won the Haitian war of independence. This term now describes a rebellious person, like the protagonists of the film. Charlotte, human rights defender, Foukifoura, satirical columnist, Édris, videographer of the insurrection, Michou, worker struggling to survive, Ramoncite, enigmatic voodoo priest. In an explosive social context, they embody the soul of this country, an incandescent center of political and spiritual resistance.
Audience Award (Parallel Screens)
SAS passed by Chloé Bebronne
Guyana I 2023 I 52′ I French | Kanopé Films – Real Productions – France Télévisions, Guyana La 1era
In 2006, in the heart of Guyana, a group of urban music enthusiasts decided to create an independent production label: SAS Prod. In just a few years, SAS Prod has become an institution in Guyana. He launched the careers of dozens of local artists and obtained recognition from the general public and professionals. But this dream gradually transformed into a nightmare before finally imploding in 2016. What happened? Today, the ex-members of SAS Prod come together one last time around a project to look back on this intense moment in their lives. What do they remember from this experience? This film takes us to the heart of an extraordinary human adventure, which, for 10 years, carried the crazy dream of bringing musical production to life in Cayenne, 8,000 km from the decision-making centers of France…
france.tv
