Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival
| Location | Yamagata, Japan |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1989 |
| Number of films | 238 |
| Language | International |
| Website | http://www.yidff.jp/home-e.html |
The Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival is a documentary film festival held biennially in Yamagata, Japan (38°15′N 140°20′E / 38.250°N 140.333°E ).
It was first held in October 1989, which makes it one of the longest running documentary film festivals in the world and the most distinguished such festival in Asia. Its emphasis is on showcasing best achievements in documentary filmmaking, as well as promoting and popularizing the genre and documentary filmmaking in the region.
The festival was most recently held in October 2007. 1,633 films from 109 countries were submitted, with 238 films screened as part of the international and regional competitions. The festival attracted an audience of around 23,000 people.[1] Since 2001, the competition includes films shot in DV. In 1991, a Young Asian Talents section was established.[2]
Awards
A number of prizes are awarded at the festival, including:
- For films in the international competition:
- Robert and Frances Flaherty Prize (The Grand Prize)
- Mayor's Prize (Prize of Excellence)
- Special Jury Prize
- Runner-up Prize
- For films in the regional competition:
- Shinsuke Ogawa Award, for new up-and-coming Asian filmmakers
- Overall:
- Citizens' Prize, voted for by the festival audiences
Award winners
1989 YIDFF
The first festival edition was held 10–15 October 1989. Along with the competition screenings, the festival hosted a retrospective of films by Robert and Frances Flaherty and a comprehensive screening of Japanese documentaries from the first half of the 20th century. In total, 80 films were seen by an audience of around 12,000.
| Award | Film | Director |
|---|---|---|
(The Grand Prize) |
(Skersiela) |
 Ivars Seleckis |
(Award of Excellence) |
 Robert Kramer | |
(Het Oog boven de put) Nobody Listened (Nadie escuchaba) Weapons of the Spirit (Les Armes de l'esprit) |
 Johan van der Keuken
| |
(Tiden har inget namn) |
 Stefan Jarl | |
 Christine Lloyd-Fitt, & Yoshi Tezuka | ||
(Les Armes de l'esprit) |
Pierre Sauvage | |
1991 YIDFF
The second festival edition was held 7–13 October 1991. Along with the competition screenings, the festival hosted a program devoted solely to Asian films, as well as a selection of Japanese films from the post-WWII period. In total, 153 films were shown, which attracted an audience of around 14,000.
| Award | Film | Director |
|---|---|---|
(The Grand Prize) |
 Béla Szobolits | |
(Award of Excellence) |
(Ha-Behirah V'Hagoral) |
 Sibylle Schönemann |
OnceThere Were Seven Simeons (Reiz dzivoja septini Simeoni) |
 Barbara Kopple Herz Frank, & Vladimir Eisner | |
(Le Cantique des pierres) |
 Michel Khleifi | |
(Kutty Japanin Kuzhandaigal) |
 Chalam Bennurkar | |
(Kutty Japanin Kuzhandaigal) |
Chalam Bennurkar | |
1993 YIDFF
The third festival edition was held 5–11 October 1993. Along with the competition screenings, the festival hosted a selection of Asian films, as well as a selection of films focusing on native peoples from North and South America, New Zealand, Australia and Japan. The Shinsuke Ogawa Award for most promising Asian film director in the New Asian Currents program was introduced. In total, 139 films were shown. As an illustrative example, one of the official selections, Le pays des sourds (In the Land of the Deaf) focused primarily on Deaf communities in France; but the documentary also featured a brief segment identifying commonalities in French Sign Language and Japanese Sign Language. The event attracted an audience of around 20,000 people.
| Award | Film | Director |
|---|---|---|
(The Grand Prize) |
 Robin Anderson Bob Connolly | |
(Award of Excellence) |
Frederick Wiseman | |
(Agano ni ikiru) Loss Is to Be Expected (Mit Verlust ist zu rechnen) |
Makoto Satō
| |
(Le Cantique des pierres) |
 Aleksandr Sokurov | |
 Wu Wenguang | ||
(Raam Ke Naam) |
Anand Patwardhan | |
1995 YIDFF
The fourth festival edition was held 3–9 October 1995. Along with the competition screenings, the festival hosted a retrospective of films from the early days of cinema in honor of the Lumière brothers' cinematograph centennial. In total, 278 films were shown, which attracted an audience of around 21,000 people.
| Award | Film | Director |
|---|---|---|
(The Grand Prize) |
(Ha-Behirah V'Hagoral) |
 Tsipi Reibenbach |
(Award of Excellence) |
(Metaal en melancholie) |
Heddy Honigmann |
(Drehbuch - Die Zeiten) Picture of Light |
Barbara Junge, & Winfried Junge Peter Mettler | |
(Pitra, Putra Aur Dharamyuddha) |
Anand Patwardhan | |
(Najeun moksori) |
 Byun Young-Joo | |
(Drehbuch - Die Zeiten) |
Barbara Junge, & Winfried Junge | |
(Guang Chang) Last Farewell USSR |
Duan Jinchuan, & Zhang Yuan Oleksandr Rodnyansky | |
Special Mention |
(Ni tsutsumarete) |
Naomi Kawase |
Scenes of Violence (Katatsumori) |
Oleksandr Rodnyansky Naomi Kawase | |
1997 YIDFF
The fifth festival edition was held 6–13 October 1997. In all competitions and programs 187 films were shown, and attendance was around 23,000.
| Award | Film | Director |
|---|---|---|
(The Grand Prize) |
(Shivrei T'munot Yerushalayim) |
Ron Havilio |
(Award of Excellence) |
(Afriques: Comment ça va avec la douleur?) |
Raymond Depardon |
(Papierove hlavy) Tu as crié: Let me go |
 Dušan Hanák
| |
ou l'amour joué? |
Frederick Wiseman | |
(Hui dao feng huang qiao) |
Li Hong | |
 Nick Deocampo | ||
(Wang hsiang) |
 Hsu Hsiao-ming | |
Special Mention |
Jon Jost | |
(Hui dao feng huang qiao) Neon Goddesses |
Li Hong
| |
1999 YIDFF
The sixth festival edition was held 19–25 October 1999. Apart from the usual international and regional competition programs, a retrospective of films by Joris Ivens was shown. In total 188 films were shown, and attendance was around 20,000.
| Award | Film | Director |
|---|---|---|
(The Grand Prize) |
(Buenos Aires, meine Geschichte) |
German Kral |
(Award of Excellence) |
Frederick Wiseman | |
(Kehrein, kehraus) Happy Birthday, Mr. Mograbi (Yom Huledet Same'ach Mar Mograbi) |
Gerd Kroske
| |
(Het Ondergrondse orkest) |
Heddy Honigmann | |
(Hui dao feng huang qiao) |
Wu Yao-tung | |
(Leve blant løver) |
 Sigve Endresen | |
Kim Longinotto Ziba Mir-Hosseini | ||
Special Mention |
(Atarashî kamisama) |
Yutaka Tsuchiya |
| Katsuyuki Hirano | ||
Special Mention |
I Love (080) |
Tetsuaki Matsue Yang Li-chou |
2001 YIDFF
The seventh festival edition was held 3–9 October 2001. Apart from the usual international and regional competition programs, retrospectives of films by Robert Kramer and Fumio Kamei were shown. In total 183 films were shown, and attendance was around 18,000.
| Award | Film | Director |
|---|---|---|
(The Grand Prize) |
(La Terre des âmes errantes) |
 Rithy Panh |
(Award of Excellence) |
(No Quarto da Vanda) |
 Pedro Costa |
(Dokfa nai meuman) 6 Easy Pieces |
 Apichatpong Weerasethakul
| |
| Tatsuya Mori | ||
| Melissa Kyu-Jung Lee | ||
| Tatsuya Mori | ||
(No Quarto da Vanda) My Friend Su |
Pedro Costa
| |
 Yasmine Kabir | ||
Special Mention |
Mysterious Object at Noon (Dokfa nai meuman) |
Kye Un-kyoung Apichatpong Weerasethakul |
2003 YIDFF
The eighth festival edition was held 10–16 October 2003. In total 177 films were shown, and attendance was around 19,000.
| Award | Film | Director |
|---|---|---|
(The Grand Prize) |
Wang Bing | |
(Award of Excellence) |
Steve James | |
S-21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine (S-21, la machine de mort Khmère rouge) |
Wu Yii-feng Rithy Panh | |
(Tehora) |
Anat Zuria | |
| Qing Sha | ||
(Tehora) |
Anat Zuria | |
| Li Lin | ||
Special Mention |
Tanon Sattarujawong | |
2005 YIDFF
The ninth festival edition was held 7–13 October 2005. Apart from the usual regional and international competition programs, the festival screened a selection of films about Zainichi Koreans, as well as screenings of personal documentaries in collaboration with Visions du réel. In total 145 films were shown, and attendance was around 20,000.
| Award | Film | Director |
|---|---|---|
(The Grand Prize) |
(Yan mo) |
Yifan Li Yu Yan |
(Award of Excellence) |
Journey in Palestine-Israel |
Michel Khleifi Eyal Sivan |
(Voorland) About a Farm (Hiljainen tila) |
Albert Elings, Eugenie Jansen
| |
 Hubert Sauper | ||
(Chizu to ujimushi) |
Haruyo Kato | |
| Wayne Coles-Janess | ||
(Chizu to ujimushi) |
Haruyo Kato | |
| Hubert Sauper | ||
2007 YIDFF
The tenth festival edition was held 4–11 October 2007. Apart from the usual regional and international competition programs, the festival also screened a program devoted to German documentaries focused on German history. In total 238 films were shown, and attendance was around 23,000.
| Award | Film | Director |
|---|---|---|
(The Grand Prize) |
(He Fengming) |
Wang Bing |
(Award of Excellence) |
(Encontros) |
Pierre-Marie Goulet |
(Potosi, le temps du voyage) M |
Ron Havilio
| |
(Tarachime) |
Naomi Kawase | |
| Feng Yan | ||
(Herr Pilipenko und sein U-Boot) Back Drop Kurdistan |
René Harder, & Jan Hinrik Drevs Masaru Nomoto | |
| Feng Yan | ||
2015
The next film festival will be held in October 2015.
References
- ↑ "YIDFF 2007 Information". Yamagata IDFF. 2007-10-11. Retrieved 2008-03-04.
- ↑ Lamant, Ludovic. "Words from a festival programmer". Cahiers du cinéma (Cannes). Special Issue (May 2008): 20. ISSN 0008-011X.