Tampere Film Festival Grand Prix goes to Das Rotohr by Paul Drey

Tampere Film Festival’s International Competition Grand Prix goes to the animation documentary film Das Rotohr (Germany 2022) by Paul Drey. The film also received the Tampere Short Film Candidacy for the European Film Awards 2023 and the Audience Award of the International Competition.

“Das Rotohr is a documentary that for us must carry the voice of the Europe we dream of, and that manages to do so through a formally rich, intelligent and deeply human film”, the International Jury of the Festival describes.

Koerkorter (Estonia 2022) by Priit Tender won the Best Animation Category Prize and the Best Documentary Category Prize went to Away (Hungary, Portugal, Belgium) by Ruslan Fedotow. The Best Fiction Category Prize was awarded to Nathan Carreon Lim’s Did It Hurt? (Philippines, Thailand 2022).

The International Jury also wanted to give Special Mentions to three films: Scenic View (Finland 2023) by Maija Blåfield, Sombra Vertical (Chile 2022) by Felipe Elgueta and Ananke Pereira, and Det autentiska jaget (Sweden 2022) by Olof Bendz, Fred Bendz, Peter Malmgren and Simon Folger.

The International Jury consisted of Jason Anderson, Erkki Astala, Anissa Daoud, Urška Djukić and Sasha Prokopenko.

Carrion by Yvonne Zhang (United States 2022) won the Best Genre Film Award in the Generation XYZ Competition, organized in collaboration with American production company XYZ Films, Film Tampere and Audiovisual Producers Finland – APFI. Special mentions were handed out to Mantra by Stef Meyer and Pascal Bourelier (France 2022) and Heiki on the Other Side (Estonia 2022) by Katariina Aule.

Fanny Heinonen, Marina Richter and Saara Saarela were the members of the Generation XYZ Jury.

Orfeo (Mexico 2022) by Roberto Telles received the Audience Award of the International Competition.

National Competition

Scenic View by Maija Blåfield won the Main Prize in the National Competition’s under 30 minutes category. The National Jury appreciated the skillful way in which this film subverted genre expectations to create a humorous yet thought-provoking commentary on how we look at nature.

The Main Prize in the over 30 minutes category was awarded to Markus Toivo’s documentary Wanha Markku (Finland 2023): “It requires a lot of skill and also courage to take a deeply personal story and turn it into a film that speaks to a universal audience. The themes of family, parenthood and intergenerational trauma are portrayed in a painful yet hopeful way in this film”, the National Jury of the Festival described.

The cinematographer of Wanha Markku, Joel Grandell won the  Golden Shade Equipment Rental Prize (made possible by Valofirma the Light House and Kamerafirma the Camera House). The film won also the Church Media Foundation Prize, which was juried by Juha Rajamäki. 

The National Competition Special Prize in the under 30 minutes category was handed to Periaatekysymys (Finland 2022) by Anton Lipasti and Eetu Helenius, and Universumin kaiut – Kaija Saariahon musiikki (Finland 2022) by Riitta Rask won the Special Prize in the over 30 minutes category.

The National Competition Jury consisted of Anna Brotkin, Inga Diev and Arsi Keva.

Iiti Yli-Harja’s animation documentary film Blush – An Extraordinary Voyage (Finland 2022) received the Risto Jarva Prize. Anni Asikainen, Laura Kolbe and Mari Mantela were members of the Risto Jarva Jury.

Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle, City of Tampere, Tampere Film Festival and Audiovisual Producers Finland – APFI ry presented the Sustainability Award Verso for the second time this year. The award, the purpose of which is to promote responsible practices and sustainable development within the film industry, was awarded to the production team of Crime Alley (Finland 2022), directed by Pekka Johan Paalanen. The Special Mention was handed out to the production team of Tuulikki (Finland 2022), directed by Teemu Nikki. The Jury consisted of Otto Ikävalko, Anna-Katri Kulmala, Anne Puolanne and Irene Tommiska-Jarva.

The National Competition Student Award was handed to Blue Note (Finland 2022) by Pavel Andonov. The film was voted also as the Tampere Nominee for the European Short Film Audience Award, and it received the Prize of the Youth Jury. Youth Jury members were Konsta Airevuo, Oona Kaskinen, Emsi Rosenius, Lotta-Mari Saari and Henni Sainio.

Hassisen Kone 40 vuotta myöhemmin (Finland 2023) by Mika Kaurismäki won the National Competition Audience Award.

Awarded Films 2023

Edited 14 January 2024: The production country of Nathan Carreon Lim’s short film was corrected to Philippines and Thailand.