Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival

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 / 38.250; 140.333 ).

Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival
LocationYamagata, Japan
Founded1989
No. of films238
LanguageInternational
Websitehttp://www.yidff.jp/home-e.html

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 the 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

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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:
  • Overall:
    • Citizens' Prize, voted for by the festival audiences

Award winners

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1989 YIDFF

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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
Robert and Frances Flaherty Prize
(The Grand Prize)
The Crossroad Street
(Skersiela)
  Ivars Seleckis
Mayor's Prize
(Award of Excellence)
Route One USA
  Robert Kramer
Runner-up Prize
The Eye above the Well
(Het Oog boven de put)
Nobody Listened
(Nadie escuchaba)
Weapons of the Spirit
(Les Armes de l'esprit)
  Johan van der Keuken

  Jorge Ulla, &
  Néstor Almendros
  Pierre Sauvage

Special Jury Prize
Time Has No Name
(Tiden har inget namn)
  Stefan Jarl
Encouragement Prize
Over the Threshold
  Christine Lloyd-Fitt, &
  Yoshi Tezuka
Citizens' Prize
Weapons of the Spirit
(Les Armes de l'esprit)
  Pierre Sauvage

1991 YIDFF

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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
Robert and Frances Flaherty Prize
(The Grand Prize)
Stubborn Dreams
  Béla Szobolits
Mayor's Prize
(Award of Excellence)
Locked-Up Time
(Ha-Behirah V'Hagoral)
  Sibylle Schönemann
Runner-up Prize
American Dream
OnceThere Were Seven Simeons
(Reiz dzivoja septini Simeoni)
  Barbara Kopple
  Herz Frank, &
  Vladimir Eisner
Special Jury Prize
Canticle of the Stones
(Le Cantique des pierres)
  Michel Khleifi
Encouragement Prize
Children of Mini-Japan
(Kutty Japanin Kuzhandaigal)
  Chalam Bennurkar
Citizens' Prize
Children of Mini-Japan
(Kutty Japanin Kuzhandaigal)
  Chalam Bennurkar

1993 YIDFF

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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
Robert and Frances Flaherty Prize
(The Grand Prize)
  Robin Anderson
  Bob Connolly
Mayor's Prize
(Award of Excellence)
Zoo
  Frederick Wiseman
Runner-up Prize
Living on the River Agano
(Agano ni ikiru)
Loss Is to Be Expected
(Mit Verlust ist zu rechnen)
  Makoto Satō

  Ulrich Seidl

Special Jury Prize
Elegy from Russia
(Le Cantique des pierres)
  Aleksandr Sokurov
Shinsuke Ogawa Award
My Time with the Red Guards
  Wu Wenguang
Citizens' Prize
In the Name of God
(Raam Ke Naam)
  Anand Patwardhan

1995 YIDFF

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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
Robert and Frances Flaherty Prize
(The Grand Prize)
Choice and Destiny
(Ha-Behirah V'Hagoral)
  Tsipi Reibenbach
Mayor's Prize
(Award of Excellence)
Metal and Melancholy
(Metaal en melancholie)
  Heddy Honigmann
Runner-up Prize
Screenplay: The Times
(Drehbuch - Die Zeiten)
Picture of Light
  Barbara Junge, &
  Winfried Junge
  Peter Mettler
Special Jury Prize
Father, Son, and Holy War
(Pitra, Putra Aur Dharamyuddha)
  Anand Patwardhan
Shinsuke Ogawa Award
The Murmuring
(Najeun moksori)
  Byun Young-Joo
Citizens' Prize
Screenplay: The Times
(Drehbuch - Die Zeiten)
  Barbara Junge, &
  Winfried Junge
FIPRESCI Award
The Square
(Guang Chang)
Last Farewell USSR
  Duan Jinchuan, &
  Zhang Yuan
  Oleksandr Rodnyansky
FIPRESCI
Special Mention
Embracing
(Ni tsutsumarete)
  Naomi Kawase
We Love Cinema Award
Last Farewell USSR
Scenes of Violence
(Katatsumori)
  Oleksandr Rodnyansky
  Naomi Kawase

1997 YIDFF

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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
Robert and Frances Flaherty Prize
(The Grand Prize)
Fragments: Jerusalem
(Shivrei T'munot Yerushalayim)
  Ron Havilio
Mayor's Prize
(Award of Excellence)
Africa, How Are You with Pain?
(Afriques: Comment ça va avec la douleur?)
  Raymond Depardon
Runner-up Prize
Paper Heads
(Papierove hlavy)
Tu as crié: Let me go
  Dušan Hanák

  Anne Claire Poirier

Special Jury Prize
La Comédie-Française
ou l'amour joué?
  Frederick Wiseman
Shinsuke Ogawa Award
Out of Phoenix Bridge
(Hui dao feng huang qiao)
  Li Hong
Citizens' Prize
Private Wars
  Nick Deocampo
FIPRESCI Award
Homesick Eyes
(Wang hsiang)
  Hsu Hsiao-ming
FIPRESCI
Special Mention
London Brief
  Jon Jost
We Love Cinema Award
Out of Phoenix Bridge
(Hui dao feng huang qiao)
Neon Goddesses
  Li Hong

  Yu Lik-wai

1999 YIDFF

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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
Robert and Frances Flaherty Prize
(The Grand Prize)
Images of the Absence
(Buenos Aires, meine Geschichte)
  German Kral
Mayor's Prize
(Award of Excellence)
Belfast, Maine
  Frederick Wiseman
Runner-up Prize
Sweep It Up, Swig It Down
(Kehrein, kehraus)
Happy Birthday, Mr. Mograbi
(Yom Huledet Same'ach Mar Mograbi)
  Gerd Kroske

  Avi Mograbi

Special Jury Prize
The Underground Orchestra
(Het Ondergrondse orkest)
  Heddy Honigmann
Shinsuke Ogawa Award
Swimming on the Highway
(Hui dao feng huang qiao)
  Wu Yao-tung
Citizens' Prize
Living Amongst Lions
(Leve blant løver)
  Sigve Endresen
FIPRESCI Award
Divorce Iranian Style
  Kim Longinotto
  Ziba Mir-Hosseini
FIPRESCI
Special Mention
The New God
(Atarashî kamisama)
  Yutaka Tsuchiya
NETPAC Award
Shiro the White
  Katsuyuki Hirano
NETPAC
Special Mention
Annyong-Kimchi
I Love (080)
  Tetsuaki Matsue
  Yang Li-chou

2001 YIDFF

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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
Robert and Frances Flaherty Prize
(The Grand Prize)
The Land of the Wandering Souls
(La Terre des âmes errantes)
  Rithy Panh
Mayor's Prize
(Award of Excellence)
In Vanda’s Room
(No Quarto da Vanda)
  Pedro Costa
Runner-up Prize
Mysterious Object at Noon
(Dokfa nai meuman)
6 Easy Pieces
  Apichatpong Weerasethakul

  Jon Jost

Special Jury Prize
A2
  Tatsuya Mori
Shinsuke Ogawa Award
Soshin: In Your Dreams
  Melissa Kyu-Jung Lee
Citizens' Prize
A2
  Tatsuya Mori
FIPRESCI Award
In Vanda’s Room
(No Quarto da Vanda)
My Friend Su
  Pedro Costa

  Neeraj Bhasin

NETPAC Award
My Migrant Soul
  Yasmine Kabir
NETPAC
Special Mention
Pansy & Ivy
Mysterious Object at Noon
(Dokfa nai meuman)
  Kye Un-kyoung
  Apichatpong Weerasethakul

2003 YIDFF

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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
Robert and Frances Flaherty Prize
(The Grand Prize)
  Wang Bing
Mayor's Prize
(Award of Excellence)
  Steve James
Runner-up Prize
Gift of Life
S-21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine
(S-21, la machine de mort Khmère rouge)
  Wu Yii-feng
  Rithy Panh
Special Jury Prize
Purity
(Tehora)
  Anat Zuria
Shinsuke Ogawa Award
Wellspring
  Qing Sha
Citizens' Prize
Purity
(Tehora)
  Anat Zuria
FIPRESCI Award
Three-Five People
  Li Lin
FIPRESCI Award
Special Mention
A Short Journey
  Tanon Sattarujawong

2005 YIDFF

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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
Robert and Frances Flaherty Prize
(The Grand Prize)
Before the Flood
(Yan mo)
  Yifan Li
  Yu Yan
Mayor's Prize
(Award of Excellence)
Route 181: Fragments of a
Journey in Palestine-Israel
  Michel Khleifi
  Eyal Sivan
Runner-up Prize
Foreland
(Voorland)
About a Farm
(Hiljainen tila)
  Albert Elings, Eugenie Jansen

  Mervi Junkkonen

Special Jury Prize
  Hubert Sauper
Shinsuke Ogawa Award
The Cheese and the Worms
(Chizu to ujimushi)
  Haruyo Kato
Citizens' Prize
  Wayne Coles-Janess
FIPRESCI Award
The Cheese and the Worms
(Chizu to ujimushi)
  Haruyo Kato
Community Cinema Award
  Hubert Sauper

2007 YIDFF

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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
Robert and Frances Flaherty Prize
(The Grand Prize)
  Wang Bing
Mayor's Prize
(Award of Excellence)
Encounters
(Encontros)
  Pierre-Marie Goulet
Runner-up Prize
Potosi: The Journey
(Potosi, le temps du voyage)
M
  Ron Havilio

  Nicolás Prividera

Special Jury Prize
Tarachime birth/mother
(Tarachime)
  Naomi Kawase
Shinsuke Ogawa Award
  Feng Yan
Citizens' Prize
Mr. Pilipenko and His Submarine
(Herr Pilipenko und sein U-Boot)
Back Drop Kurdistan
  René Harder, &
  Jan Hinrik Drevs
  Masaru Nomoto
Community Cinema Award
Bingai
  Feng Yan

2009 YIDFF

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October 8–15, 2009[3]

Award Film Director
Prizes for the International Competition
Robert and Frances Flaherty Prize
(The Grand Prize)
Encirclement—Neo-Liberalism Ensnares Democracy Richard Brouillette (Canada)
Mayor's Prize
Oblivion Heddy Honigmann (Netherlands/Germany)
Special Jury Prize Japan: A Story of Love and Hate Sean McAllister (UK/Japan)
New Asian Currents Awards
Shinsuke Ogawa Award American Alley Kim Dong-ryung (Korea)
Citizens' Prize Japan: A Story of Love and Hate Sean McAllister (UK/Japan)
Yuri—About Loving Azuma Mieko (Germany)
Community Cinema Award Bilal Sourav Sarangi (India)
Directors' Guild of Japan Award Doctor Ma’s Country Clinic Cong Feng (China)

2011 YIDFF

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October 6–13, 2011[4]

Award Film Director
Prizes for the International Competition
Robert and Frances Flaherty Prize
(The Grand Prize)
The Collaborator and His Family Ruthie Shatz, Adi Barash (USA/Israel/France)
Mayor's Prize
Nostalgia for the Light Patricio Guzmán (France/Germany/Chile)
Awards of Excellence Apuda He Yuan
The Woman with the 5 Elephants Vadim Jendreyko (Switzerland/Germany)
Special Jury Prize Distinguished Flying Cross Travis Wilkerson (USA)
New Asian Currents Awards
Shinsuke Ogawa Award Yuguo and His Mother Gu Tao (China)
Citizens' Prize The Woman with the 5 Elephants Vadim Jendreyko
Iranian Cookbook Mohammad Shirvani (Iran)
Community Cinema Award Iranian Cookbook Mohammad Shirvani
Directors' Guild of Japan Award Prison and Paradise Daniel Rudi Haryanto (Indonesia)

2013 YIDFF

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October 10–17, 2013[5]

Award Film Director
Prizes for the International Competition
Robert and Frances Flaherty Prize
(The Grand Prize)
A World Not Ours Mahdi Fleifel
Mayor's Prize
The Act of Killing Joshua Oppenheimer
Awards of Excellence Revision Philip Scheffner
The Other Day Ignacio Agüero
Special Jury Prize Tour of Duty Kim Dong-ryung, Park Kyoung-tae
New Asian Currents Awards
Shinsuke Ogawa Award Mrs. Bua’s Carpet Duong Mong Thu
Awards of Excellence Raging Land 3: Three Valleys Chan Yin Kai, Choi Yuen Villagers
Mohtarama Malek Shafi’i, Diana Saqeb
Special Mentions War Is a Tender Thing Adjani Arumpac
Citizens' Prize The Punk Syndrome Jukka Kärkkäinen, J-P Passi
The Targeted Village Mikami Chie
Community Cinema Award We Want (U) to Know Ella Pugliese, Nou Va, The people of Thnol Lok
Directors' Guild of Japan Award The Targeted Village Mikami Chie

2015 YIDFF

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October 8–15, 2015[6]

Award Film Director
Prizes for the International Competition
Robert and Frances Flaherty Prize
(The Grand Prize)
Horse Money Pedro Costa
Mayor's Prize
The Pearl Button Patricio Guzmán
Awards of Excellence Homeland (Iraq Year Zero) Abbas Fahdel
Silvered Water, Syria Self-Portrait Ossama Mohammed, Wiam Simav Bedirxan
Special Jury Prize Us women . Them women Julia Pesce
New Asian Currents Awards
Shinsuke Ogawa Award Standing Men Maya Abdul-Malak
Awards of Excellence Snakeskin Daniel Hui
Each Story Okuma Katsuya
Citizens' Prize Homeland (Iraq Year Zero) Abbas Fahdel
Directors' Guild of Japan Award My No-Mercy Home Aori

2017 YIDFF

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October 5–12, 2017[7]

Award Film Director
Prizes for the International Competition
Robert and Frances Flaherty Prize
(The Grand Prize)
Communion Anna Zamecka
Mayor's Prize
A Memory in Khaki Alfoz Tanjour
Awards of Excellence Lone Existence Sha Qing
I am Not Your Negro Raoul Peck
Special Jury Prize In the Intense Now João Moreira Salles
New Asian Currents Awards
Shinsuke Ogawa Award Yellowing Chan Tze-Woon
Awards of Excellence The Slice Room Song Yun-hyeok
Up Down & Sideways Anushka Meenakshi, Iswar Srikumar
Special Mentions Bamseom Pirates, Seoul Inferno Jung Yoon-suk
City of Jade Midi Z
Citizens' Prize Sennan Asbestos Disaster Hara Kazuo
Directors' Guild of Japan Award Up Down & Sideways Anushka Meenakshi, Iswar Srikumar

References

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  1. ^ "YIDFF 2007 Information". Yamagata IDFF. 2007-10-11. Retrieved 2008-03-04.
  2. ^ Lamant, Ludovic. "Words from a festival programmer". Cahiers du cinéma (May 2008 Special Issue). Cannes: 20. ISSN 0008-011X.
  3. ^ "YIDFF: Past Festivals: 2009". www.yidff.jp. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  4. ^ "YIDFF: Past Festivals: 2011". www.yidff.jp. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  5. ^ "YIDFF: Past Festivals: 2013". www.yidff.jp. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  6. ^ "YIDFF: Past Festivals: 2013". www.yidff.jp. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  7. ^ "YIDFF: Past Festivals: 2017". www.yidff.jp. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
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