For the tenth edition of the World Cinema Amsterdam (August 15-24, 2019), a film festival dedicated to films from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, a new award has been created. In collaboration with the festival INTERFILM member Het Filmgesprek initiated the World Cinema Exchange Award endowed with 2.500 € for the production of the next film of the winning director.
As winner of the 1st World Cinema Exchange Award the jury choose "A Tale of Three Sisters" (Kız Kardeşler) by Emin Alper from Turkey. "This film illustrates in a subtle and raw way the multiple dimensions of what it means to be human", the jury says in their motivation. "Through the convincing characters and stunning images the film portrays our human struggle to overcome our own limitations. Despite being set in a specific culture the film addresses universal themes. The relatability of the emotions in the film will stimulate discussion among viewers."
The Exchange Award provides a (further) stage for noticeable films about views on mankind and the world. The award is presented to a film from the World Cinema Amsterdam programme that challenges the discussion about what it means to be human. The nominated films are representative for the total festival programming and will be screened in Dutch filmtheaters after the festival. "A Tale of Three Sisters" will be released by Cherry Pickers on 7 November in the Netherlands. Members of the jury were Ioana Popescu, PhD student at The School of Social and Political Science of the University of Edinburgh, Jaëla Arian, co-founder of the film platform La Riot, and Boaz van Luijk, film reviewer for the Dutch newspaper "Nederlands Dagblad".
Link: Festival website
Link: Het Filmgesprek