2023 BIDFF AWARDS -Bucharest International Dance Film Festival - Jury member
Invited as Jury member for the International and National Short Dance Film Competition
BIDFF - Bucharest International Dance Film Festival (RO) 7-10.09.2023
The jury formed from Heike Salzer (DE/UK), Ana Macara (PT) and Flor Firvida Martin (AG/MX) decided that the Best Film Award should go this year to not one, but two cinematic productions. WARSHA (R: Dania Bdeir) depicts strong and deep emotional states where dance appears vital for escape and joy of liberation, and the artistic way in which it shows the difficult conditions of immigrants in construction sites impressed the jury. The second one, URBAN GENESIS (R: Fu Le), was picked for its poetic cinematography and the brilliant way dance is meaningfully integrated into the narrative. This love story serves to show the degradation of traditional crafts in the shadow of modernity, in the heart of a working-class community.
This year's Special Jury Award went to a powerful short film that shows the complex reality of women’s restrictions to dance in their social and political contexts. The Jury praised AND ME, I'M DANCING TOO (R: Mohammad Valizadegan) for the intelligent way documentary footage and fiction are blended and valued the courage and hope the film brings to viewers.
For the way it transmits the recollections of fragmented memories on the screen with the use of complex and dynamic editing that evokes a kinesthetic sensation through its choreographic composition, EVERYTHING AT ONCE (R: Henrik Dyb Zwart) received a Special Mention. IN THE SAME BOAT (R: Mervi Junkkonen) received a Special Mention as well, for the way in which it wonderfully captures embodied memory and the joy of movement. The short film approaches aging and the potential of aesthetic quality of movement in a very sensitive way.