Anasy Documentary Awards (April 25 – 28) are considered to be the first of its kind in the U.A.E, specializing in documentary films and grants awards that are of the highest value in the Arab World. Anasy Awards are organized biannually under the patronage of H.E. Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al-Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, and this time in coordination with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and twofour.54.
This year’s edition will be the second volume, since they were introduced for the first time in 2008. The total value of the awards is Dh 1.5 million. A sum of Dh 500,000 will be given to the winner of the first award. Half of this sum (Dh 250,000) will be given in cash and the other half in the form of production support in cooperation.
For more see www.anasydocawards.com
Following titles were selected through East Silver Caravan and will compete for the Anasy Awards:
Katka | Helena Trestikova
Czech Republic | 2009 | 90 min.
A long-term observational documentary about drugs, love, prison and responsibility. Thirteen years in the lives of a group of drug addicts who live on the streets of Prague, hustling up drugs and stealing. I first met Katka in 1996 at a drug rehab centre. After half a year, she ran away from the centre. I looked for her and found her in the company of a heroin addict, Láďa. Cut to 2007. Láďa serves prison time for attempted murder. Katka is now 30 years old and lives in a squat with her boyfriend Roman. We find out that Katka is pregnant and about to undertake the most difficult trial of her life. Can she stay clean and look after her child? This film is about the replenishing power of life, about motherhood and about children born into this world addicted to drugs.
In Comparison | Zum Vergleich | Harun Farocki
Germany, Austria | 2009 | 62 min.
Bricks are the resonating fundamentals of society. Bricks are layers of clay that sound, like records just simply too thick. They appear in series, but every brick is slightly different - not just another brick in the wall. They resonate in a way that tells us if they are good enough or not. Bricks form the fundamental sound of our societies, but we haven´t learned to listen to them. Farocki´s film has our eyes and ears consider them in comparison - and not in competition, not as clash of cultures. Farocki shows us various brick production sites in their colours, movements and sounds. Brick burning, brick carrying, brick laying, bricks on bricks, no off-commentary. The film shows us that certain production modes require their own duration and that cultures differentiate around the time of the brick.
