Baltic Herring: Results 2011
Baltic Herring Short Film Competition 2011 – Awarded films
In 2011 Baltic Herring Short Film Competition, a total of 49 films competed in three different categories – student, open (amateur) and professional.
This year, the international film jury was happy with so much water on the screen. The water was an important theme in most of the films, like it is also highlighted in the Baltic Herring Short Film Competition’s rules.
The main prize of the student category was won by the film Muutos meitä johtaa / Change of state directed by Ville Hakonen and Jussi Sandhu from Tampere University of Applied Sciences. The Jury characterized the winner as a tragic film with a good sense of humour. The 1970′s style was appreciated together with the play with black and white and the colours on several layers. The film also had a Baltic Sea theme: the main character, official supervisor of the national lottery Mr Honkonen (wonderful Mika Honkanen) decides to leave his job and run to Estonia.
The second prize in the student category was awarded to Parādi man skanu / Show me the Sound directed by Agnese Laizāne from Baltic Film and Media School. The jury described Laizāne’s film as a interesting drama about a mother losing her hearing affecting the family dynamics. The jury especially praised the actor work by Ilze Pukinska who played the mother Dagne.
The third prize was awarded to two films: Laulu sieltä missä tyyntä on / The Song from Silent Waters by Outi Tienhaara, Tampere University of Applied Sciences and Näe minut / See Me by Joonas Rutanen, Turku Arts Academy. Jury appreciated Tienhaara’s way to handle a classical story in a contemporary way. Rutanen’s film about a young girl trying to find the courage to be seen was thanked for its delicate directing and acting, together with the special attention to subtle details in cinematography.
The amateur category was won by the sci-fi film Place to Stay by the director Jesse Jokela. I this category, only the first prize was given out. The jury appreciated the film because it was a coherent, funny and real story of an alien ending up “in the middle of nowhere”, Finnish village Lammi. “In the film Place to Stay everything on the screen is interesting and it has many delicious moments”, described the jury. Also the actors were praised.
The main prize of the professional category was awarded to animated film Esterhazy, directed by Izabela Plucinska, Poland. The Jury described the film as a great allegorical animation with an edge: a story about a member of the great Esterhazy dynasty in the modern Berlin, starring bunnies.
The second prize of the professional category was won by two Finnish love stories, The Rite by Kimmo Alakunnas and Este / Obstacle by Pirjo Ojala. Pirjo Ojala’s positive story about two persons trying to find each other in a town divided by a river was depicted as humouristic and honest love story. Alakunnas’ film The Rite is an original dance film with beautiful cinematography.
The Special Prize, the Golden Baltic Herring, was awarded
