International Juries select the winners of the DocPoint Competitions
DocPoint will award the best national and international films, as well as the best Finnish short films, with DocPoint Awards on festival Saturday. The winners are selected by juries composed of film industry professionals. In our interview, the jury members share their expectations for the festival and the competing films.
In DocPoint’s three Competitions, the top films of the festival programme compete. The award ceremony on Saturday night will reveal which films have become the juries’ favourites. The jury members are an international group of film industry professionals. In this article, the jury members share their thoughts.
The jury for the National Competition includes Bérénice Hahn from sales agency Square Eyes, filmmaker and founder of the Academy of Moving People And Images Erol Mintaş, and Hubert Sabino-Brunette, the artistic director of the Canadian RIDM festival.
The jury for the International Competition includes documentary filmmaker Maija Hirvonen, the artistic director of DokuFest Kosovo Veton Nurkollari, and Brazilian filmmaker, actress, and director Renata Ferraz.
The jury for the National Shorts Competition includes filmmaker Iiti Yli-Harja, PhD researcher and filmmaker Kazu Ahmed, and artist Maija Blåfield.
Hubert Sabino-Brunette
What are you hoping to see in DocPoint’s Competition films?
I am very pleased to have access to the best of Finnish documentary creation from last year, a national cinema that we have little access to in Montréal. So I’m excited to see the richness and the diversity of this production in a condensed period. It’s also my first time in Finland. And since documentary cinema reveals parts of the culture of a country, its history and the perspectives of the people who live there, I am very much looking forward to knowing more.
What things do you pay attention to when watching a film as a jury member?
I like to be confronted by personal perspectives on the world and on cinema. In a film, I want to see a unique point of view, a singular cinematographic approach; a signature of the filmmakers. So, I pay a lot of attention to aesthetics, narrative structure and process. I also leave space for emotions, for the sensitive, so it’s not only about the cerebral or the reasoned thinking. It’s also about feelings.
Were you already familiar with DocPoint, and what are your expectations for the upcoming festival?
I am familiar with the program of the festival, but this is my first time at DocPoint. I’m looking forward to seeing the good things that I’ve heard and read over the years. I am eager to experience the general atmosphere of the festival, to discuss with people of the local cinema community and also to meet the public, thus to encounter and experience the cinephile life and the environment in which it unfolds.
Maija Hirvonen
What are you hoping to see in DocPoint’s Competition films?
I’m hoping to get into situations I wouldn’t normally have access to and get close to people I would never meet in real life. I don’t have any other expectations, and I don’t want to know anything about the films beforehand.
What things do you pay attention to when watching a film as a jury member?
It’s a good sign if, while watching, the film captivates me so much that I can only analyse the filmmaking techniques afterward.
Were you already familiar with DocPoint, and what are your expectations for the upcoming festival?
I think I first went in 2004. Some of my all-time favorite films I’ve seen specifically in DocPoint’s programme, like Forugh Farrokhzad’s The House is Black or Lindiwe Matshikiza’s One Take Grace. I’ve gotten used to trusting that the festival’s selection will work, even if I choose the films blindly. It’s also nice to gather with fellow filmmakers, something that doesn’t happen too often.
Veton Nurkollari
What are you hoping to see in DocPoint’s Competition films?
I am confident in saying that the quality of the films in the International Competition that I have seen already is very high. I hope that the rest of the films are of similar quality, too, even if it would make our work as jurors more difficult.
What things do you pay attention to when watching a film as a jury member?
There are a number of things that I pay attention to when watching a film as a jury member, such as the story and the way it is told. I also pay attention to how it was filmed and edited, two very important elements that help a film to stand out when executed good. And finally, I look for any authorial touch, a moment or two that distinguishes the filmmakers from the rest.
Were you already familiar with DocPoint, and what are your expectations for the upcoming festival?
I am familiar with DocPoint, having visited for the first time some 15 years ago. Since then, I have been following it closely, especially its programming of Finnish documentaries. I expect yet another great edition of the festival.
Renata Ferraz
What are you hoping to see in DocPoint’s Competition films?
In today’s world, I hope to be surprised by the diversity of themes and by non-canonical ways of making films, with characters that contribute to the construction of new imaginaries—both in cinema and in life. I also hope to see more equivalent relationships on screen between those in front of and behind the camera, contributing to a more balanced process of cinematic creation.
What things do you pay attention to when watching a film as a jury member?
As a filmmaker, I sometimes wish I could, but I can no longer watch a film without thinking about its construction. My gaze as a jury member is quite similar to the one I have when I’m not. I pay attention to the chosen narrative—in both theme and form—and technical aspects: image, sound, editing, direction, and so on. But above all, especially in the context of documentaries, I focus on the questions involved in the relationship between those who film and those who allow themselves to be filmed.
Were you already familiar with DocPoint, and what are your expectations for the upcoming festival?
I showed our film Rising Sun Blues (Rua dos Anjos) at DocPoint last year. It was an exciting experience, not just because of the quality and diversity of the films, but also because of the warmth and dedication of the entire team. I experienced a sense of equivalence in the relationships that I found quite fascinating. The audience was also very attentive and engaged. This year, I hope the encounter between the audience and the films will be just as powerful as it was last year, so that together—filmmakers, audiences, jurors, and festival programmers—we can imagine and create new worlds, different from the paths we are heading towards.
Iiti Yli-Harja
What are you hoping to see in DocPoint’s Competition films?
It’s amazing to get to experience the world from many different perspectives. I hope for surprises and films that radiate the joy of filmmaking!
What things do you pay attention to when watching a film as a jury member?
I hope the film evokes a wide range of emotions in me and stays in my mind for a long time. Technical perfection isn’t the most important thing to me—sometimes small imperfections make a film feel more alive and human. The rhythm of the film is absolutely crucial: how it moves forward, keeps your attention, or leaves space for realisations. If the film surprises with clever sound and music choices, it makes an impression.
Were you already familiar with DocPoint, and what are your expectations for the upcoming festival?
DocPoint has been an important place for many of my films to be seen. This year, I’m involved in a new role, and in addition to the films, I’m looking forward to all the encounters: new and old friends, and after small talk, the deeper (or lighter) conversations about films and everything else!
Kazu Ahmed
What are you hoping to see in DocPoint’s Competition films?
I am coming with a very open mind. With an institution like DocPoint, to be honest, I wouldn’t like to come with my own ideas of viewing. But rather an excitement about what treats are in store for me. So in that sense, I am hoping to see a selection that reflects DocPoint’s experience, expertise and reputation.
What things do you pay attention to when watching a film as a jury member?
I tell everyone that I look at films as a very ordinary viewer. Not as an expert. And truly so, as I have no claims of being one. Even as an ordinary viewer, aesthetics, coherence/articulation in narrative and visual representation of the chosen subject, treatment and approach, ethical considerations etc. are important for me to form an opinion about a film. But most of all I look at how the film is “speaking to me”. Literally. Documentary/non-fiction films are one of the most effective ways of creating conversation and dialogue. They, along with the filmmaker, are not just very powerful prompters of discussion in the public domain, but are agents of change too. At the heart of that potential to create public discourse is the nature of language used to speak to the audience. This, for me, determines the nature and scale of response from the viewer. So how far a film is able to hold what kind of conversation and among who are some of the things that I pay attention to.
Were you already familiar with DocPoint, and what are your expectations for the upcoming festival?
Of course I have been familiar with DocPoint and it is an honour to be part of this current edition. I am part of something called the Cultureels Ethnographic Film Collective and we look at DocPoint as a trendsetter in many of the things that we aspire to do. As I mentioned earlier, I come with an open mind. What I expect, though, is a very rich learning experience, which I am sure to get. As someone who is a student and a teacher of visual media, this is important and exciting for me. With so many excellent filmmakers and their work, and DocPoint’s curation/selection, I wouldn’t imagine otherwise.
Inari Ylinen
