Jury Declaration:

"Electric Swan" by Konstantina Kotzamani was chosen as the winner of the Main Award because of its original and engaging depiction of people living in a tower block and how their disparate lives intertwine. This innovative and surrealist format of combining modern city living with the legend of Swan Lake comes through engagingly, all seen through the eyes of a central protagonist, a quiet and unassuming security guard.

Director Statement:

I want to thank you for supporting my work all these years and also thank the jury for these warm words.

Jury Declaration:

"The Physics of Sorrow" by Theodore Ushev was chosen as the Signs Award winner because of its perfection in animation, editing and narration. A multi-layered film with an almost timeless qulity, the lament for childhood from the perspective of later years, transported to another time and place, draws us in with an almost inexplicable and hypnotic beauty.

Jury Declaration:

"How to Disappear", co-directed by Robin Klengel, Leonhard Müllner and Michael Stumpf, was bestowed with an honorable mention because of its transient use of the popular online games medium to both educate and inform. In voice-over essay-like narrative, a simulacrum is in play and asks the thought-provoking philosophical question of whether one can be a war deserter here in the same way as the physical world.

Directors Statement:

We are very glad about the Mention at the Signs Award as for our anti-war essay "How to Disappear". It shows that the relevance of the conteporary entertainment media of video games with their specific narrations, spaces and aesthetics is more and more recognized, also in the film world. And, furthermore, that the topic of deserting is met with interest, especially as these acts of disobedience are an often overlooked aspect of history and presence. Thank you!

Jury Declaration:

"Splash" by Huang Weipeng was deserving of an honorable mention because of its crafting of a four-part requiem to the elderly people of China that serves as a lament to times past and how the older generation are forgotten in a fast-changing world. The professional and compelling structure of this elegy strikes a chord in its artistic projection.

Jury Declaration:

"Abisal" by Esteban Santana was given an honorable mention because of its existential portrait of a faded poet who has lost the will to partake in society so submerges in the depths of a Chilean seaport. The acting and atmosphere make for a unique portrayal of a city and those of its residents who are otherwise inconspicuous within its ruined streets.

Director Statement:

Estimados amigos estamos muy emocionados de vuestra mención y de las palabras del jurado que interpretan muy bien las intenciones de nuestra forma de entender el cine. Nos motiva a seguir haciendo películas y contando historias desde esta lejana parte del mundo.

Dear friends, we are very excited about your mention and the word of the jury that interpret the intentions of our way of understanding cinema very well. It motivates us to continue making movies and telling stories from this far away part of the world.

Jury Declaration:

The film "Sewing Box for My Daughter" by Kieko Ikehata deserved its honorable mention because of how it depicts a contemporary Japanese society that is still bound up with its traditional but oppressive ways. Two women answer questions of how they brought up their daughters and it soon becomes clear that it is the only possibility for them to have a second chance at reliving their own childhood by going down a different path, of dreaming another l ife.

Director Statement:

This work is a mixture of facts and fiction. However, it is certain that there are various conflicts that Japanese women living in the present age have. In the past, it was very important to give birth to a boy, but nowadays women have a strong desire to give birth to a daughter, and there are various complex feelings swirling around.
My dream is to make a work with my daughter, who is 3 years old, and my mother, who is over 60 years old, for three generations. I will do my best in the future.