VPRO IDFA Award 2013!

Our film SONG FROM THE FOREST by Michael Obert wins VPRO IDFA Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary

The jury report:
„The films we watched in the competition program provoked in our jury many interesting discussions about documentary cinema, about life and the role of art in our society. What is a documentary? What is true and what is the role of the filmmaker in a time where we all have access to all kind of media. I would like to quote one of my favorite filmmakers (although not a documentary filmmaker) Andrei Tarkovsky on art: “Some sort of pressure must exist; the artist exists because the world is not perfect. Art would be useless if the world were perfect, as man wouldn’t look for harmony but would simply live in it’’. The films we chose to nominate differ in actuality, social storytelling and remembrances of old times. Beauty, importance, reflectiveness are keys of all three films. They combine a strong visual side and a well-balanced narrative side.

But one film stepped out. With a lush sound design, tender images, and intimate access, this film explores the legacy of an aging man immersed deep in a rainforest community, where he has recorded thousands of hours of music. By tracing his journey back to the city with his young son, this film poetically asks: as the world changes around us, what do we leave behind? The jury gives the prize for the best Feature length documentary to Song from the Forest by Michael Obert.“