WINNERS YOUKI 2021

Jury Statement

"In the category 13-17 years we encountered a film that astonished and enchanted us with its simple and clear cinematography. The film 24 by Weerapat Sakolvaree raises the question on how we define and perceive our daily life - or if our life is just defined by the subconscious impulses? Creating precise frames in an intimate space is a challenging task. At 17 your filmic eye can look towards very different directions in order to find your style. The film 24 wins this award because of its excellent ability of capturing the ordinary as something special."

A moving film that shows the intimate everyday life of a boy who spends his days at home, trying to pass the time.

Weerapat Sakolvaree is a 17-year-old filmmaker from Thailand.

Jury Statement

"The moon and the stars have dreams tonight. They have been sent down to earth with the gentle and mesmerizing animation. It’s a movie that takes us to its own world that doesn’t follow the rules of a logic we have to conform to in our daily lives. A film that takes you back to your own childhood and then revives that childlike fascination of yesteryear, as it finds images that are artistically sophisticated and extremely interestingly designed.

The sky, as both astrological firmament as well as mystical and mythical canopy, is no longer illustrated with already existing imagery and symbolism. Instead the filmmaker finds a new language to articulate darkness and light, no longer as dichotomies of good and evil, but as an all surrounding poetry. It’s a Bedtime story you don’t want to miss. The award goes to Alexandra Artamonova for the film BEDTIME STORIES."

A hilly dreamscape in which a human-like being tries to make a carousel work. The moon tries to sleep and is disturbed by every bit of light. A bear gives his child a car, which gets lost. There are no limits to imagination while sleeping.

Alexandra Artamonova is 22 years old and is studying at The Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography in Moscow.

Jury Statement

"One of the films in the category 23-27 impressed us by enabling a unique cinematic experience and for its use of the cinematic frame as the framework of storytelling. The award in this category goes to the film JAMAL by Muhammad Heri Fadli, a film that excellently manages to reduce the setting to the minimum - one frame - in order to create and allow a new perception of distance. While being so distant from the scene of the event, so far from the individual and their facial expressions, the collective experience and human dimension of this personal tragedy is brought closer to the viewer. Jamal is an impressionistic vignette about the circle of life that indirectly reveals the basic principles of cinema: frame, space, time, movement, emotion. It is a film that turns the projection screen into the black and white canvas of life and death."

A deceased husband is brought back into the house of his wife. The camera is accompanying the funeral procession from a distance, preserving the dignity of all the people involved.

Muhammad Heri Fadli (26) from Central Lombok, Indonesia has been working with film since 2014 in varying roles as writer, director and producer.

Jury Statement

"At 90 miles per hour, it takes precisely 47.6 minutes to travel from Belfast to Derry. During an also quite precise 2:35 minutes, the filmmaker takes us on a multi-layered, daring and moving journey about self-representation. Using a formalistic approach to challenge the senses, she designs a special viewing experience with ease. A sharp juxtaposition of self-perception and the perception of others. Both, her use of time, symbols, metaphors and the subtle punch line left a fresh and lasting impression. The 2021 Youki Innovative film Award goes to Elsa Hunter-Weston for “Please introduce yourself”."

A woman tells us about trains and the means of transportation. But beneath the surface, there is something else being told- spanning from the formalistic nature of the visual storytelling to the revelatory ending, the film leads us into unexpected cinematic territory.

Elsa Hunter-Weston (23) is a filmmaker from Merseyside, England. Her most recent work has been included in the BFI’s “Britain on Lockdown” national archive. “Please Introduce Yourself” is Elsa’s third directing credit.

Jury Statement

"Creating a movie doesn’t only mean impressing your audience with beautiful pictures but also finding a rhythm and a tempo that expresses a feeling for the story and the characters you want to portray. In her work the filmmaker lets us be part of a journey that does not only take us to a place through her cinematic images or explanations but through polyphonie and the language of music.

The Austrian Award goes to Bato Nebo - Chants of the Gods by Luzia Johow - which inspired us with its form, feeling and rhythm and impressed us in its ability in documenting and capturing fragments that draw a bigger picture - without claiming to be complete or representative."

In “Bato Nebo” an ethnological interest meets a cinematic eye. The film forms an unassuming portrait of a small village in the Georgian mountains. The rural vistas are filled with traditional songs that get passed through generations as family members gather to sing and make music together.

Luzia Johow (26) studied at Ortweinschule Graz. 2017 she started studying editing and original sound at the Vienna Film Academy in 2017. She directed music videos and various short films and did post-production and sound for numerous films.

You can watch the awards ceremony again, see the filmmakers' reactions, hear some closing words from the festival directors, meet the jury, see the prize fee delivering the trophies and get insights into the festival week 2021.