The four members of the Jury of the 2021 Film Festival “Fishers of the World”, men and women, experts in cinema and fishing, willingly complied with the rules of the game imposed by the prevailing sanitary conditions. With remote viewing and videoconference debates, they made their choice among the 11 films in competition.
It was a unique experience for all of them, mixing unusual approaches and very complementary views, from which they emerged, in their words, “a little greater”.
The jury was composed of Férid Boughédir, film director, critic and film historian, professor at the University of Tunis, president of the 2021 Jury, and three other members — Prune Engler, former General Delegate of the La Rochelle International Film Festival; Virginie Lagarde, biologist who has been working for more than 20 years with sea professionals, currently in charge of the Finistère fisheries committee; and Bruno Claquin, retired professional fisherman and President of the SNSM of the Bay of Audierne.
They award their 2021 Prizes to:
Special Mention Chandrika Sharma :
Mrs F by Chris van der Vorm (Netherlands)
A special mention was made of this film, which shows the struggle of a courageous woman in a Nigeria that is rarely seen on screen. Even if fishing is not at the heart of the documentary, this film offers us, via magnificent images of dugout canoes, a trip into an aquatic environment where women have
real battles to fight on a daily basis.
Chandrika Sharma Award:
Ghost Fleet by Shannon Service and Jeffrey Waldon (USA)
This is a modern-day woman’s struggle against a form of slavery that has never ceased in human history. The mission of this heroine who fights to improve the living conditions of these convicts of the sea deeply moved the jury.
Pêcheurs du Monde Film Festival Award –
short film category:
Flesh and Nacre by Daniel Drumond (Brazil/France)
For the concise and masterful portrait of a mussel fisherman trying to survive in a polluted environment on the outskirts of a large Brazilian city.
Special Mention – Feature Film Category :
Eaux noires by Stéphanie Régnier (France)
This beautiful film takes us on a journey to French Guiana, back to the time of slavery and around the Kaw marshes, still haunted by the “mother of water”, the “fire beasts”, the memory of the maroon negroes and those who were forced to dig the “Crique Fouillée” and the “Canal Roy”.
Pêcheurs du Monde Festival Award – Feature film category:
September 1930, tuna boats in the storm by Alain Pichon (France)
A virtuoso production, based on three different cinematographic techniques: an educational introduction on the plans of the dundees, working sailboats used at the time for tuna fishing, an interminable storm sumptuously painted by Jo le Floch and Serge Doceul, and the calm found – and the misfortune too – in the black and white of the archives. Served by very beautiful direction and important team work, this animated film underlines the hardness of Nature and evokes a terrible human drama.
The Public Prize and the Schoolchildren’s Prize
The schoolchildren’s prize was awarded by the 5th grade pupils of the Marcel Pagnol secondary school, Plouay, at the beginning of February.
Schoolchildren’s Prize
Senegal, plunderers of the seas by James de Caupenne-Keogh and Feurat Alani (United Arab Emirates)
“We liked the subject, which was about illegal fishing in the Senegalese seas and its consequences, such as the decrease in the number of fish for the locals and the accidents caused by these big trawlers. In this report, the subject is treated from several angles, and you feel like you are in the shoes of the different characters.
The Audience Award was given to the film that received the most “hits” online:
Audience Award
La saison des tourteaux by Martin Benoist (France)
Behind the cliffs of Étretat, Christophe, who is blind, fishes for crabs and lobsters in an almost lunar environment. An unforgettable aesthetic and sensory experience, which apprehends the environment in a sensitive and convivial way.
All the films in the prize list can be seen on KuB (www.kubweb.media) until Monday 5 April
How about a review of the festival online at KuB?
While last year’s trial run was encouraging, this new online format has been successful this year with 14,358 sessions since the launch of the festival on Monday 22 March.
The 2021 list of films highlights the variety of approaches to the world of the sea and fishing, reinforced by the different nationalities of the productions: Brazil, United States, United Arab Emirates and France.
The partnership with KuB has enabled the festival to exist and to develop its reputation on the national territory and worldwide.
Though this first virtual meeting with the public, the directors and the jury gives complete satisfaction, and reinforces the festival “Pêcheurs du Monde”, it does not replace the essential dimension of face-to-face meetings. It is, therefore, with impatience that the whole team awaits the 20th of September for the reflections on the 13th edition.