Magnolia Awards for Documentary and MIDA Plan winners Announced

Winners of the Magnolia International Documentary Awards and the 2013 MIDA Filmmaker Plan were announced yesterday.

The award for Best Documentary longer than 60 minutes went to Vera 68  directed by Olga Sommerova from Czech Republic.

This biographic documentary tells the story of Vera Caslavska, a 1960s\' gymnast who won seven gold and four silver Olympic medals in Tokyo (1964) and Mexico City (1968). The film took a comprehensive look at Caslavska’s career and tracked the many ups and downs in her life.

“I’m proud of my film about the most famous Czechoslovak gymnast Vera Caslavska, a gymnast who has ‘superpower’,” said Sommerova who has made 100 films and won 35 awards at Czech and international film festivals over the years.

“I would like to say on behalf of the Jury that it’s absolutely representative of the quality that has earned the film extensive popularity around the world,” Jury chairman Yves Jeanneau said at the award ceremony.

The Best Documentary under 60 minutes award went to Good Garbage directed by Shosh Shlam and Ada Ushpiz. Director Rueven Brodsky won the best director award for his work Home Video.

The Best Chinese Documentary award went to Bazaar Jumpers by Hao Zhiqiang, a film that portrays two Uighur brothers\' passion for the extreme sport Parkour.

Best Cinematography award was won by Jan Michael Haft from Germany for the nature documentary The Green Universe. Chinese documentary China’s Mega Projects-Shanghai Tower won the special Jury award.

The MIDA Filmmaker Plan also announced five winning projects that will receive funding and technical support from the MIDA Foundation.

They are Daughters of the River by Feng Yan, The Story of Alxa People and their Camels by Xiang Wang, The Road that Lead to the Sky by Zhang Zanbo, Stories about Jiuqian by Sun Yueling and Three Generations of Women Living in the Valley by Ji Dan.