Golden Dears, the Prize statuettes of Ecofilms, were awarded on Saturday 25 June at the National theater of Rhodes, Greece.

Feature films

Best feature film

Shipbreakers by Michael Cot

The international jury awarded Michael Kot’s Shipbreakers the first prize. Set in the dramatic setting of a ship graveyard in Alang, India, the film follows the daily lives of workers and bosses who toil to break down a 30.000 ton vessel over a period of two months. Kot, a founding producer of CBC Newsworld, uses strong imagery to convey complex and harsh social and environmental realities of the developing world.

Second best feature film

Carpatia by Andrej Klamt and Ulrich Rydzewski

The journey into little known rural mountainous regions of Carpatia, was crowned as second best feature film. Snapshot encounters with an array of ethnic groups and insights into community life set in the Carpatia are captured in a film whose rich landscape photography was one of the outstanding features.

Special mentions

Nostalgos by Eleni Alexandraki

Stroke by Katarina Peters

Short films

Best short film

Flood in Baath country, Omar Amiralay

An incisive political commentary of present day Syria launched using the management of the waters of the River Euphrates as a springboard. Thirty-three years ago, Omar Amiralay, was one of the supporters “the dam of Euphrates”, a symbol of modernization and the proud of the Baas ruling Party. However time revealed the damaging impacts of this decision on the environment and the director compelled by his political awakening returns to the place of his first film to re-tell the same story, this time from a changed point of view..

Second best short film

Ants by Wolfang Thaler 

Rife with unusual imagery made possible through special macro film equipment, Ants perked up the eyes of the Jury that garnered it with the second best short film prize. Ants wage wars and administer medicines; they are farmers and graziers.They live in a world of coded communications and lightning chains of command, secret poison mixtures and prodigious strength.

Ramsar MedWet Award for best film on water and wetlands

The veil of Berta by Esteban Larrain

This Chilean film set in the high Andean plateau recounts the story of a native group struggling against the flooding of their lands by a river dam. The leader of the struggle and main character is a tough and humorous 80 year old who takes up negotiations with high level government and UN representatives while

staying true to her roots and her ancestor’s traditions of greeting the trees and the sun, saying prayers and taking tea with her dead.

Audience awards

Best Feature Films

Monte Grande by Franz Reichle

This is the story of a man that is told affectionately and gently, touchingly astutely.
Varela spent his life building bridges: between western science and eastern wisdom, neurobiology and philosophy, abstract theory and practical life.
This film succeeds - if only for 80 delightful minutes - in deconstructing the prevailing division between science and art.

Special mentions

Οrgasmo by Pablo Oliverio 

Concrete Revolution by Xiaolu Guo

Best Short film

Smoking Kills by Andres Jarach

The film unfolds the intricacies of quitting seen through the eyes of a heavy smoker. Through a visual diary we bare witness to his moods and philosophical thoughts, accompany him on his regular visits to the tabaccologist where he goes for practical advise and support and to the labs where nicotine dependency is tested on rats.

Special mention

Pilala by Theo Papadopoulakis

Breaking away from the box by Ywe Jalander