Jury Report: 2021 Beeld en Geluid IDFA ReFrame Award for Best Creative Use of Archive
Jury statement
This year’s films nominated for the Reframe Award are characterized by a great variety of highly interesting and creative examples of reappropriation of archival footage. Many of the titles show incredibly meticulous archival research and an impressive effort of historical reconstructions. In most titles, personal experiences are effectively linked to universal themes. All films, in their own peculiar way, honor humanity through the work with archival footage. In many instances, a sensitive audio composition was realized to raise depth and resonance in mostly silent footage. Many films revealed complex characters arising from a masterful reconstruction that makes us forget the distance with the material used, despite the signs of time and visual deterioration.
The jury was impressed by the overall high quality of all the titles in the selection and immensely enjoyed viewing the films and discussing in depth their merits. It was a difficult process to identify only one winner and one special mention. However, the three jury members, from their different areas of expertise, found themselves aligned with the final decision.
Special Mention
The jury awards a Special Mention to Babi Yar. Context by Sergei Loznitsa.
Beeld en Geluid IDFA ReFrame Award for Best Creative Use of Archive
Starting with two photographs, the intensity of a group of young women is brought to life on screen most vividly. Through creative appropriation and masterful editing of a remarkably rich variety of film footage, the makers use emotional association to speak about universal feelings.
The daring score, enriched with unexpected music compositions and sound design, reinforces an emotional proximity to the characters in the film. And most importantly, the barrier of time between us and the characters has been broken. The winner of the Beeld en Geluid IDFA ReFrame Award for Best Creative Use of Archive is Ultraviolette and the Blood-Spitters Gang by Robin Hunzinger.