LSFF 2018 Grand Prix with EUR 3,000 prize money

Film: Fermented / Fermentace čili proměna

Director: Jonathan Cianfrani

Country of Origin: USA

Jury Statement: It is not surprising that fermented foods are some of the most traditional and they have always been considered synonymous with healthy nutrition. The jury awards the Grand Prix for an approachable popularisation of microbiology and for pointing out that the simplest solutions might have been right in front of us all along.

Award of the Ministry of Agriculture

Film: Říše rudého zlata / The Empire of Red Gold

Director: Jean-Baptiste Malet & Xavier Deleu

Country of Origin: France

Jury Statement: A tomato. An ordinary tomato. In the globalised world, tomatoes have also become a commodity such as oil or coal. The jury proposes to award the prize for the insightful film report on the social and economic consequences caused by the global business with this commodity.

Award of the Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources

Film: Dilema masožrouta / The Carnivore’s Dilemma

Director: Benoît Bringer

Country of Origin: France

Jury statement:

Recent population growth resulted in agricultural intensification. Genetics, biology, nutrition and other fields are completely changing food production. On the other hand, soil erosion, massive biodiversity losses, ecological damage and cruelty to animals show us that many conventional approaches are not limitless. The jury appreciates the presentation of alternatives that aim at finding more sustainable forms of food production.

Award of the Faculty of Economics and Management

Film: Homo Digitalis

Director: Christiane Miethge

Country of Origin: Germany

Jury Statement: Homo Digitalis is a film about people and the technology enabling previously unimaginable things. The question that pops up is how a society addicted to technology is going to develop. The jury appreciates the energetic treatment of the experiment of which we are all part.

Award of the Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences

Film: Zelení bojovníci: Indonésie, nejznečištěnější řeka světa

/ Green Warriors: Indonesia, The World’s Most Polluted River

Director: Martin Boudot

Country of Origin: France

Jury Statement: The Indonesian river Citarum is the most polluted river in the world and the main culprit is textile industry. The jury awards the prize primarily for the direct contribution of the filmmakers’ investigation to the solution of environmental problems.

Award of the Faculty of Engineering

Film: Lidštější než člověk / More Human than Human

Director: Tommy Pallotta, Femke Wolting

Country of Origin: Austria

Jury Statement: We live in an age of intelligent machines, technology is everywhere – from mobile phones to the most advanced automated systems. Each new invention entails the dilemma of a dynamite or nuclear bomb. The jury appreciates the personal and playful approach with which the author maps out the threshold between man and technology.

Award of the Faculty of Forestry and Wood

Film: Svět bez hmyzu / World without Insects

Director: Andreas Ewels

Country of Origin: Germany

Jury Statement: You might not have noticed, but it is a fact that in some places in Europe insect biomass has thinned by 70%. The jury appreciates the treatment of a crucial problem that looms not only in European countries.

Award of the Faculty of Environmental Sciences

Film: Kořeny / Grassroots

Director: Frank Oly

Country of Origin: Austrálie / Australia

Jury Statement: Some types of fungi are endowed with the ability to sequester carbon and lock it into organic matter. The jury awards the prize for the treatment of the story in which even an amateur effort can significantly support the solution of key problems in today’s world.

Special Jury Award

Film: Archa světel a stínů / The Ark of Lights & Shadows

Director: Jan Svatoš

Country of Origin: Česká republika / Czech Republic

Jury Statement: The jury awards the Special Jury Award for the engaging treatment of the life story of two young film pioneers who were the first to present African wilderness not through the viewfinder of hunters, but through the eyes of environmentalists.