Messages from the Presidents of Juries
Dear Mrs. Wang, as director of the festival, honorable guests of the 2nd Golden Tree International Documentary Films Festival, ladies and gentlemen,
For me it was not only an honor, but a pleasure to be invited to preside over the international jury of this young but rapidly growing and developing festival. I think I can also speak on behalf of the other jury members when I say thank you for inviting us to Frankfurt and thank you for this remarkable experience.
There was no general debate about the question which criteria a good documentary has to fulfill, but tacitly we realized that all of us were looking for an open-minded and curious view of reality. Of course we had some discussions on the question whether and how this or that film meets the theme “Man and Nature”, which was the general motto of this festival. Although it was interesting to watch people organizing their everyday lives or expressing their thoughts and dreams by means of their creativity, we had to leave some really excellent films out of consideration, because from our point of view, they did not exactly fit the thematic framework of the festival. Therefore we would recommend that the Golden Tree should sharpen its profile and focus on the question of how man is dealing with nature, natural resources and the environment, because solving the various problems that are connected with these questions is the essential challenge for our century, as I have mentioned before. During three long and intensive days, we have seen a lot of remarkable films from all around the world. We have learned a lot about other people and cultures, in other words, we saw the documentary genre at its best.
For me it was not only an honor, but a pleasure to be invited to preside over the international jury of this young but rapidly growing and developing festival. I think I can also speak on behalf of the other jury members when I say thank you for inviting us to Frankfurt and thank you for this remarkable experience.
There was no general debate about the question which criteria a good documentary has to fulfill, but tacitly we realized that all of us were looking for an open-minded and curious view of reality. Of course we had some discussions on the question whether and how this or that film meets the theme “Man and Nature”, which was the general motto of this festival. Although it was interesting to watch people organizing their everyday lives or expressing their thoughts and dreams by means of their creativity, we had to leave some really excellent films out of consideration, because from our point of view, they did not exactly fit the thematic framework of the festival. Therefore we would recommend that the Golden Tree should sharpen its profile and focus on the question of how man is dealing with nature, natural resources and the environment, because solving the various problems that are connected with these questions is the essential challenge for our century, as I have mentioned before. During three long and intensive days, we have seen a lot of remarkable films from all around the world. We have learned a lot about other people and cultures, in other words, we saw the documentary genre at its best.