'Lost Land' wins at Jihlava doc fest

PRAGUE -- Low-tech demonstrated king with Czech auds in the 15th Jihlava Documentary Film Festival, where pre-digital filmmaking obtained large."Lost Land," a Belgian-Arabic doc by Pierre-Yves Vandeweerd on refugee strife in Western Sahara, won fest's primary prize Saturday within an off-beat ceremony that riffed on the Titanic theme."Documentaries show us the holes within the shell," fest topper Marek Hovorka had quipped in the Jihlava opening 5 days before, as fest filled the Czech fortress town with students, filmmakers and scouts from TV tv stations throughout Europe and also the U.S.Juror and filmmaker James Hong recognized "Lost Land," using its unique 8mm look, because of its artful method of an engaging problem.Leaders for example Canada's Steve Sanguedolce intrigued auds with hands-colored 16mm footage in "Blinding," concerning the subjectivity of vision, while Norway's Gunnar Hall Jensen added other-worldly 8mm footage to his study of spiritual mission, "Gunnar Goes God."Portugal's Marcelo Felix built his "Eden's Ark" on nitrate prints discovered in vaults.Georgia's study of economic collapse, "Bakhmaro" (Restaurant) by Salome Jashi won the Central-Eastern Europe prize while Martin Marecek's "Photo voltaic Eclipse," a glance at aid employees in Zambia, won for Czech doc and aud kudos. Austria's "Endeavor," produced from space shuttle footage by Johann Lurf, required experimental doc honors. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com