The Brazilian film Canuto’s Transformation / A Transformação de Canuto by Ariel Kuaray Ortega and Ernesto de Carvalho was the winner of two awards in the Envisions competition at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA): for Best Film and Outstanding Artistic Contribution.
In the documentary, co-director Kuaray Ortega returns to his hometown to visit his grandfather in a region of Brazil bordering Argentina. He wants to finally hear the full story of Canuto, a fellow villager who turned into a jaguar and then died a tragic death. A plan soon arises to make a film about the mysterious Canuto, with the villagers playing all the roles.
Several films in one—a making-of a documentary about the indigenous Mbyá-Guaraní community and a mythical story about “jepotá,” the concept of transmutation between humans and animals—the distinction between the roles of the film crew and those of the characters being performed and filmed gradually fades. What is fiction, what is real, what is film and what is folklore? And does that actually matter? The result is an extraordinary and intriguing communal project that addresses major themes—colonization, the disadvantaged status of indigenous communities—and records everyday beauty and fun as well.
"With a decades-long commitment to the filmmaking process within community, a sense of humor, and a quest to move between worlds. This film embodies the many meanings of transformation," the jury said in a statement. The Best Film Award comes with a cash prize of €15,000, while the Outstanding Artistic Contribution comes with €2,500.
Additionally, the Argentine film At That Very Moment / En el mismísimo momento by Rita Pauls and Federico Luis Tachella was the winner of the IDFA Award for Best Short Documentary, accompanied by a €5,000 cash prize. In a written statement the jury decided to give the award to the shor film “for its simplicity, spontaneity, and transparency in dealing with people, things, and small details, and for the depth of the questions raised in it that are profound despite their apparent simplicity, and for its smooth and intense cinematic work, especially photography and lyrical editing.”
The 2023 edition of IDFA took place November 8-19 in the Netherlands.
