News, 08.04.2022

Winner Short Film Competition 2022

Jury Statement

We plunge in pop-colorful worlds through the lens of a sticky-sweet fantasy. In a humorous way, the film presents self-built paradises on concrete parking lots and convinces with its stunning kitsch. The FilmPrize ’the Golden Frame’ 2022 goes to Jardins Paradise by the French-Moroccan director Yza Nouiga. (Doris Bauer, Jasmin Hagendorfer, Paulita Pappel)

Jardins Paradise

Yza Nouiga • CAN 2021 • 6’ • DCP • no dialogue

Garden of Eden, jardin à la française, English, Zen, Bahai, Arab-Islamic: Gardens reflect history, culture and heritage. They are some of the rare places where intimacy, gatherings, fun and religion coexist. Jardins Paradise ironically diverts the image of the garden as the embodiment of some paradisiacal Eden.

Director Yza Nouiga • Writer Yza Nouiga • Cinematography Soufiane Najah • Cast Lamia Chraibi, Benjamin Sekkat, Nora Meena, Khaled Antably, Kamélia Hadjadji

Yza Nouiga

Yza Nouiga is a French Moroccan director, and digital film distributor based in Montreal. Born and raised in Morocco, she’s been living in Canada for the last 10 years. Her work evolves around themes of identities, dual nationality, and homecoming through fiction and non-fiction narratives. She co-wrote a first feature-length documentary film, Circo, that received the supports of many Canadian arts councils and institutions (SODEC, CALQ). Her last work, Jardins Paradise, was selected by the Goethe-Institut as part of a special programming. Yza is currently working on two shorts films.