Carolin Koss’s documentary film Copper Mountains (2018) was awarded with Donne Si Fa Storia award at Edera Film Festival. The prize will be given at Venice Film Festival on Saturday, August 31.
The Donne Si Fa Storia project offers an original vision on the professions covered by women, embarking on a journey that spans 100 years of history, from the First World War to the present. The 2019 Jury is composed of the director Michel Ocelot, President, Cristina Greggio and Emanuela Zilio, curators of DSFS, and Eric Rittatore.
During a trip to the small town of Karabash by the Ural mountains, artist and filmmaker Carolin Koss felt compelled to capture the shocking effects of environmental pollution caused by excessive industrial exploitation. She started interviewing people, who call this seemingly post-apocalyptic place home. On her journey through the surrounding area, she encountered harrowing stories of survival, resignation, transformation and resilience. Avoiding sensationalism, Copper Mountains tells the story of a disturbing reality in achingly beautiful pictures.
The Jury of Donne Si Fa Storia stated: “The movie tells the story of how a once lucky and happy land has been transformed into one of the most polluted places on the planet. […] Through the skillful use of photography, the film captures the chilling landscape of a distorted “wonderland” – from the “rainbow-colored” waters, the earth turned the color of ash, and the trees that look like used up matchsticks. A place where pale post-apocalyptic creatures, echoes of Chernobyl and Fukushima, “survive, but do not live”, poisoned as they are from birth by a contaminated earth. […] The almost Lynchian way the film is directed gives the documentary a hallucinatory feel while at the same time not allowing us to forget the “objective”. The movie is an omen of what could – in the not too distant future – really be the “final landscape” of our world. […] Awareness, the director seems to suggest, is the starting point for listening to the experiences of those who are living the problem firsthand, a way to reflect on the situation and, perhaps, understand how to facilitate action. In line with the mission of DSFS, Copper Mountain presents a difficult and real message that – while leaving the future in the hands of individuals – people must change and, with them, the systems in which they live (social, economic, political, etc.).”
“Showing our documentary Copper Mountains at Edera Film Festival and winning the award granted by the DSFS jury for the “Best Female Director“ is such a tremendous honor! I am deeply grateful that the people in the film, who are forsaken warriors in a very dark place of our world, are being heard by an international audience. I hope the film continues to raise awareness about environmental pollution on a local and global scale and inspires the search for possible solutions”, says director Carolin Koss.
Carolin Koss is a Helsinki based artist and filmmaker originally from Germany. Koss works with various mediums and often creates contemplative and aesthetic works, which embody internal landscapes or call for environmental deliberation. Her works recurrently have a dreamlike nature and captivate through symbolic language and stylized imagery. She completed her MFA degree at the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki in 2014. Her films and video works have been shown on various international exhibitions and film festivals e.g. in Helsinki, Stockholm, Riga, Berlin, Athens, Venice, London and New York. Koss was recently nominated for the “Young Achiever’s Award” at the Golden Women Awards in Helsinki, she won the 1st price at the Screen & Sound Fest in Kraków and she was granted with the “Hope Award for arising new talents” at the Unprecedented film festival in Tallin.
More information: Donne Si Fa Storia