During the festive opening of the Magic Lantern exhibit last night, the winners of the digital photography competition that was held in the run up to the 2nd edition of Curaçao International Film Festival Rotterdam.

For this competition, over 700 photos had been submitted to the website of Curaçao IFFR, divided over 5 themes: Shapes, On the Road, Mr Moonlight, People who Need People, and Abandoned and Forgotten. Not only the quantity of the submitted photos but also the quality was extremely high and the organization is therefor pleasantly surprised by this very successful competition.

After the jury had made a first selection of 30 photos, the 15 best photos were selected from that group of which the photographers were invited to attend the opening. Excitement was high among the invitees!

The jury has made a final choice of top 3 photos from the shortlist of 15. The first prize was awarded to ‘Land (ver)rot’ (theme Abandoned & Forgotten) by A. Heijst and received an amount of ANG 3.000, the second prize went to ‘Samen’ (theme People who Need People) by Bea Moedt and received an amount of ANG 1.500, while the third prize was awarded to ‘Curves’ (theme Shapes) by Monique van Meerwijk with an amount of ANG 750.

The photo ‘Forgotten Krioyo makes a Road to Experience…!’ by Marc Wollrabe, that was submitted in the Mr Moonlight, was a separate case. Although the jury found that this photo did not fit the theme correctly, it was nevertheless quite impressed and spontaneously decided to award this photo an Honorary Mention.

Both the jury selection of 30 photos and the Top 3 and Honorary Mention photos can be admired a the Magic Lantern exhibit showcasing an extensive selection of magic lanterns and slide projectors from the private collection of the late Dr Michel van Veldhoven. Much of the equipment is shown in working order with accompanying images. Naturally the present day multimedia projectors and HD television screens cannot be missed on this exhibit. These projectors are used to show both the competition photos and a selection of one of Curaçao’s top photographers of the 1950s: Fred Fischer.

The Magic Lantern exhibit is located in the Ballroom (3rd floor) of the Renaissance Hotel from Thursday 4 April till Saturday 6 April from 10:00 till 23:00 hrs. On Sunday 7 April from 10:00 till 19:00 hrs. Entrance is free.

First prize: A. Heijst photo Land Ver(rot)

Second prize: Bea Moedt photo Samen 

Third prize: Monique van Meerwijk photo Curves