The Other Side of Everything wins the Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary at the 30th edition of IDFA in the Stadsschouwburg in Amsterdam. The Deminer by Hogir Hirori and Shinwar Kamal won the IDFA Special Jury Award for Feature-Length Documentary.
At the beginning of the awards ceremony Ester Gould presented the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds Documentary Stipend (€ 50,000) to filmmaker Reber Dosky. The festival runs until Sunday.
IDFA Competition for Feature-Length Documentary
Mila Turajlic won the IDFA Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary (€ 15,000) for The Other Side of Everything (Serbia, France, Qatar). The prize was presented by the Dutch minister of Education, Culture and Science, Mrs. Ingrid van Engelshoven. The film takes place within the walls of a sub-divided apartment in Belgrade. A family portrait that symbolises the political unrest in the country.
From the jury report: An apartment becomes a metaphor for both the former Yugoslavia and the current political climate in the region. Through the filmmaker’s lens, we are introduced to her mother – an enlightened woman who has dedicated her life to political activism. Poetically structured, the beauty of this character resonates. The textured cinematic language artfully blends the historical with the personal.
In addition, the jury presented the IDFA Special Jury Award for Feature-Length Documentary (€ 2,500) to The Deminer (Sweden) by Hogir Hirori and Shinwar Kamal. The documentary is a nerve-racking portrait of a Kurdish colonel, who disarmed thousands of roadside bombs and mines armed only with his courage and a pair of wire-cutters.
From the jury report: The Deminer is an experiential, universal and global film. It portrays and reflects a part of the world that we rarely encounter in the cinema while capturing the tenacity of a single man confronting impossible odds.
IDFA Competition for First Appearance
Simon Lereng Wilmont won the IDFA Award for Best First Appearance (€ 10,000) for The Distant Barking of Dogs (Denmark, Sweden, Finland).
Ieva Ozolina won the IDFA Special Jury Award for First Appearance in memory of Peter Wintonick (€ 2,500) for Solving my Mother (Latvia).
IDFA Competition for Mid-Length Documentary
IDFA Award for Best Mid-Length Documentary (€ 10,000) was awarded to Martin Benchimol and Pablo Aparo for The Dread (Argentina).
The IDFA Special Jury Award for Mid-Length Documentary (€ 2,500) went to Last Days in Shibati (France) by Hendrick Dusollier.
IDFA DocLab Competition for Digital Storytelling
Trine Laier won the IDFA DocLab Award for Digital Storytelling (€ 5,000) for Cosmic Top Secret (Denmark).
IDFA DocLab Competition for Immersive Non-Fiction
The IDFA DocLab Award for Immersive Non-Fiction (€ 5,000) went to Lauren (United States) by Lauren McCarthy.
IDFA Competition for Short Documentary
Zhalanash – Empty Shore (Poland) by Marcin Sauter won the IDFA Award for Best Short Documentary (€ 5,000).
The IDFA Special Jury Award for Short Documentary (€ 2,500) went to As We’re Told (Sweden) by Erik Holmström and Fredrik Wenzel.
IDFA Competition for Dutch Documentary
The Beeld en Geluid IDFA Award for Dutch Documentary (€ 7,500) went to The Long Season by Leonard Retel Helmrich.
Maasja Ooms received the IDFA Special Jury Award for Dutch Documentary (€ 2,500) for Alicia.
IDFA Competition for Student Documentary
Klaudiusz Chrostowski won the ARRI IDFA Award for Best Student Documentary for Call Me Tony (Poland). He wins € 5,000 and an Amira camera which ARRI will give on loan for the winner’s next production.
The IDFA Special Jury Award for Student Documentary was presented to Denise Kelm Soares for I Am (Cuba, Brazil). The award consists of € 2,500 and an Amira camera which ARRI will give on loan for the winner’s next production.
IDFA Competition for Kids & Docs
The IDFA Award for Best Children’s Documentary (€ 5,000) went to Lenno & the Angelfish (the Netherlands) by Shamira Raphaëla.
Astrid Bussink received the IDFA Special Jury Award for Children’s Documentary (€ 2,500) for L I S T E N (the Netherlands).
Other Awards
At the beginning of the ceremony, Ester Gould presented the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds Documentary Stipend (€ 50,000) to filmmaker Reber Dosky (The Sniper of Kobani, Radio Kobanî and Meryem).
The first Amsterdam Human Rights Award (€ 25,000) was presented on Monday evening to Piripkura (Brazil) by Renata Terra, Bruno Jorge and Mariana Oliva.