The Brazilian film Nũhũ Yãg Mũ Yõg Hãm: This Land Is Our Land! (Nũhũ Yãg Mũ Yõg Hãm: Essa Terra É Nossa) won the Best Film in International Competition at the 28th edition of Sheffield DocFest. Filmed on their own land, This Land is our Land! is a unique and multilayered visual cartography made by Brazilian Indigenous filmmakers Isael and Sueli Maxakali and their collaborators Carolina Canguçu and Roberto Romero.
The prize for Best Film in UK Competition went to Ali and His Miracle Sheep, directed by Maythem Ridha. In the film, 9-year-old mute Ali takes his sheep, Kirmeta, for sacrifice on a strenuous 400km journey across Iraq’s war-ruined landscapes to the shrine of an ancient saint.
The Audience Award went to filmmaker Nira Burstein’s Charm Circle, a cinéma vérité portrait of an eccentric New York family navigating the chaos that divides them.
Winners of 2021 Sheffield DocFest Awards
International Competition
Best Film in International Competition: Nũhũ Yãg Mũ Yõg Hãm: This Land Is Our Land! / Nũhũ Yãg Mũ Yõg Hãm: Essa Terra É Nossa!, dir. Isael Maxakali, Sueli Maxakali, Carolina Canguçu and Roberto Romero, Brazil.
International Competition Special Jury Award: Equatorial Constellations, dir. Silas Tiny, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe.
Special Mentions: Summer / ЛЕТО, dir. Vadim Kostrov and Double Layered Town / Making a Song to Replace Our Positions / Niju no machi / Kotaichi no uta o amu, dir. Komori Haruka + Seo Natsumi, Japan.
UK Competition
Best Film in UK Competition: Ali and His Miracle Sheep, dir. Maythem Ridha, UK.
UK Competition Special Jury Award: Portrait of Kaye, dir. Ben Reed, UK.
Special Mention: The Battle of Denham Ford, dir. Bradley & Bradley, UK.
Tim Hetherington Award (supported by Dogwoof)
Tim Hetherington Award: The silence of the Mole / El silencio del Topo, dir. Anais Taracena, Guatemala.
Special Mention: Nũhũ Yãg Mũ Yõg Hãm: This Land Is Our Land! / Nũhũ Yãg Mũ Yõg Hãm: Essa Terra É Nossa!, dir. Isael Maxakali, Sueli Maxakali, Carolina Canguçu and Roberto Romero, Brazil.
Youth Jury Award
If god were a woman / Si dios fuera mujer, dir. Angélica Cervera, Colombia.
First Feature Award
Award for Best First Feature: Fixed barricade at Hamdalaye crossing / Barrage d’arrêt fixe et fermé au niveau du carrefour Hamdalaye, dir. Thomas Bauer, France, Guinea.
Special Mention: Charm Circle, dir. Nira Burstein, USA.
Short Film Award
Special Mention: Homage to the Work of Philip Henry Gosse / Homenaje a la obra de Philip Henry Gosse, dir. Pablo Martin Weber, Argentina.
Award for Best Short Film: Barataria, dir. Julie Nguyen Van Qui, France, Spain.
Audience Award (supported by PBS America)
Charm Circle, dir. Nira Burstein, USA.