The Polish film Trains by Maciej J. Drygas won the Award for Best Film and Best Editing in the International Competition at the 37th International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA). The found footage documentary created a collective portrait of people in 20th century Europe, capturing their hopes, desires, dramas, and tragedies.
In a statement, the jury commented, “The jury was unanimous. This is a bold and inventive use of archive. The film shows us routes to the positive and negative consequences of modern industrial innovation. It harnesses the magic of cinema and as an audience we are haunted by our present historical time, even while we bear witness to the past.”
The IDFA Award for Best Directing in the International Competition went to Auberi Edler for An American Pastoral. The documentary looks at the small conservative town of Elizabethtown in Pennsylvania as an intense cultural and ideological battle is raging around the public school curriculum.
“By simply looking and listening, this director reveals the current complexity at the heart of the United States. Her deep commitment to observation allows the viewer to come face to face with the communities in the film and provides critical insight into the results of the last U.S presidential election,” said the jury.
The IDFA Award for Best Cinematography in the International Competition went to Zvika Gregory Portnoy and Zuzanna Solakiewicz for The Guest.
In the Envision Competition, Miguel Coyula won the IDFA Award for Best Film for Chronicles of the Absurd; the Award for Best Directing went to Massimo D’Anolfi and Martina Parenti for Bestiaries, Herbaria, Lapidaries; and the Award for Outstanding Artistic Contribution was a tie, going to Omar Mismar for A Frown Gone Mad and to Yo-Hen So for Park.
Complete list of winners of 2024 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam
IDFA Award for Best Film – International Competition: Trains, dir. Maciej J. Drygas
IDFA Award for Best Directing – International Competition: An American Pastoral, dir. Auberi Edler
IDFA Award for Best Editing – International Competition: Trains, dir. Maciej J. Drygas
IDFA Award for Best Cinematography – International Competition: The Guest, cinematographers Zvika Gregory Portnoy, Zuzanna Solakiewicz
IDFA Award for Best Film – Envision Competition: Chronicles of the Absurd, dir. Miguel Coyula
IDFA Award for Best Directing – Envision Competition: Bestiaries, Herbaria, Lapidaries, dir. Massimo D’Anolfi and Martina Parenti
IDFA Award for Outstanding Artistic Contribution – Envision Competition (ex aequo): A Frown Gone Mad, dir. Omar Mismar; Park, dir. Yo-Hen So
IDFA DocLab Award for Immersive Non-Fiction: Me, a Depiction, dir. Lisa Schamlé
Special Mention – IDFA DocLab for Immersive Non-Fiction: The Liminal, dir. Alaa Al Minawi
IDFA DocLab Award for Digital Storytelling: Entropic Fields of Displacement, dir. Pegah Tabassinejad
Special Mention – IDFA DocLab for Digital Storytelling: Burn from Absence, dir. Emeline Courcier
IDFA Award for Best Short Documentary: The Flowers Stand Silently, Witnessing, dir. Theo Panagopoulos
Special Mention – Short Documentary: Mama Micra, dir. Rebecca Blöcher
IDFA Award for Best Youth Documentary (13+): Everything Will Be Alright, dir. Eefje Blankevoort and Lara Aerts
IDFA Award for Best Youth Documentary (9-12): What’s the Film About?, dir. Poorva Bhat
Special Mention – Youth Documentary Competition (13+): Simply Divine, dir. Mélody Boulissière.
Special Mention – Youth Documentary Competition (9-12): The Invisible Ones, dir. Martijn Blekendaal
IDFA Award for Best First Feature: CycleMahesh, dir. Suhel Banerjee
IDFA Award for Best Dutch Film: The Propagandist, dir. Luuk Bouwman
Beeld & Geluid IDFA ReFrame Award: My Stolen Planet, dir. Farahnaz Sharifi
Special Mention – Beeld & Geluid IDFA ReFrame Award: Eight Postcards from Utopia, dir. Radu Jude and Christian Ferencz-Flatz
FIPRESCI Award: Writing Hawa, dir. Najiba Noori
IDFA Forum Award for Best Pitch: Dry Sky, dir. Ibrahim Omar
IDFA Forum Award for Best Rough Cut: Do You Love Me, dir. Lana Y. Daher
IDFA DocLab Forum Award: Amorphous, dir. May Abdalla
Producers Connection Award: Looking for the Mermaid, dir. Yara Costa
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