The Flats comes out on top at CPH:DOX
by Ola Salwa
- The documentary by Alessandra Celesia has won the top prize in the DOX:AWARD Competition; other victors include Grand Me, Preemptive Listening and No Other Land
The influential documentary film festival CPH:DOX has wrapped its 21st edition, which ran from 13-24 March, by presenting the main award to The Flats [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Alessandra Celesia, which is set on a housing estate in Belfast; it has seen better days, but also worse days, too, as the main subject of the film is how the bloody conflict between Catholics and Protestants – which officially ended in 1998 – still haunts the walls of the buildings and the hearts of the residents.
The jury – comprising Belfast Film Festival programmer and Variety film critic Jessica Klang, film director Nataša Urban, producer Monica Hellström, artistic director of the Marrakech International Film Festival Rémi Bohnhomme, and director and editor Carla Gutiérrez – stated: “We live in a world of divisions, borders and locked gates. Coming like a conversation shouted through one of those locked gates, our winning film is a collective portrait of several proud, funny, resourceful individuals, who would be willing to die for their community, but who choose each day the harder, braver and more hopeful option of living for it instead.” The jury also gave a Special Mention to Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Jacob Perlmutter and Manon Ouimet, which they called “wonderful, warm and wise”.
Black Snow by Alina Simone emerged as the winner of the F:ACT AWARD. The statement given by the jury members focused on their recognition of the “director’s sensitivity for the protagonist’s safety and the intimate relationship they created”. Said jury comprised directors Lena Kare and Maria Bäck, and founder and executive director of Close-Up Sigal Yehuda.
The NORDIC:DOX AWARD was given to The Son and the Moon by Roja Pakari. The jury – director-producer Mina Keshavaraz, programmer and writer Murtada Elfadl, and director Lin Alluna – appreciated the documentary for being “an emotional experience that transfers the filmmaker’s legacy onto the audience”. They also singled out G-21 Scenes from Gottsunda by Loran Batti by means of a Special Mention. The latter film also received the same recognition in the NEXT:WAVE AWARD Competition, with the main gong going to Grand Me [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Atiye Zare Arandi. Film critic and editor Sofie Cato, programmer and advisor to the Cannes Film Festival Wim Vanecker and director Christian Einshøj said the winning film was “[a testament] to the inherent imperfection and shortcomings of what it is to be human”.
Meanwhile, the HUMAN:RIGHTS AWARD went to Black Box Diaries [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Shiori Ito because it offered a “unique insight into an individual fight for women’s rights in a country, and a world, that stigmatises and denies rights to the survivors of sexual assault”, as the jury – programmer Leah Sapin, producer Mette Hoffmann-Meyer, and founder and artistic director of FilmLab Palestine Hanna Atallah – opined in their verdict. They also handed a Special Mention to Marching in the Dark by Kinshuk Surjan.
The NEW:VISIONS AWARD Competition winner was Preemptive Listening by Aura Satz, whose film was described the jury – artists Bo Wang, Fatema Abdoolcarim and curator Marie Braad – as “artistically sophisticated yet socio-politically grounded”. The Special Mentions were presented to medium-length films Lichens Are the Way by Ondřej Vavrečka and My Want of You Partakes of Me by Sasha Litvintseva and Beny Wagner.
Finally, Intangible by Carl Emil Carlsen was considered the best VR experience in the INTER:ACTIVE AWARD strand, while No Other Land [+see also:
film review
interview: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
film profile] by Rachel Szor, Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra and Hamdan Bilal nabbed the Audience Award.
Here is the complete list of award winners:
DOX:AWARD
The Flats [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Alessandra Celesia (France/UK/Ireland/Belgium)
Special Mention
Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Jacob Perlmutter, Manon Ouimet (UK/Denmark/USA)
F:ACT AWARD
Black Snow - Alina Simone (USA)
NORDIC:DOX AWARD
The Son and the Moon - Roja Pakari (Denmark)
Special Mention
G-21 Scenes from Gottsunda - Loran Batti (Sweden/Denmark)
NEXT:WAVE AWARD
Grand Me [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Atiye Zare Arandi (Belgium/Iran)
Special Mention
G-21 Scenes from Gottsunda - Loran Batti
HUMAN:RIGHTS AWARD
Black Box Diaries [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Shiori Ito (USA/UK/Japan)
Special Mention
Marching in the Dark - Kinshuk Surjan (Belgium/Netherlands/India)
NEW:VISION AWARD
Preemptive Listening - Aura Satz (UK/Finland)
Special Mentions
Lichens Are the Way - Ondřej Vavrečka (Czech Republic/Slovakia) (medium-length film)
My Want of You Partakes of Me - Sasha Litvintseva, Beny Wagner (UK/Netherlands) (medium-length film)
INTER:ACTIVE AWARD
Intangible – Carl Emil Carlsen (Denmark)
AUDIENCE AWARD
No Other Land [+see also:
film review
interview: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
film profile] - Rachel Szor, Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Bilal (Palestine/Norway)
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