The ongoing war in Gaza was high on the agenda at the CPH:DOX Awards, Copenhagen’s international documentary film festival, with several filmmakers calling for a ceasefire in Gaza while accepting their awards.
Opening the ceremony after a concert by local Middle East Peace Ensemble, Artistic Director Niklas Engstrom told the crowd gathered at Copenhagen’s historic Kunsthal Charlottenborg, which serves as the festival’s home for the entire 10-day event: “It felt right to start with this basic humanitarian message.” For hope and peace.
On the subject of past and present conflicts, Italian director Alessandra Silesia received the Dox: Award for The Flats, a powerful, timely and disturbing film about a community living through the pain and trauma caused by the unrest in the north. Ireland.
The judging panel consisted of Belfast Film Festival programmer W diverse “Our main goal is to not The award honors not only creative and conceptual boldness, but a filmmaker with the humility who recognizes when a story goes beyond its setting, the confidence to follow where it leads, and whose fantastically vivid characters.
“We live in a world of divisions, borders and closed gates. Our winning film comes like a conversation through one of those closed gates, a collective portrait of many proud, funny, and resourceful individuals who would be willing to die for their community but choose every day the harder, braver, and more hopeful choice. Than to live for it instead.
Accepting the award, Selesia, whose husband is from Northern Ireland, said: “I don’t know if I have faith that films can change the world, but it’s great to be part of this amazing community, thank you very much.” “
The Dox:Award comes with a cash prize of €10,000 sponsored by the Danish public broadcaster DR.
Special mention was given to Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other by Jacob Perlmutter and Manon Ouimet. which he described diverse As an “intimate doc that dissects the marriage of an artistic couple,” the film explores how the disparity in success between spouses can lead to frustration.
“Falling in love is a magical thing, but staying in love is a miracle. Two people find each other in middle age, and later build a beautiful life together that is documented here with grace, humor, and honesty. For a film this immaculately made, from its stunning opening frame, it seems… As if embraced in the familiar but electric embrace of an old lover, the jury gives a dazzling special mention to the wonderful, warm and wise Two Strangers Trying ‘Not to Kill Each Other’, said the jury.
The F:act award, reserved for films that combine documentary and investigative journalism, went to American journalist and director Alina Simon (“Digits”) for “Black Snow,” about a Siberian mother who finds herself under strict scrutiny by Russian authorities when she comes forward as a journalist. Citizenship reveals a huge coal scandal.
The winner receives a cash prize of 5,000 euros.
“The Son and the Moon,” the first film by Danish-Iranian director Roja Bakari, won the Nordic:Dox award. A poignant video diary dedicated to her son, it follows Bakari’s journey as she recounts her life after being diagnosed with incurable cancer.
Accepting the award, Bakari thanked her team “for teaching me how to make a film, trust myself, and push myself,” and her family “for allowing me to make this film.”
“I’m really proud of what we did and to see how we fought and survived this crazy trauma,” she added.
Special mention went to Laurent Paty’s “G – 21 Scenes From Gottsunda,” an intimate, poetic and existential documentary about life, death and brotherhood, set in the Swedish neighborhood of the same name which is notorious for drug cases and gun fights.
The film also received a special mention in the Next:Wave section, dedicated to emerging filmmakers, with the top Next:Wave award going to Atiye Zare Arandi’s Grand Me, about a nine-year-old Iranian girl who plans to sue her parents after their bitter divorce. .
“The film finds its merit in this intersection, drawing attention to questions of motherhood, transformation and the concept of belonging, and indirectly questioning the unequal status and rights of women in contemporary Iranian society. “It is ultimately a testament to the resilience of Melina and her ancestors, but it is also A testament to the imperfection and shortcomings inherent in what it means to be human.”
Both the Nordic: and Next:Wave awards come with a cash prize of €5,000 provided by the festival.
Among the 15 feature and short films competing for the New: Vision Award dedicated to artistic films and experiments that push boundaries, “Preventive Listening” by London-based visual artist Ora Satz took first prize in addition to a cash prize. A prize of 5,000 euros.
Special mention was given to “Lichens are the Way” by Ondrej Vavrika and “My Desire for You Shares Me” by directors Sasha Litvintseva and Benny Wagner.
The new Human Rights Awards, sponsored by the Human Rights Institute and worth €5,000, went to Black Box Diaries by Shiori Ito, which tells the story of a Japanese journalist’s courageous and enduring fight to bring the man who assaulted her to justice. In a pre-MeToo world.
The jury said, as they distributed the awards: “An extraordinary woman takes control of her narrative in a film that offers a unique look at the individual struggle for women’s rights in a country, and a world, that stigmatizes and disenfranchises survivors of sexual assault.” the prize.
The director, who was on her way back to Japan while receiving the award, said when she received a call informing her of her victory and decided to return to Copenhagen: “We do not know whether we can show this film in Japan or not. We cannot show this film in Japan.” So getting this means a lot to me, thank you.
Special mention was given to “Marching in the Dark” by Kenchuk Surjan (“Island in the City,” “Pola”), about a group of widows who come together to break the vicious cycle of debt and climate-related chaos that has driven their husbands. To commit suicide, leaving them in debt.
The newly presented Audience Award was presented to No Other Land by Rachel Szur, Yuval Abraham, Bassel Adra, and Hamdan Bilal, in which a young Palestinian activist teams up with an Israeli journalist to chronicle the desperation of displaced people in his homeland. .
Finally, the Inter:Active Award went to Karl Emil’s “Intangible,” an immersive exhibition that examines the strangely satisfying sensation produced by touching simulated natural phenomena while drawing attention to the controversial idea of reconnecting with nature through computational means.
With over 200 films screened in Copenhagen and at venues across Denmark, an audience of over 125,000, and an industry event that welcomed over 2,000 professionals, this 21st edition of CPH:DOX set multiple records.
The festival, which began on March 12, will conclude on March 24.