16/08/2023 - Other winners at the Kosovar event included A Golden Life, Last Things, Total Trust and Snajka: Diary of Expectations

The 22nd edition of the international documentary and short-film festival Dokufest took place in Prizren, Kosovo, for nine days from 4-12 August. It concluded with the awards ceremony at the Lumbardhi Open Air Cinema on Saturday evening. The festival showcased 256 films at eight venues, 105 of which were competing in eight different programmes. This year, the gathering also introduced the Doc Alliance Award (see the news).

The jury of the International Feature Dox Competition, consisting of Valérie Massadian, Dario Oliveira and Maryam Tafakory, singled out Mia Engberg’s Hypermoon [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mia Engberg
film profile] as Best Film, rewarding it for “its cinematographic freedom, tracing a complex journey grasping for life through poetic and delicate layers of memories, and for its fragile intimacy in the face of death, which the film transcends in a gesture of resistance and love”, as the statement read. The Special Mention was given to Q by Jude Chehab.

Somner Vardar’s Drifting triumphed in the Balkan Dox Competition. The jury (Marlene Edoyan, Srđan Kovačević, Zeynep Güzel) justified their decision with the following statement: “The filmmaker’s dedication to the topic and to the movie’s protagonists sheds new light on a complex economic reconstruction project in contemporary Turkey. The result is a thought-provoking film, with an imperative socio-political commentary attached”.

Boubacar Sangaré’s A Golden Life [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] came out on top of the Human Rights Dox Competition, while the Special Mention in the same sidebar went to My Name Is Happy [+see also:
film review
interview: Nick Read and Ayse Toprak
film profile], directed by Ayşe Toprak and Nick Read. Deborah Stratman’s film Last Things emerged triumphant in the Green Dox Competition. In the Truth Dox Competition, Total Trust [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Zhang Jialing was victorious, while Steffi Niederzoll’s Seven Winters in Tehran [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] got the Special Mention. Finally, Tea Vidović Dalipi’s Snajka: Diary of Expectations [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] was crowned by the Dokufest audience.

Here is the full list of award winners:

International Dox Competition

Winner
Hypermoon [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mia Engberg
film profile] – Mia Engberg (Sweden)
Special Mention
Q – Jude Chehab (USA/Lebanon)

Balkan Dox Competition

Winner
Drifting – Somnur Vardar (Turkey)

International Short Dox Competition

Winner
Pacific Club – Valentin Noujaïm (France/Qatar)

International Shorts Competition

Winner
Neighbour Abdi – Douwe Dijkstra (Netherlands)
Special Mention
The Goose’s Excuse – Abdo Zin Eldin, Mahdy Abo Bahat (Egypt)

EFA Nomination Candidate
Daydreaming So Vividly About Our Spanish Holidays – Christian Avilés (Spain)

Human Rights Dox Competition

Winner
A Golden Life [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Boubacar Sangaré (Burkina Faso/Benin/France)
Special Mention
My Name Is Happy [+see also:
film review
interview: Nick Read and Ayse Toprak
film profile] – Ayşe Toprak, Nick Read (UK/Turkey)

Green Dox Competition

Winner
Last Things – Deborah Stratman (USA/Portugal/France)

Truth Dox Competition

Winner
Total Trust [+see also:
film review
film profile] – Zhang Jialing (Germany/Netherlands)
Special Mention
Seven Winters in Tehran [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Steffi Neiderzoll (Germany/France)

National Competition

Winner
Prishtinë, 2002 – Trendëlina Halili (Kosovo)

Distribution Award powered by Radiator IP Film Sales
Hana e Re – Jehona Berisha (Kosovo)

Le Fresnoy Award
The Future Is Better Comrade – Blerta Haziraj (Kosovo)

Audience Award
Snajka: Diary of Expectations [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Tea Vidović Dalipi (Croatia/Kosovo/Italy)