31/10/2016 - The 14th DocLisboa gave the Swiss director the Award for Best Film in the international competition; Portuguese director Cláudia Varejão won the national competition with Ama-San

Last weekend, Calabria [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Swiss director Pierre-François Sauter won the Award for Best Film in the international competition section of the 14^th DocLisboa. The festival, which this year presented over 250 titles hailing from 41 countries, gave its most highly coveted award to a story focusing on two immigrant undertakers – a Belgrade Gypsy and a Portuguese man – who travel to the south of Italy to repatriate the corpse of a Calabrian immigrant who died while looking for work in Switzerland. Calabria is a production by Swiss outfits Mira Film GmbH and Le Laboratoire Central, which was previously screened at Locarno and Visions du Réel, before continuing its tour and winning the Portuguese gathering.

The international competition jury also gave a Special Mention to Colombian director Laura Huertas-Millán’s ethnographic film Black Sun.

The national competition jury decided to crown Ama-San [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Portuguese photographer-turned-filmmaker Cláudia Varejão. This is Varejão's second feature-length documentary after In the Darkness of the Theatre I Take off My Shoes, a commission from Portugal’s National Ballet Company, which premiered last January.

Produced by Terratreme Filmes, Ama-San follows the daily lives of three women of different ages who, for 30 years, have been diving together in the sea around a small fishing village on the Shima peninsula (Japan). This tradition is not expected to last much longer, as the women who still dive today are between 50 and 85 years old.

Here is the full list of award winners at DocLisboa 2016:

International competition

Best Film
Calabria [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Pierre-François Sauter (Switzerland)

Special Mention
Black Sun - Laura Huertas-Millán (Colombia/France/USA)

Portuguese Authors’ Guild Award
Azayz - Ilias El Faris (Morocco/France)

Cross-sector competition

José Saramago Award
Correspondences [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Rita Azevedo Gomes (Portugal)

FCSH Award for Best Debut Film
300 Miles - Orwa El Mokdad (Syria/Lebanon)

Público Newspaper Award (short film)
Downhill - Miguel Faro (Portugal)

Audience/RTP Award for Best Feature
Cruzeiro Seixas - As cartas do Rei Artur - Cláudia Rita Oliveira (Portugal)

Portuguese competition

Best Film
Ama-San [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Cláudia Varejão (Portugal/Switzerland/Japan)

Kino Sound Studio Award
Where I Grow Old [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Marília Rocha (Portugal/Brazil)

ETIC Schools Award
The Amazed Spectator - Edgar Pêra (Portugal)

Green Years competition

La Guarimba Grand Prize
Pulse - Robin Petré (Belgium/Hungary/Portugal)

Special Jury Award
The Edge of the World - Kate Saragaço-Gomes (Portugal)