30/10/2017 - Other winners include artist-turned-director Filipa César as well as many other female directors

The 15^th DocLisboa came to an end yesterday with a list of awards featuring several titles directed by female filmmakers across the festival’s various sections.

The top prize in the International Competition went to Valérie Massadian’s French-Portuguese co-production Milla [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]. Previously awarded at Locarno, in the Filmmakers of the Present section, Milla is a docufiction co-produced by Lisbon-based outfit Terratreme Filmes, which focuses on the life of a 17-year-old teenager who becomes a mother.

Portuguese director Inês Oliveira won the top prize in the National Competition with Vira Chudnenko. The documentary short is based on the real-life story of a Russian woman killed by four Rottweilers.

Porto-born, Berlin-based Filipa César is another of the female directors enjoying the limelight at this year’s DocLisboa. Her Portuguese-French film Spell Reel [+see also:
trailer
film profile] won both a Special Mention from the international jury and the José Saramago Award. The film is made up of archive images from Guinea-Bissau’s War of Independence. The footage allows us to bear witness to the birth of Guinean cinema as part of the anti-colonial vision of Amílcar Cabral, the liberation leader who was assassinated in 1973.

Other winning names include Selma Doborac with Those Shocking Shaking Days [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Madalena Rebelo with Pesar, among others.

Here is the full list of award winners:

International Competition

City of Lisbon Award for Best International Competition Film
Milla [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Valérie Massadian (France/Portugal)
 
Portuguese Authors Society International Competition Jury Award
Why Is Difficult to Make Films in Kurdistan - Ebrû Avci (Turkey)
 
Público Newspaper/MUBI Award for Best Short Film (up to 40')
Saule Marceau - Juliette Achard (France/Belgium)

Special Mention of the International Competition Jury
Spell Reel [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - Filipa César (Portugal/France)

New Talent Award/TVCine Channels Award for Best First Feature-length Film
Those Shocking Shaking Days [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - Selma Doborac (Austria/Bosnia and Herzegovina)

National Competition

Íngreme Award for Best Portuguese Competition Film
Vira Chudnenko - Inês Oliveira (Portugal)

Kino Sound Studio Portuguese Competition Jury Award
À Tarde - Pedro Florêncio (Portugal)

Audience Award/RTP Award for Best Portuguese Film
Dialogues or How Theatre and Opera Combined to Create a Show About the Death of Sixteen Carmelites and Fear – Catarina Neves (Portugal)

Schools Award/ETIC Award for Best Portuguese Competition Film
I Don’t Belong Here - Paulo Abreu (Portugal)

Cross-sector Competition

Practice, Tradition and Heritage Award
Martírio - Vincent Carelli (Brazil)
Special Mention
Medronho todos os dias - Sílvia Coelho, Paulo Raposo (Portugal)

José Saramago Award
Spell Reel – Filipa César

Green Years 

FAMU Award for Best Green Years Film
Norley and Norlen - Flávio Ferreira (Cuba/Portugal/Spain)
 
Special Walla Collective Green Years Jury Award
Pesar - Madalena Rebelo (Portugal)

Best Green Years Director Award
John 746 - Ana Vijdea (Portugal)

Walla Collective Award for Best Work in Progress – Arché
Silvia – Maria Silvia Esteve (Portugal)

Contemporary Art Centre Award for Best Project in Development – Arché
Folha 84 - Catarina Mourão (Portugal)