06/04/2022 - Polish project Pianoforte, about the Chopin Competition, and the Ukrainian documentary Up in the Air, on a young aerial gymnast, won two awards each

The 11^th edition of East Doc Platform (EDP), the largest co-production, funding, and distribution platform tailor-made for Central and East European documentaries, wrapped with an awards ceremony with the main EDP prize – the East Doc Platform Award for the best project in development and production – going to The World is Not (a) Mine. The film in making, about miners working in inhuman conditions on the Cerro Rico mountain, directed by Natalia Koniarz and produced by Maciej Kubicki, received the award associated with the financial support of €5 000 from the jury of Hanne Biermann (Deckert Distribution), Fatma Riahi (Al Jazeera Documentary Channel) and Alex Szalat (Docs Up Fund).

The jury stated that “the very cinematographic approach of showing the vastness of a place that seems to have been abandoned by the rest of the world, contrasted with the incredible narrowness of the shafts of the highest mine in Bolivia, that immediately caught our attention. Natalia Koniarz's project promises to be a parable about nothing less than the meaning of life, about our interaction with nature, but most importantly about how we treat each other.” Furthermore, Biermann, Riahi, and Szalat decided to grant the East Doc Platform Award Special Mention to Olga Lucovnicova's film Last Letters of My Grandma for its “its high cinematic language and the richness of its story, linking the past and present.”

However, The World is Not (a) Mine was not the sole awarded project that the Polish producer Maciej Kubicki of Telemark showcased at EDP. Kubicki's other project Pianoforte [+see also:
film review
film profile], directed by Jakub Piątek, follows the proceedings at the Chopin Competition and observes protagonists as they prepare. Pianoforte received the DOK Leipzig Accelerator Award for DOK Preview Training and the Pitch the Doc Prize, with the jury appreciating “an intriguing coming of age story driven by empathy, dreams, and hope, which will compel audiences to root for the young pianists and follow them on their journey to achieve their dreams.” Oksana Syhareva and Nataliia Pogudina took home two awards, the HBO Max Award and the Cut Thru the Noise Award, for their project Up in the Air, about a young Ukrainian aerial gymnast, while the Cut Thru Noise jury of Diana Karklin (Rise and Shine World Sales) and Mirjam Wiekenkamp (NOISE PR) praised the film's “high cinematic quality, a strong choice of characters and an absolutely engaging narrative."

In addition, domestic projects did not go unnoticed by international film professionals serving EDP's jury duties. Czech director Marika Pecháčková's time-lapse documentary about two female runners, Runaway, received the Golden Funnel Award for making the most significant development during the Ex Oriente Film workshop. The Czech directing tandem of Barbora Chalupová and Jakub Šmíd won the Sunny Side of the Doc Prize for their docu-series about race car driver twin sisters and their journey to the 2023 Dakar Rally, Dakar Sistaz.

The executive director of Current Time TV, Kenan Aliyev, decided to give the Current Time TV Director’s Award to the EDP organiser, the Institute of Documentary Film (IDF), asking the IDF to pass €2 500 coming with the award “from American people to Ukrainian filmmakers that are documenting the war and human tragedy that must end”.

Here is the full list of award winners at the tenth East Doc Platform 2022:

East Doc Platform Award
The World is Not (a) Mine - Natalia Koniarz (Poland)
Producer: Maciej Kubicki

East Doc Platform Award Special Mention
Last Letters of My Grandma – Olga Lucovnicova (Belgium/Moldova/Netherlands)
Producer: Frederik Nicolai

HBO Max Award
Up in the Air – Oksana Syhareva (Ukraine)
Producers: Oksana Syhareva, Nataliia Pogudina

Czech TV Co-production Award
The Wife of (Estonia/USA/France)
Producers: Volia Chajkouskaya, Ivo Felt

Cut Thru the Noise Award
Up in the Air – Oksana Syhareva (Ukraine)
Producers: Oksana Syhareva, Nataliia Pogudina

Golden Funnel Award
Runaway – Marika Pecháčková (Czech Republic)
Producers: Pavla Klimešová, Vít Klusák

Ex Oriente Fine Cut Award
Shut the Fuck Up! - Taisiia Kutuzov (Ukraine, France)
Producers: Stephane Siohan, Olga Beskhmelnitsyna

Pitch the Doc Award
Pianoforte [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Jakub Piątek (Poland)
Producer: Maciej Kubicki

DAE Encouragement Prize
5 Pills Away - Karolina Domagalska (Poland)
Producers: Katarzyna Slesicka, Anna Stylinska

DocsBarcelona Award
From 0 to 8 - Danilo Cekovic (Sweden, Serbia)
Producers: Mario Adamson, Sergio C. Ayala

DOK Leipzig Accelerator Award for DOK Co-Pro Market
Baltic UXO - Agne Dovydaityte, Alexander Belinski (Lithuania)
Producers: Agne Dovydaityte, Dagne Vildziunaite

DOK Leipzig Accelerator Award for DOK Preview Training
Pianaforte - Jakub Piątek (Poland)
Producer: Maciej Kubicki

Sunny Side of the Doc Prize
Dakar Sistaz - Jakub Šmíd, Barbora Chalupová (Czech Republic)
Producer: Zuzana Kučerová

Current Time TV Director's Award
Institute of Documentary Film