31/10/2022 - Documentaries on the Kharkiv Metro, online money-making gurus and the search for an audio tape of the voice of the Virgin Mary were among the award-winning projects in the festival’s industry strand

Lidia Duda (centre) with her #Docs Connect Taskovski Training Award for Forest (© Ji.hlava IDFF)

The first round of award-giving at the 26^th edition of the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival took place in the Czech gathering’s industry strand. The jury – consisting of the artistic director of the Berlin International Film Festival, Carlo Chatrian; US film producer Michael Rogosin; and the artistic director of the New Horizons International Film Festival, Ewa Szablowska – weighed up a number of promising works in development from Europe and the USA. After some deliberation, the jury decided to name the Polish project Forest by Lidia Duda as the most promising European project, and thus worthy of receiving post-production services to the tune of €15,000 from UPP and €5,000 from Soundsquare. “Forest is a film that tackles one of the contradictions of the contemporary world – where the aspirations for a heaven on Earth are confronted with the harsh reality of Europe nowadays,” noted the jury. The project also netted the #Docs Connect Training Award.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

“Thanks to a highly personal and original story, Mike Crane, the director and producer, promises to deliver an intriguing film, made of archive footage, re-enactments and creative sound design, where the natural and the supernatural collide,” continued the jury when handing out the Award for the Most Promising US Project, which went to Recording Mary. Meanwhile, the Croatian project Sinnermen, produced and directed by Aleš Suk, won a prize entailing an online release for two years on the DAFilms.com VoD platform.

Two complimentary Marché du Film badges and a selection as a Cannes Docs 2023 “Spotlighted Project” were handed to Audun Amundsen for his project Click the Link Below – these are perks that come with the Cannes Docs – Marché du Film Award. Similarly, two EFM market badges and an EFM consultation session were pocketed by director Pavlo Dorohoi and producer Artem Pribylnov, as their project Metro 2022 won the EFM Award. Producer Marcia Mansur and director Marina Thomé received two free DAE memberships for one year along with a DAE consultancy session, as they took home the DAE Award for their project Red Skies.

Traditionally, the Institute of Documentary Film hands out a host of awards. Director Kateryna Ruzhyna received the 2022 Silver Eye Award for the Best Short Film in the East Silver Market, for Avitaminosis. The jury, composed of María Vera, Anna Feistel and Mathieu Janssen, stated, “The film allows us access to a personal, complex and multi-layered context where we find the protagonist in a state of inevitable insecurity. In an open and sincere way, the director navigates through her life, playing with contemporary aesthetics, using performative modes of self-representation and at the same time painting a broader picture of societies’ precarity and uncertainty, especially for young generations”. The Silver Eye Award for Best Feature Film was given to Otilia Babara's Love Is Not an Orange [+see also:
trailer
interview: Otilia Babara
film profile], while Eva Dzhyshyashvili received a Special Mention for Plai. A Mountain Path [+see also:
interview: Eva Dzhyshyashvili
film profile]. “[These are] two films very different in approach. We see the sacrifice of mothers becoming martyrs; saviours of family and country, and the passing of generational trauma. These films each speak through a child’s gaze: one unfolding from a more formal approach to the present day, the other drawing on the archived past of both family memories and national collective history,” said Kathleen McInnis, Radu Sticlea and Christopher Small.

Here is the full list of award-winning projects:

Ji.hlava New Visions Award for the Most Promising European Project
Forest – Lidia Duda (Poland)

Ji.hlava New Visions Award for the Most Promising US Project
Recording Mary – Mike Crane (USA)

DAFilms.com Award
Sinnermen – Aleš Suk (Croatia)

#Docs Connect Taskovski Training Award
Forest – Lidia Duda

Cannes Docs - Marché du Film Award
Click the Link Below – Audun Amundsen (Germany/Norway/UK)

EFM Award
Metro 2022 – Pavlo Dorohoi (Ukraine)

DAE Award
Red Skies – Marina Thomé (Portugal)

Silver Eye Award for Best Feature Film
Love Is Not at Orange [+see also:
trailer
interview: Otilia Babara
film profile] – Otilia Babara (Belgium/Moldova/Netherlands/France)
Special Mention
Plai. A Mountain Path [+see also:
interview: Eva Dzhyshyashvili
film profile] - Eva Dzhyshyashvili (Ukraine)

Silver Eye Award for Short Documentary
Avitaminosis – Kateryna Ruzhyna (Ukraine/Czech Republic)

Best Festival Poster – Audience Award
2022 Taiwan International Documentary Festival

Best Festival Poster – Festival Identity Award
2022 Dokufest International Documentary and Short Film Festival