08/05/2023 - Christian Einshøj and Denys Desjardins have won in the international and Canadian competitions, respectively, with two intimate family films, while Name Me Lawand got a Special Jury Prize

Director Edward Lovelace accepting his Special Jury Prize – International Feature Documentary for Name Me Lawand (© Gabriel Li)

The 30th edition of Hot Docs wrapped on Saturday night with Danish director Christian Einshøj winning both the Best International Feature Documentary Award, worth CAD10,000, and the Emerging International Filmmaker Award, to the tune of CAD3,000, for his film The Mountains [+see also:
film review
film profile], which world-premiered at CPH:DOX in March.

Einshøj uses 75,000 photos and 30 years of home videos to weave a tender and humorous autobiographical portrait of the men in a Scandinavian family struck by devastating tragedy. The film will qualify for consideration in the Best Documentary Feature category of the Academy Awards.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

The jury – comprising Addie Morfoot, head of editorial coverage for Variety; producer Ina Finchman; and Sundance programmer Sudeep Sharma – gave the Special Jury Prize to UK director Edward Lovelace's Name Me Lawand [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], in which a young, deaf Kurdish boy joyfully hones his communication skills at a UK school after a treacherous journey from Iraq, only to later face deportation from his new home. Everardo González's A Wolfpack Called Ernesto [+see also:
film review
film profile] received an Honourable Mention.

The Best Canadian Feature Documentary Award, worth CAD10,000, was presented to Denys Desjardins's I Lost My Mom, an empathetic and intimate documentary in which the director captures his elderly mother’s experience of neglect in Quebec’s healthcare system.

The jury, consisting of filmmaker and programmer Rodolfo Castillo-Morales, filmmaker Shane Belcourt and Margje de Koning, artistic director of the Movies That Matter film festival, handed the Special Jury Prize to Justine Harbonnier for Caiti Blues [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], which world-premiered at Visions du Réel in April. The Earl A Glick Emerging Canadian Filmmaker Award went to Dominique Chaumont for Veranada.

The Award for Best Mid-length Documentary was presented to Being in a Place – A Portrait of Margaret Tait [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by the UK's Luke Fowler, while the Best International Short Documentary Award went to Mrs. Iran’s Husband by Marjan Khosravi. Megan Durnford received the Betty Youson Award for Best Canadian Short Documentary for Last Respects. Both shorts will qualify for consideration in the Oscars' Documentary Short Subject category.

At the industry-focused Hot Docs Forum, the CMF-Hot Docs Forum Canadian Pitch Prize, worth CAD10,000, went to Intercepted [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Ukrainian-born, Montreal-based Oksana Karpovych, a journey through Ukraine that reveals the banality of evil behind the Russian invasion. It is a co-production between Canada, France and Ukraine.

Here is the full list of Hot Docs award winners:

Best International Feature Documentary Award
The Mountains [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Christian Einshøj (Denmark)

Special Jury Prize – International Feature Documentary
Name Me Lawand [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Edward Lovelace (UK)

Honourable Mention - International Feature Documentary
A Wolfpack Called Ernesto [+see also:
film review
film profile]- Everardo González (Mexico/Switzerland/France)

Best Canadian Feature Documentary Award
I Lost My Mom - Denys Desjardins (Canada)

DGC Special Jury Prize – Canadian Feature Documentary
Caiti Blues [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Justine Harbonnier (Canada/France)

Earl A Glick Emerging Canadian Filmmaker Award
Veranada - Dominique Chaumont (Canada/Argentina)

Best Mid-length Documentary
Being in a Place – A Portrait of Margaret Tait [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Luke Fowler (UK)

Best International Short Documentary Award
Mrs. Iran's Husband - Marjan Khosravi (Iran)

Honourable Mention - International Short Documentary
Dear Ani - Micah Levin (USA)

Betty Youson Award for Best Canadian Short Documentary
Last Respects - Megan Durnford (Canada)

Bill Nemtin Award for Best Social Impact Documentary
Someone Lives Here - Zack Russell (Canada)

John Kastner Award
Silvicola - Jean-Philippe Marquis (Canada)

Scotiabank Docs For Schools Student Choice Award
Invisible Beauty - Bethann Hardison, Frédéric Tcheng (USA)

Don Haig Award
Bonnie Thompson (Canada)

Lindalee Tracey Award
Gaëlle Graton (Canada)

Outstanding Achievement Award
Christine Choy (USA)

Rogers Audience Award for Best Canadian Documentary
Someone Lives Here - Zack Russell

Hot Docs Audience Award
This Is Not an Accident - Philippe Falardeau (Canada)

Audience Award for Mid-length Documentary
When Spring Came to Bucha - Mila Teshaieva, Marcus Lenz (Ukraine/Germany)

Audience Award for Short Documentary
Eco-Hack! - Josh Izenberg, Brett Marty (USA)

Hot Docs Forum awards

first look Pitch Prizes

First Prize
I of the Water - Kimberlee Bassford
Production company: Making Waves Films LLC (USA)

Second Prize
The Sandbox - Kenya-Jade Pinto
Production company: Compy Films Inc (Canada)

CMF-Hot Docs Forum Canadian Pitch Prize
Intercepted [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Oksana Karpovych
Production companies: Les Films Cosmos Inc (Canada), Hutong Production (France), MoonMan (Ukraine)

Cuban Hat Award
Sandbox - Kenya-Jade Pinto (USA)