16/10/2023 - Xu Jingwei's No Changes Have Taken in Our Life has won the top prize in the animation competition, while One Hundred Four dominated the national competition

The 66th edition of DOK Leipzig concluded with the awards ceremony that took place at the Schaubühne Lindenfels on Saturday 14 October. Seven Golden and two Silver Doves were presented at the function. Combined with the partner and the industry awards, which were handed out at different ceremonies, the total count of prizes given out at the festival (which screened 225 films and extended-reality works from 60 countries) was 24.

In the International Documentary Competition, the Golden Dove for Best Feature-length Film went to Peter Mettler and his While the Green Grass Grows [+see also:
film review
film profile]. The jury, consisting of Jennifer Fox, Radu Jude, Marie-Pierre Macia, Steven Markovitz and Rima Mismar, described it as “an unpredictable film whose quality of observation makes the viewer see everyday events, places and objects in a poetic new light”. The Silver Dove for the same format went to the Armenian-French co-production Beauty and the Lawyer by Hovhannes Ishkhanyan. As for the short films in the competition, the Golden and Silver Doves were bagged by Bo Wang’s An Asian Ghost Story and Jani Peltonen’s 30 Kilometers per Second, respectively. The Golden Dove winners qualify for a nomination for the annual Academy Awards, provided that they meet the Academy’s standards.

Regarding the International Competition Animated Film, the Golden Dove for Best Feature-length Film was bestowed upon Xu Jingwei for No Changes Have Taken in Our Life. The same award in the shorts category, along with a qualification for the Academy Award nomination, went to Barbara Rupik for Such Miracles Do Happen, while jury members Pavel Horáček, Anne Isensee and Irina Rubina also singled out Zima by Tomek Popakul and Kasumi Ozeki, and gave it a Special Mention. Regarding the German Documentary Film Competition, Jonathan Schöring’s One Hundred Four was presented with the Golden Dove for Best Feature-length Film, while Franzis Kabisch scooped the same prize in the shorts category for her film getty abortions. Finally, the Golden Dove in the Audience Competition went to Asmae El Moudir and her film The Mother of All Lies.

As mentioned above, the festival also gave out a number of partner and industry awards. The former were dominated by Jonathan Schöring’s aforementioned film, which scooped three more awards, while projects from Belarus, Ukraine, Germany, France, Japan and Iran were awarded in the latter section.

Here is the full list of award winners:

International Competition Documentary Film

Golden Dove for Best Feature-length Film
While the Green Grass Grows [+see also:
film review
film profile] – Peter Mettler (Canada/Switzerland)

Golden Dove for Best Short Film
An Asian Ghost Story – Bo Wang (Netherlands/Hong Kong)

Silver Dove for Feature-length Film
Beauty and the Lawyer – Hovhannes Ishkhanyan (Armenia/France)

Silver Dove for Short Film
30 Kilometers per Second – Jani Peltonen (Finland)

International Competition Animated Film

Golden Dove for Best Feature-length Film
No Changes Have Taken in Our Life – Xu Jinwei (China)

Golden Dove for Best Short Film
Such Miracles Do Happen – Barbara Rupik (Poland)
Special Mention
Zima – Tomek Popakul, Kasumi Ozeki (Poland)

German Competition Documentary Film

Golden Dove for Best Feature-length Film
One Hundred Four – Jonathan Schörnig (Germany)

Golden Dove for Best Short Film
getty abortions – Franzis Kabisch (Germany/Austria)

Audience Competition

Golden Dove
The Mother of All Lies – Asmae El Moudir (Morocco/Egypt/Saudi Arabia/Qatar)

Partnership awards

DEFA Sponsoring Prize
The Children of Korntal – Julia Charakter (Germany)

MDR Film Prize
The Last Relic [+see also:
film review
film profile] – Marianna Kaat (Estonia/Norway)

Film Prize Leipziger Ring
One Hundred Four – Jonathan Schöring

Goethe-Institut Documentary Film Prize
One Hundred Four – Jonathan Schöring

ver.di Prize for Solidarity, Humanity and Fairness
One Hundred Four – Jonathan Schöring

Prize of the Inter-religious Jury
Kumva – Which Comes from Silence – Sarah Mallégol (France)

FIPRESCI Prize
Universe Department Store – Won Tae-woong (South Korea)

mephisto 97.6 Award
Compound Eyes of Tropical – Zhang Xu Zhan (Taiwan)

Gedanken-Aufschluss Award
For the Time Being – Nele Dehnenkamp (Germany)

DOK Industry awards

DOK Co-Pro Market

Saxon Award for Best Documentary Project by a Female Director
Genesis – Daria Yurkevich (Belarus/Germany)
Production company: JYOTI Film

Current Time TV Award
Divia – Dmytro Hreshko (Ukraine)
Production companies: UP UA STUDIO, Gogol Film

Unifrance Doc Award
Shaina 13 to 15 – Tamara Erde (France)
Production company: Tag Film

DOK Preview Germany

D-Facto Motion Works-in-Progress Prize
Johatsu – Into Thin Air [+see also:
interview: Andreas Hartmann, Arata Mori
film profile] – Andreas Hartmann, Arata Mori (Germany/Japan)

DOK Short n' Sweet

Kurzfilm Agentur Hamburg Award
A Move – Elahe Esmaili (Iran)