24/06/2024 - The documentary by Alessandra Celesia has received the main award in the Irish Competition, while No Other Land was the winner of the Maysles Brothers International Competition

The sixth edition of Docs Ireland has wrapped, announcing its winners. Held from 18-23 June in Belfast, the festival showcased documentaries covering a diverse array of topics, including feminism, colonialism, music and health.

Docs Ireland’s Pull Focus Competition celebrates excellence in Irish documentary filmmaking. The winner this year was The Flats [+see also:
film review
interview: Alessandra Celesia
film profile], directed by Alessandra Celesia. The jury was “deeply moved by this caring and collaborative portrayal of a community living in the long shadow of violence while finding new forms of agency, expression and healing. It is an unforgettable, distinctively crafted film that sheds light on the inner dimensions of conflict, moving fluidly across the boundaries between past and present, personal and political, reality and imagination.”

The jury also gave a Special Mention to Leo Regan’s My Friend Lanre, describing it as “an unflinchingly honest, loving and deeply poignant portrait of a decades-long friendship and an artist’s restless pursuit of self-understanding in the face of addiction and illness”.

In The Maysles Brothers Competition for Observational Documentary, which honours the best filmmaking from around the world, the winner was No Other Land [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
film profile], created by a collective of activists (Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Rachel Szor and Hamdan Ballal). According to the jury, they “were impressed by the filmmakers’ ability to take materials shot under very challenging circumstances and transform them into a cinematic, immersive experience. The film gives dignity and agency to the chorus of characters as their world is routinely and systematically turned upside down again and again. We value the collective work as an act of creative resistance and a refusal to give in to the erasure of their culture and community, and right to their land.”

In the Shorts Competition, the winner was Nido by José Miguel Jimenez, which follows Theysi, a midwife deployed deep into the Peruvian Amazon. The Hyndman Award, dedicated to Marilyn Hyndman, a cornerstone of the arts and film in Northern Ireland, was given to Glimmer, directed by Eva Shiels, which was described as “not just a film; it is a conversation, a gentle invitation to understand and embrace diversity in its most intimate form”. The award includes £500 and access to the editing suite at Northern Visions Television Studios.

Finally, the Northern Ireland Screen Pitch, which offered new projects £9,000 for a documentary feature pilot, was awarded to Shades of Blue by Katie McFadden, produced by Simeon Costello.

Here is the list of winners at the sixth Docs Ireland:

Pull Focus Competition Award
The Flats [+see also:
film review
interview: Alessandra Celesia
film profile] - Alessandra Celesia (France/Ireland/UK/Belgium)
Special Mention
My Friend Lanre - Leo Regan (UK)

Maysles Brothers Competition Award
No Other Land [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
film profile] - Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal (Palestine/Norway)

Shorts Competition Award
Nido - José Miguel Jimenez (Ireland, short film)

Hyndman Award
Glimmer - Eva Shiels (UK, short film)

Northern Ireland Screen Pitch Award
Shades of Blue - Katie McFadden (UK)
Producer: Simeon Costello