Porte Bagage, the fiction debut by documentary filmmaker Abdelkarim El-Fassi, has triumphed in competition at the 44th Bergamo Film Meeting. Handled by MMM Film Sales and voted for by the audience, the movie has claimed the Bergamo Film Meeting Award worth €5,000. Porte Bagage tells the story of a Dutch-Moroccan family who take their father - who is living with dementia - on one final, nostalgia-fuelled car journey to Morocco. Abdelkarim El-Fassi wrote the screenplay based on his own personal experiences.

The second and third prizes in the audience-voted feature film competition went respectively to Hidden People by Miha Hočevar and Pieces of a Foreign Life by Gaya Jiji.

The international jury, composed of Gabriella Manfrè (producer), Patrice Toye (director) and Miguel Valverde (director of IndieLisboa), awarded their Best Director Prize worth €2,000 to The Frog and the Water by Thomas Stuber. “With its poetic, funny and sensitive approach,” the jury’s explanation reads, “this film takes us on a journey in which ‘loneliness does not exist’: you just have to wait to find your soulmate. When a Japanese man meets a young man with Down syndrome in Germany, a very strong bond grows between them, which needs no words.”

In the Close Up section, the CGIL Bergamo Best Documentary Award, consisting of €2,000 for the film proving most popular among audiences, went to To Close Your Eyes and See Fire by Nicola von Leffern and Jakob Carl Sauer, while the La Sortie de l'Usine - CGIL Jury Award, presented by CGIL Bergamo’s union delegates to the documentary best addressing issues relating to the world of work and society (€1,000), was bestowed upon Azza by Stefanie Brockhaus. As explained by the jury, this is “A documentary which takes a highly sensitive and rigorous approach to depict the struggle of women still trapped in a patriarchal society. For Azza, learning to drive, and teaching this skill to other women, becomes a means for emancipation and freedom, both individual and collective. The film stands out for the care, profound delicacy and intensity with which it conveys the viewpoint of a young woman who is denied the possibility of choosing and building her own future. Azza proves itself to be a powerful and moving work, turning an intimate account into a universal, topical story which lends a voice to many women striving to win their autonomy. Through a forceful yet respectful authorial approach, the documentary interweaves personal and social dimensions, providing viewers with a space to reflect on identity, freedom and the right to self-determination.”

The full list of awards is as follows:

Competition

Bergamo Film Meeting First Prize
Porte Bagage - Abdelkarim El-Fassi (Netherlands)

Bergamo Film Meeting Second Prize
Hidden People - Miha Hočevar (Slovenia/Serbia/Iceland)

Bergamo Film Meeting Third Prize
Pieces of a Foreign Life - Gaya Jiji (France/Belgium)

Best Director Award
The Frog and the Water - Thomas Stuber (Germany)

Close Up

CGIL Bergamo Best Documentary Award
To Close Your Eyes and See Fire - Nicola von Leffern, Jakob Carl Sauer (Austria)

La sortie de l’usine - CGIL Jury Award
Azza - Stefanie Brockhaus (Germany)