Worldwide Documentary Pageant Amsterdam Prime Prize Goes To ‘Trains’

Trains, the Polish documentary that provides “a collective portrait of individuals in twentieth century Europe, capturing their hopes, wishes, dramas, and tragedies” has received Greatest Movie within the Worldwide Competitors part of the celebrated Worldwide Documentary Pageant Amsterdam (IDFA).

The movie directed and edited by Maciej J. Drygas was a unanimous alternative of the five-person jury. The award comes with a €15,000 money prize. Trains additionally earned the award for Greatest Modifying within the Worldwide Competitors, recognizing Drygas.

“It is a daring and ingenious use of archive,” mentioned the jury comprised of Juliana Fanjul, Sophie Fiennes, Grace Lee, Asmae El Moudir, and Kazuhiro Soda. “The movie exhibits us routes to the constructive and destructive penalties of recent industrial innovation. It harnesses the magic of cinema and as an viewers we’re haunted by our current historic time, even whereas we bear witness to the previous.”

The jury awarded Greatest Directing within the Worldwide Competitors class (which comes with a €5,000 award) to Auberi Edler for An American Pastoral.

“By merely trying and listening, this director reveals the present complexity on the coronary heart of america,” jurors famous. “Her deep dedication to statement permits the viewer to return head to head with the communities within the movie and supplies essential perception into the outcomes of the final U.S presidential election.”

Greatest Cinematography within the Worldwide Competitors was awarded to Zvika Gregory Portnoy and Zuzanna Solakiewicz for The Visitor.

On the awards ceremony Thursday night time in Amsterdam, prizes have been awarded in a number of further classes together with the Envision Competitors, a piece dedicated to movies that develop the cinematic language of documentary. There, Greatest Movie went to the Cuban documentary Chronicles of the Absurd directed by Miguel Coyula. The award is accompanied by a €15,000 money prize.

The Envision Competitors jury consisted of Sam Inexperienced, Nduka Mntambo, Kumjana Novakova, B. Ruby Wealthy, and Wael Shawky. They wrote of Chronicles of the Absurd, “Formally advanced with a movie language that arises organically and straight from its limitations, this movie impressed us with the usage of an audio monitor as a political diary. For its radical kind that matches and embodies the novel spirit of artists refusing to be silenced, the jury awards the Greatest Movie to Chronicles of the Absurd (Crónicas del absurdo) by Miguel Coyula.”

The Award for Greatest Directing within the Envision Competitors went to Massimo D’Anolfi and Martina Parenti for Bestiaries, Herbaria, Lapidaries (together with a €5,000 prize). “The Award for Excellent Creative Contribution went ex aequo [meaning a tie] to Omar Mismar for A Frown Gone Mad (Lebanon) and to Yo-Hen So for Park (Taiwan).”

The IDFA Award for Greatest Quick Documentary was claimed by The Flowers Stand Silently, Witnessing, directed by Theo Panagopoulos (together with a €5,000 money prize). The jury, comprised of Eroll Bilibani, Monica Taboada-Tapia, and Darunee Terdtoontaveedej, wrote, “It’s outstanding how a seemingly naive and idyllic, nearly century-old shade movie holds profound insights into the colonial energy dynamics, as seen by the eyes of the observer. By uncovering hidden layers, the work transforms vivid, lovely photos and missed presences into highly effective reflections on the act of filming as an assertion of energy.”

The jury continued, “These rediscovered depictions remind us of our shared humanity and function a poignant warning in opposition to the perils of forgetting. The movie masterfully reclaims archival footage, highlighting the missed presence of Arab Palestinians. By way of its delicate enhancing, it transforms misrepresentation into presence, difficult historical past’s omissions with quiet, evocative energy.”

The jury awarded a particular point out within the Quick Documentary to Mama Micra, directed by Rebecca Blöcher.

Lisa Schamlé received the IDFA DocLab Award for Immersive Non-Fiction for Me, a Depiction. The award is accompanied by a €5,000 money prize.

“Our jury acknowledges a piece that units up a robust dynamic between bodily and digital representations of the physique to actively interact audiences and create a maverick visible language. We enter a sensually charged and technically fortified setting the place the artist asserts her physique as her house: an act of liberation from stereotypes of magnificence and sexuality. Schamlé designs a uniquely inventive confrontation between artist and audiences, and affords a brand new path for portraiture that invitations collective participation,” reported the jury comprised of Chafik Benhmidouch, Shari Frilot, and Samantha King.

The DocLab Particular Point out for Immersive Non-Fiction went to The Liminal by Alaa Al Minawi.

Pegah Tabassinejad received the IDFA DocLab Award for Digital Storytelling with Entropic Fields of Displacement (accompanied by a €5,000 money prize).

“The winner of the 2024 IDFA Doclab Competitors for Digital Storytelling is a deceptively easy piece,” wrote jurors Karim Ben Khelifa, Amy Rose, and Jarl Schulp. “Beneath a theme that explores the area between the true and the unreal and in a yr of accelerating polarization, dominant patriarchy, and world violence in opposition to the marginalized, the jury unanimously agrees that this necessary and shifting work of resistance and solidarity is the clear winner. Highly effective and layered, Entropic Fields of Displacement cuts by the noise of digital guarantees and goals to create a deeply shifting and well timed paintings.”

The DocLab Particular Point out for Digital Storytelling went to Burn from Absence directed by Emeline Courcier.

The IDFA Award for Greatest Youth Documentary (13+) went to Eefje Blankevoort and Lara Aerts for All the pieces Will Be Alright (an award that comes with a €2,500 money prize).

A particular point out within the IDFA Competitors for Youth Documentary (13+) went to Merely Divine by Mélody Boulissière.

The IDFA Award for Greatest Youth Documentary (9-12) went to Poorva Bhat for What’s the Movie About? The award is accompanied by a €2,500 money prize.

A particular point out within the IDFA Competitors for Youth Documentary (9-12) went to The Invisible Ones by Martijn Blekendaal.

The jury members for the IDFA Competitors for Youth Documentary have been Aneta Ozorek, Festus Toll, Tarik Traidia, Rhianna Woods, and Sara Luna Zorić.

ADDITIONAL AWARDS:

The IDFA Award for Greatest First Characteristic went to CycleMahesh by Suhel Banerjee. The award is accompanied by a €5,000 money prize.                    

The IDFA Award for Greatest Dutch Movie went to Luuk Bouwman for The Propagandist. The award is accompanied by a €5,000 money prize.

The Beeld & Geluid IDFA ReFrame Award went to Farahnaz Sharifi for My Stolen Planet. The award is accompanied by a €5,000 money prize.

The Beeld & Geluid IDFA ReFrame Award particular point out was awarded to Radu Jude and Christian Ferencz-Flatz for Eight Postcards from Utopia.

The FIPRESCI Award went to Writing Hawa by Najiba Noori.

IDFA, the biggest documentary movie pageant on the earth, wraps its 37^th version on Sunday.