The award-winning films of our 63rd festival edition have been chosen. The Golden and Silver Doves were presented in a hybrid award ceremony in a cinema auditorium which the juries and filmmakers joined remotely. At the same time, we streamed the event live on our website. In case you missed the livestream, you will find a recording of the ceremony in our media library as of tomorrow.
International Competition Long Documentary and Animated Film
The film Downstream to Kinshasa by Dieudo Hamadi has received the Golden Dove in the International Competition Long Documentary and Animated Film. This co-production from the Democratic Republic of Congo, France and Belgium focuses on war-disabled people from Kisangani in the DR Congo. The 10,000-euro award is sponsored by Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk.
The Silver Dove for best long documentary or animated film by an up-and-coming director in the International Competition Long Film has gone to the Argentinian production The Poets Visit Juana Bignozzi. The film was directed by writer and journalist Mercedes Halfon and by Laura Citarella, who is known internationally as the producer of “La Flor”. The award was sponsored in conjunction with 6,000 euros from the broadcaster 3sat.
German Competition Long Documentary and Animated Film
The Golden Dove in the German Competition Long Documentary and Animated Film in conjunction with 3,000 euros was presented to Lift Like a Girl, a joint Danish-Egyptian-German production by Mayye Zayed. The filmmaker follows Asmaa, aged 14 at the start, for four years. With the help of her coach, a former professional athlete, Asmaa makes her way to the top league in weightlifting in the streets of Alexandria.
“Golden Section” – Competition for the Audience Award Long Documentary or Animated Film
The Golden Dove in “The Golden Section”, the newly introduced Competition for the Audience Award Long Documentary or Animated Film in conjunction with 3,000 euros has gone to the Czech production A New Shift by Jindřich Andrš. The director focuses on a miner who, after 21 years of employment, is retraining to become a programmer
International Competition Short Documentary and Animated Film
In the International Competition Short Documentary and Animated Film, the French-Nigerian co-production Trouble Sleep by Alain Kassanda, a rhythmic portrait of life in Ibadan, has been awarded a Golden Dove for best documentary film, while the Polish film I’m Here by Julia Orlik about a dying woman surrounded by her family has been awarded a Golden Dove for best animated film. Kassanda and Orlik have each received 3,000 euros in prize money.
German Competition Short Documentary and Animated Film
The Silver Dove in the German Competition Short Documentary and Animated Film, in conjunction with 1,500 euros in prize money, has been awarded to Erwin by Jan Soldat, a Austrian-German co-production.
“Golden Section” – Competition for the Audience Award Short Documentary and Animated Film
The Silver Dove in the newly introduced “Golden Section” Competition for the Audience Award Short Documentary and Animated Film, has gone to the animated film Step into the River by Weijia Ma, a Chinese-French co-production that explores China’s one-child policy from the perspective of two young girls. The Silver Dove, which comes with 1,500 euros in prize money, was donated by the Leipziger Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Filmkunst e. V.
All of the award-winning films as well as the remaining films offered online will continue to be available to audiences in Germany on our streaming platform dok-leipzig.culturebase.org. The final films of the festival will be shown online on 14 November.
