DOK Leipzig/ 6/ Awards
I just came from the award ceremony of the 58th edition of DOK Leipzig with a smile on my face, happy that the jury chose, what I also found the best film in the main competiton, “Brothers” by Wojciech Staron. And happy for Marianna Economou, who was on stage twice to receive acknowledgement for her “The Longest Run”. If anyone deserves this it is Economou, who went to many international pitching sessions without getting any funding. Goes without saying that in Greece film funding does not really exist in times of crisis… Also bravo that Hungarian Klara Trencsényi was awarded in the “Next Masters” category. I have seen beautiful material from her winning film “Train to Adulthood” and look forward to watch the final result, and write about it. Below the press release of the festival, more reporting and reviews will follow from me in the coming days:
The Golden Dove in the International Competition Long Documentary and Animated Film was awarded to “Brothers” (“Bracia”) (photo) by Polish director Wojciech Staroń. The prize is endowed with 10,000 euros, donated by the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk, and was presented by Dr Claudia Schreiner, Head of Programme Culture and Science at MDR Television.
In the International Competition Short Documentary and Animated Film, the Russian entry “The Conversation” (“Razgovor”) was awarded the Golden
Dove for the best short documentary film. Director Anastasia Novikova receives prize money to the amount of 5,000 euros, donated by TELEPOOL GmbH. The Golden Dove for the best short animated film, endowed with 5,000 euros, was awarded to the Swiss entry “Erlking“ (“Erlkönig”) by Georges Schwizgebel. The Silver Dove for the best short documentary and animated film, endowed with 2,000 euros, went to Lei Lei from China for his film “Missing One Player“.
The Golden Dove in the German Competition Long Documentary and Animated Film, endowed with 10,000 euros, was awarded to “Land on Water” (“Land am Wasser”) by Tom Lemke. The Golden Dove in the German Competition Short Documentary and Animated Film, presented for the first time at this festival and endowed with 5,000 euros, was received by Benjamin Kahlmeyer for his film “Eisen”.
The Golden Dove of the Media Foundation of the Sparkasse Leipzig in the Next Masters Competition went to Klára Trencsényi from Hungary for “Train to Adulthood” (“Reményvasút”). The prize money of 10,000 euros is intended as startup funding for the director’s next documentary film project.
The Golden Dove for the Best Animated Documentary was awarded to the German entry “Spirit Away” (“Wegzaubern”) by Betina Kuntzsch. This prize for a hybrid of animated and documentary film, which is unique in the world, is endowed with 3,000 euros.
The Healthy Workplaces Film Award, endowed with 5,000 euros donated by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA), was awarded ex aequo to the German production “Automatic Fitness” by Alejandra Tomei and Alberto Couceiro and the German entry “Work For One Day” (“Tagelöhner Syndrom”) by Rita Bakacs.
The MDR Film Prize for an outstanding East European documentary, endowed with 3,000 euros, went to the animated documentary “The Magic Mountain” (La montagne magique”) by Romanian filmmaker Anca Damian.
The DEFA Sponsoring Prize for an outstanding long German documentary, along with a grant to the amount of 4,000 euros, was awarded to Matthias Koßmehl for his film “Café Waldluft”.
The Documentary Film Prize of the Goethe Institute, endowed with 2,000 euros, went to Lutz Dammbeck for his film “Overgames”.
The Prize of the Ecumenical Jury, endowed with 2,000 Euros donated by the VCH-Hotels Deutschland GmbH – im Verband Christlicher Hoteliers e.V., including the MICHAELIS Hotel in Leipzig, went to Wojciech Staroń (Poland) for “Brothers“ (“Bracia“).
The FIPRESCI Jury awarded its prize to Crystal Moselle (USA) for “The Wolfpack”.
Greek director Marianna Economou received the Prize of the Trade Union ver.di, endowed with 2,500 euros, for “The Longest Run“ (“O pio makris dromos“).
The Young Eyes Film Award of the Youth Jury of the Filmschule Leipzig e.V., endowed with 2,000 euros, went to US American director Patrick O’Brien for his film “TransFatty Lives”.
The DOK Neuland Audience Award for the public’s favourite work in the interactive exhibiton was determined by audience vote and went to the Virtual Reality Installation “Deep (Multiplayer Version)” by Owen Harris and Niki Smit (Netherlands / Ireland).
The mephisto 97.6 Audience Award was determined by audience vote and went to German director Florian Grolig for his animated film “In the Distance”.
The “Leipziger Ring” Film Prize of Stiftung Friedliche Revolution, endowed with 5,000 euros, was awarded on Thursday night at the Nikolaikirche (St. Nicholas Church) in Leipzig. It went to Ukrainian filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa for his film “The Event“.
