IDFA Winners 2021

Mr. Landsbergis wins IDFA Award for Best Film in the International Competition and Octopus wins IDFA Award for Best Film in the Envision Competition

Last night, IDFA announced the winners of the competition programs during the IDFA 2021 Awards Ceremony. The ceremony took place in Amsterdam’s Compagnietheater, in addition to being live-streamed.

The 34th edition of IDFA has run as an in-person event, with twelve special online screenings for audiences, and an extensive library of films, talks, and consultancies available to online guests around the world. To date, IDFA has received over 100,000 cinema visits.

… and the winners were:

 

 

International Competition

Mr. Landsbergis (Lithuania, Netherlands) by Sergei Loznitsa is the winner of the IDFA Award for Best Film (€15,000).

“It is not easy to bring history to life. It is even more difficult to make it thrilling, urgent, and totally enriching, to make it feel like we are living through it as it happens. On every level of craft, the winning film represents a monumental achievement that fully explores the role one man, one nation, and one historical moment can play in the still-unfolding story of the global struggle for freedom and self-determination. The 2021 IDFA Award for Best Film in the International Competition goes to Sergei Loznitsa’s stunningly complete and gripping Mr. Landsbergis,” the jury reported.

The IDFA Award for Best Directing (€5,000) in the International Competition went to Diem Ha Le for Children of the Mist (Vietnam).

The IDFA Award for Best Editing (€2,500) went to Danielius Kokanauskis for Mr. Landsbergis (Lithuania, Netherlands), and the IDFA Award for Best Cinematography (€2,500) went to Where Are We Headed (Belarus, Russia), filmed and directed by Ruslan Fedotow.

The jury members for the International Competition were ​Arne Birkenstock, Claire Diao, ​Elena Fortes, ​Jessica Kiang, and ​Ryan Krivoshey.

Envision Competition

Karim Kassem won the IDFA Award for Best Film in Envision Competition (€15,000) for Octopus (Lebanon, Qatar, United States).

“This film develops its own imagistic language: a language of mystery and loss in the aftermath of a tragedy. It was made with great respect toward the subject matter and it felt like a story told from the inside. There are no answers presented, just the questions of life in the face of a disaster,” the jury reported.

The Award for Best Directing (€5,000) in the Envision Competition went to Pim Zwier for O, Collecting Eggs Despite the Times (Netherlands), and the Award for Outstanding Artistic Contribution (€2,500) went to Lindiwe Matshikiza for One Take Grace (South Africa).

The jury for the Envision Competition decided to award a special mention to Skin (Brazil) by Marcos Pimentel.

The jury members for the Envision Competition were Andrea Arnold, ​Joe Bini, ​Charlotte Serrand, and Akram Zaatari.

IDFA DocLab Competition for Immersive Non-Fiction

Sacha Wares and John Pring won the IDFA DocLab Award for Immersive Non-Fiction (€5,000) for Museum of Austerity (United Kingdom).

The Special Jury Award for Creative Technology (€2,500) went to Marcel van Brakel and Mark Meeuwenoord for Symbiosis (Netherlands).

The jury members for the IDFA DocLab Competition for Immersive Non-Fiction were ​Myriam Achard, Avinash Changa, and ​Eleanor (Nell) Whitley.

IDFA DocLab Competition for Digital Storytelling

Tamara Shogaolu won the IDFA DocLab Award for Digital Storytelling (€5,000) with Un(re)solved (United States, Netherlands).

The Special Jury Award for Creative Technology (€2,500) went to Ravi and Emma (Australia) by Kylie Boltin, Ella Rubeli, Ravi Vasavan, and Emma Anderson.

The jury members for the IDFA DocLab Competition for Digital Storytelling were Marie Blondiaux, ​Arnold van Bruggen, and Sanne De Wilde.

IDFA Competition for Short Documentary

Handbook (Germany, Belarus) by Pavel Mozhar won the IDFA Award for Best Short Documentary (€5,000).

A special mention in the IDFA Competition for Short Documentary went to

Wolf Whispers (France) by Chloé Belloc.

The jury members for the IDFA Competition for Short Documentary were ​Eliane Esther Bots, ​Pamela  Cohn, and Sara Ishaq.

IDFA Competition for Youth Documentary

The IDFA Award for Best Youth Film (€5,000) went to Shamira Raphaëla for Shabu (Netherlands, Belgium).

A special mention in the IDFA Competition for Youth Documentary went to Water, Wind, Dust, Bread (Iran) by Mahdi Zamanpoor Kiasari.

The jury members for the IDFA Competition Youth Documentary were Ulla Haestrup, Eef Hilgers, and Edwin Mingard.

IDFA 2021 cross-section awards

This edition was the first to present four cross-section awards. From the International Competition, Envision Competition, Luminous, and Frontlight selections, three international juries chose the winners of the IDFA Award for Best First Feature, the IDFA Award for Best Dutch Film, and the FIPRESCI Award. From across the program, an international jury chose the winner of the Beeld en Geluid IDFA ReFrame Award for Best Creative Use of Archive.

From the nominated films, the IDFA Award for Best First Feature (€5,000) went to Where Are We Headed (Belarus, Russia), directed by Ruslan Fedotow.

The jury also awarded a special mention to Children of the Mist (Vietnam) by Diem Ha Le.

The jury members were Mahdi Fleifel, Daniella Shreir, and Jacqueline Zünd. 

From the nominated films, the IDFA Award for Best Dutch Film (€7,500) went to Maasja Ooms for Jason (Netherlands).

A special mention was awarded to Housewitz (Netherlands) by Oeke Hoogendijk.

The jury members were ​Susanne Guggenberger, ​Sacha Polak, and ​Farahnaz Sharifi. 

The FIPRESCI Award (€5,000) was given to Jafar Najafi for Makeup Artist (Iran).

The FIPRESCI jury members were Nino Kovačić, ​Steffen Moestrup, and ​Elena Rubashevska. 

From the nominated films, the Beeld en Geluid IDFA ReFrame Award for Best Creative Use of Archive (€5,000) went to Robin Hunzinger for Ultraviolette and the Blood-Spitters Gang (France).

A special mention was awarded to Sergei Loznitsa for Babi Yar. Context (Netherlands, Ukraine).

The jury members were ​Pascal Capitolin, ​Maciej J. Drygas, and ​Giovanna Fossati. 

IDFA Forum Awards

Yesterday, the IDFA Forum Awards were announced at the Compagnietheater. Bettina Perut and Iván Osnovikoff’s project La Casa won the IDFA Forum Award for Best Pitch, Anna Shishova-Bogolubova’s The New Greatness picked up the IDFA Forum Award for Best Rough Cut, while the DocLab Forum Award went to Continuum VR by Daniela Maldonado, Tomas Espinosa, and Paula Gempeler. Each award includes a cash prize of €1,500. Read more about the IDFA Forum Awards here.

IDFA 2021 facts & figures

IDFA 2021 still has three more days to go. With approximately 3,000 guests in Amsterdam and online, extensive health and safety measures such as reduced venue capacity were in place to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all present. The measures taken have proven effective for the public, international guests, and staff; no outbreaks have occurred. To date, IDFA has received over 100,000 cinema visits.

The International Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) continues until Sunday, November 28.

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Tue Steen Müller
Tue Steen Müller

Müller, Tue Steen
Documentary Consultant and Critic, DENMARK

Worked with documentary films for more than 20 years at the Danish Film Board, as press officer, festival representative and film consultant/commissioner. Co-founder of Balticum Film and TV Festival, Filmkontakt Nord, Documentary of the EU and EDN (European Documentary Network).
Awards: 2004 the Danish Roos Prize for his contribution to the Danish and European documentary culture. 2006 an award for promoting Portuguese documentaries. 2014 he received the EDN Award “for an outstanding contribution to the development of the European documentary culture”. 2016 The Cross of the Knight of the Order for Merits to Lithuania. 2019 a Big Stamp at the 15th edition of ZagrebDox. 2021 receipt of the highest state decoration, Order of the Three Stars, Fourth Class, for the significant contribution to the development and promotion of Latvian documentary cinema outside Latvia. In 2022 he received an honorary award at DocsBarcelona’s 25th edition having served as organizer and programmer since the start of the festival.
From 1996 until 2005 he was the first director of EDN (European Documentary Network). From 2006 a freelance consultant and teacher in workshops like Ex Oriente, DocsBarcelona, Archidoc, Documentary Campus, Storydoc, Baltic Sea Forum, Black Sea DocStories, Caucadoc, CinéDOC Tbilisi, Docudays Kiev, Dealing With the Past Sarajevo FF as well as programme consultant for the festivals Magnificent7 in Belgrade, DOCSBarcelona, Verzio Budapest, Message2Man in St. Petersburg and DOKLeipzig. Teaches at the Zelig Documentary School in Bolzano Italy.

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