20 Days in Mariupol by Mstyslav Chernov won the NPO IDFA Audience Award, the grand public prize of the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA). The €5,000 cash prize was awarded November 18 in the Royal Theater Tuschinski, followed by a special screening of the film.
Synopsis: Director Mstyslav Chernov was in Mariupol last year when the city was under siege by the Russians who were busy laying waste to large parts of it. In the documentary, he captures horrific but unforgettable scenes of death, destruction and human suffering.
The winning film is determined by visitors who rate the films directly following their screenings via a QR code. This year, 142 films competed for the Audience Award:
Film title (plus average score)
20 Days in Mariupol by Mstyslav Chernov 4.91
Echo of You by Zara Zerny 4.88
Queendom by Agniia Galdanova 4.83
They and Them by Ingrid Kamerling 4.82
Bye Bye Tiberias by Lina Soualem 4.80
Son of the Mullah by Nahid Persson 4.80
Transition by Jordan Bryon, Monica Villamizar 4.75
Gerlach by Aliona van der Horst, Luuk Bouwman 4.74
Life is Beautiful by Mohamed Jabaly 4.71
The Echo Tatiana Huezo 4.71
Before closing its doors on the 2023 edition IDFA expected a total number of 245,000 visits. During the festival, the total number of screening visits by audiences and students reached nearly 152,000, 3 percent more than in 2022. The number of visits to the festival’s professional program amounted to about 45,000. And throughout the year, IDFA received 48,000 visits to screenings for audiences, professionals, and kids.
