The Grand Geneva Award (CHF 10’000) was given March 18 to Inna Sahakyan for Aurora’s Sunrise. Colette et Justin won the Gilda Vieira de Mello Award (€5000). My Name is Happy by Ayşe Toprak & Nick Read won the Youth Jury Prize while Abbas Rezaie’s Etilaat Roz picked up the Prize of the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT).
“Award winners of the 21st FIFDH Geneva includes 11 outstanding films that, in the Creative Documentary Competition, explore the question of decolonisation of narratives. The emancipation of women and the fight against femicides, as well as press freedom in Afghanistan, are at the heart of the other award-winning films of the 2023 edition of the FIFDH,” write organisers.
GRAND GENEVA AWARD Grant of CHF 10’000, offered by the City of Geneva. The jury was composed of Anna Glogowski, Delphine Kemneloum Djiraibé, Dominique De Rivaz and Luciano Barisone.
- Winner: Aurora’s Sunrise by Inna Sahakyan. Jury statement: “The reconstitution of memories through a mise en scène that combines the strength of testimony, images from a film that was thought to be lost and the use of watercolour animation that carries the weight of tragic events. A cinematographic work that aims to prevent the Armenian genocide from being forgotten.”
GILDA VIEIRA DE MELLO AWARD IN HONOUR OF HER SON SERGIO VIEIRA DE MELLO Grant of CHF 5’000, offered by the Barbara Hendricks Foundation for Peace and Reconciliation, awarded by the International Jury.
- Winner: Colette et Justin by Alain Kassanda. Jury statement: “A politically engaged film based on the archives of the oppressor, which reveals the tumultuous history of colonisation and a false independence. An intimate dialogue that reveals truths that can form the basis of a peace and reconciliation process.”
- Special Mention of the Jury: Seven Winters in Tehran by Steffi Niederzoll
YOUTH JURY PRIZE – DOCUMENTARY Grant of CHF 1’000, offered by Peace Brigades International (PBI). The Jury was composed of Miranda De Thorpe Engler, Anton Jakob, Hossain Jan Noori, Matteo Renda, Lucien Tripet and Yuna Vifian.
- Winner: My Name is Happy by Ayşe Toprak & Nick Read. Jury statement: This film stirred up great emotions with its strong, universal and essential message: the fight against violence towards women. Its images and its story moved us. The structure of the film, which alternates between shots of very different types but remarkably well edited, allows us to experience, as closely as possible, the incredible twists and turns that this family experiences.
FOCUS COMPETITION PRIZE OF THE WORLD ORGANISATION AGAINST TORTURE (OMCT) Grant of CHF 5’000, awarded by the OMCT Jury, awarded to a filmmaker, whose film demonstrates a commitment to human rights, to support the writing of his/her next film.
- Winner: Etilaat Roz by Abbas Rezaie. Jury statement: This documentary shows the bravery of journalists confronting the Taliban. It reminds us that every day, men and women are fighting for human rights in Afghanistan. We must not forget them.
Click here for the 2023 FIFDH Impact Days awards.
