Sarvnaz Alambeigi
During the October 25 opening of DOK Leipzig 2021, Sebastian Hecht, Head of the Culture and Tourism Division at the Saxon State Ministry for Science, Culture and Tourism (SMWK), handed the festival’s Saxon Award for the Best Doc Project by a Female Director to Sarvnaz Alambeigi for her project Broken Flower.
The SMWK sponsors the prize, for which projects by female directors selected for the DOK Co-Pro Market are eligible.
In Broken Flower, Alambeigi will portray a young woman from Afghanistan who wants to become a Muay Thai athlete despite resistance from her patriarchal father. Jury members Fatima Abdollahyan and Natalia Imaz, who chose the winner in the run-up to the festival, said of the project: “We want to honour a filmmaker who is committed to her work and passionate about putting herself out there. Her multi-layered project already promises a strong film that combines a highly topical subject with a personal story.”
Festival Director Terhechte thanked Barbara Klepsch, the State Minister for Culture and Tourism, along with the SMWK and its division leader Sebastion Hecht for their commitment to this prize: “Access to the profession of directing is still significantly more difficult for women than for men worldwide. In this respect, the SMWK prize sends an important signal that aligns with DOK Leipzig’s policy of aiming for gender parity in the competitions.”
Terhechte then presented the Silver Dove to Dutch filmmaker Vincent Monnikendam for the film Mother Dao, the Turtlelike, which was awarded the prize in 1995. The statuette somehow never reached the director by post at that time, but 26 years later the honour was bestowed on location in Leipzig. The film can be seen in the Re-Visions series, in which DOK Leipzig looks back on its own festival history from a contemporary perspective.
The awards were given after the international premiere of The Rhine Flows to the Mediterranean Sea, which opened DOK Leipzig 2021.
Festival Director Christoph Terhechte introduced the audience to the film’s director Offer Avnon, who was on hand at the event. As an Israeli and the son of a Holocaust survivor, Avnon’s work explores his impressions of Germany and his changed perspective upon returning to his hometown of Haifa.
In 2021 DOK Leipzig will present a total of some 170 films and XR works from 55 countries, including 37 world and 13 international premieres, at nine different venues in Leipzig. Included for the first time is the Regina Palast in eastern Leipzig. This year DOK Leipzig will once again present some of the films free of admission at Leipzig Central Station (Osthalle) and the Polnisches Institut.
The Golden Doves and other awards will be presented at two Festival Awards Ceremonies on Saturday, 30 October.
