The awards of the 16th Beldocs International Documentary Film Festival (Serbia) were handed out May 16 during the event’s closing ceremony in Belgrade. Over the course of seven days, more than 100 films were screened across 13 sections.
In International Competition, the award for Best Film went to Thiiird by Karim Kassem. The jury noted how, “slowly and conscientiously developing characters over time, this immersing film engages viewers in the story with compassion and respect to its protagonists. In terms of visual style and narration, the experience of the place and the context it provides is organic, gentle: we feel that all the people and spaces the author portrays have existed before cinema became involved in their lives, and will continue to do so once we – as audience and filmmakers – leave. Finally, Karim Kassem’s film invites us in through its unassuming and intelligently structured perspective shifts, which make it a captivating dialogue between fictional and non-fictional world.” A Special Mention went to Adieu Sauvage by Sergio Guataquira.
Twelve films competed in Serbian Competition program, with the Best Film award going to A Field Guide to Coastal Fortifications by Tijana Petrović. The jury citation reads how the film, “looks at the relationship [between] humans and nature. An essay both visually striking and expertly crafted that integrates a vast range of different material. A film that explores the structure of land to lay out the structures of military might.”
The award for the Best Editing went to the young Serbian filmmakers Luka Papić and Srđa Vučo for their work on Invoke. The jury recognized “the most consistent film in the Serbian Competition program which combines authentic archival footage with well-crafted contemporary shots in order to make rare genre [documentary-type] tragicomedy which deals with Serbia’s first plural elections.”
The Best Cinematography award went to Dragana Jovanović for Aurora’s Dream. Jury citation: “A film that surprised us from its first minutes. An impressively rich proposal from a very small idea: filming your friends during the lockdown. A lockdown film, yes, but not like the others. Strong images made only with webcams, an editing that produces a unique material. A film that tells us so many things, under the air of pure fantasy.”
In Short Film Competition, Zsófia Paczolay won for Best Film with her Budapest Silo. Jury citation: “A powerful portrait of a man and a space that blend into one another. Striking imagery, sharp and precise sound emphasize and reflect the inextricable link between these two subjects.“ The short film Ardent Other, directed by Alice Brygo, received a Special Mention.
Smoke Sauna Sisterhood (pictured) by Estonian Anna Hints won the Eurimages Audentia Award for Best Female Director, valued at €30,000 and earmarked for the development of winning director’s next film. The jury noted: “Words that become stories, confidences that open worlds, stories that cross bodies. Observed with complicity, tenderness and moving respect, a group of women find refuge in a limbo, a place suspended in space and time that becomes purgatory, confessional, a safe place to cleanse both body and soul. A modern Sabbath or a pagan ritual that embraces the magical and tangible dimension, something in between a Nordic fable, a tribal enchantment and the warmth of an embrace. Archetypal, hypnotic, intimate and boldly political.”
