On November 21, the winners of the 37th IDFA were announced during the Awards Ceremony that took place at ITA (Internationaal Theater Amsterdam).
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
- Trains (Poland) by Maciej J. Drygas was announced as the winner of the IDFA Award for Best Film in the International Competition. The award was accompanied by a €15,000 cash prize. Jury citation: “The jury was unanimous. This is a bold and inventive use of archive. The film shows us routes to the positive and negative consequences of modern industrial innovation. It harnesses the magic of cinema and as an audience we are haunted by our present historical time, even while we bear witness to the past.”
- The IDFA Award for Best Directing (worth €5,000) in International Competition went to Auberi Edler for An American Pastoral (France). Jury citation: “By simply looking and listening, this director reveals the current complexity at the heart of the United States. Her deep commitment to observation allows the viewer to come face to face with the communities in the film and provides critical insight into the results of the last U.S presidential election.”
- The IDFA Award for Best Editing in International Competition went to for Trains (Poland) and the IDFA Award for Best Cinematography in the International Competition went to Zvika Gregory Portnoy and Zuzanna Solakiewicz for The Guest (Poland/Qatar).
- The jury members of the International Competition were Juliana Fanjul, Sophie Fiennes, Grace Lee, Asmae El Moudir, and Kazuhiro Soda.
ENVISION COMPETITION
- Miguel Coyula won the IDFA Award for Best Film in Envision Competition for Chronicles of the Absurd (Cuba). The award was accompanied by a €15,000 cash prize. Jury citation: “Formally complex with a film language that arises organically and directly from its limitations, this film impressed us with the use of an audio track as a political diary. [It won] for its radical form that matches and embodies the radical spirit of artists refusing to be silenced.”
- The Award for Best Directing (worth €5,000) in Envision Competition went to Massimo D’Anolfi and Martina Parenti for Bestiaries, Herbaria, Lapidaries (Italy/Switzerland) and the Award for Outstanding Artistic Contribution went ex aequo to Omar Mismar for A Frown Gone Mad (Lebanon) and to Yo-Hen So for Park (Taiwan).
- The jury members for the Envision Competition were Sam Green, Nduka Mntambo, Kumjana Novakova, B. Ruby Rich, and Wael Shawky.
IDFA DOCLAB COMPETITION FOR IMMERSIVE NON-FICTION
- Lisa Schamlé won the IDFA DocLab Award for Immersive Non-Fiction for Me, a Depiction(Netherlands). The award was accompanied by a €5,000 cash prize. Jury citation: “Our jury recognizes a work that sets up a powerful dynamic between physical and digital representations of the body to actively engage audiences and create a maverick visual language. We enter a sensually charged and technically fortified environment where the artist asserts her body as her home: an act of liberation from stereotypes of beauty and sexuality. Schamlé designs a uniquely creative confrontation between artist and audiences, and offers a new direction for portraiture that invites collective participation.”
- The DocLab Special Mention for Immersive Non-Fiction went to The Liminal (Netherlands/Lebanon/Palestine/Norway) by Alaa Al Minawi.
- The jury members for the IDFA DocLab Competition for Immersive Non-Fiction were Chafik Benhmidouch, Shari Frilot and Samantha King.
IDFA DOCLAB COMPETITION FOR DIGITAL STORYTELLING
- Pegah Tabassinejad won the IDFA DocLab Award for Digital Storytelling with Entropic Fields of Displacement (Canada). The award was accompanied by a €5,000 cash prize. Jury citation: “The winner of the 2024 IDFA Doclab Competition for Digital Storytelling is a deceptively simple piece. Under a theme that explores the space between the real and the unreal and in a year of increasing polarization, dominant patriarchy, and global violence against the marginalized, the jury unanimously agrees that this important and moving work of resistance and solidarity is the clear winner. Powerful and layered, Entropic Fields of Displacement cuts through the noise of virtual promises and dreams to create a deeply moving and timely artwork.”
- The DocLab Special Mention for Digital Storytelling went to Burn from Absence (France/Canada) by Emeline Courcier.
- The jury members for the IDFA DocLab Competition for Digital Storytelling were Karim Ben Khelifa, Amy Rose, and Jarl Schulp.
IDFA COMPETITION FOR SHORT DOCUMENTARY
- The Flowers Stand Silently, Witnessing (United Kingdom) by Theo Panagopoulos won the IDFA Award for Best Short Documentary. The award was accompanied by a €5,000 cash prize. Jury citation: “It is remarkable how a seemingly naive and idyllic, almost century-old color film holds profound insights into the colonial power dynamics, as seen through the eyes of the observer. By uncovering hidden layers, the work transforms vivid, beautiful images and overlooked presences into powerful reflections on the act of filming as an assertion of power. These rediscovered depictions remind us of our shared humanity and serve as a poignant warning against the perils of forgetting. The film masterfully reclaims archival footage, highlighting the overlooked presence of Arab Palestinians. Through its delicate editing, it transforms misrepresentation into presence, challenging history’s omissions with quiet, evocative power.”
- A Special Mention in IDFA Competition for Short Documentary went to Mama Micra (Germany) by Rebecca Blöcher.
- The jury members for the IDFA Competition for Short Documentary were Eroll Bilibani, Monica Taboada-Tapia, and Darunee Terdtoontaveedej.
IDFA COMPETITION FOR YOUTH DOCUMENTARY
- The IDFA Award for Best Youth Documentary (13+) went to Eefje Blankevoort and Lara Aerts for Everything Will Be Alright (Netherlands). The award was accompanied by a €2,500 cash prize.
- A Special Mention in the IDFA Competition for Youth Documentary (13+) went to Simply Divine (France/Romania) by Mélody Boulissière.
- The IDFA Award for Best Youth Documentary (9-12) went to Poorva Bhat for What’s the Film About? (India). The award was accompanied by a €2,500 cash prize.
- A Special Mention in the IDFA Competition for Youth Documentary (9-12) went to The Invisible Ones (Netherlands/Belgium) by Martijn Blekendaal.
- The jury members for the IDFA Competition for Youth Documentary were Aneta Ozorek, Festus Toll, Tarik Traidia, Rhianna Woods, and Sara Luna Zorić.
ADDITIONAL AWARDS
- The IDFA Award for Best First Feature went to CycleMahesh (India) by Suhel Banerjee. The award was accompanied by a €5,000 cash prize. The jury members were Heidi Hassan, Mohamed Jabaly, Nicole Vögele.
- The IDFA Award for Best Dutch Film went to Luuk Bouwman for The Propagandist (Netherlands). The award was accompanied by a €5,000 cash prize. The jury members were Mila Schlingemann, Gena Teodosievska, and Martiros M. Vartanov.
- The Beeld & Geluid IDFA ReFrame Award went to Farahnaz Sharifi for My Stolen Planet (Iran/Germany). The award was accompanied by a €5,000 cash prize.
- The Beeld & Geluid IDFA ReFrame Award Special Mention was given to Radu Jude and Christian Ferencz-Flatz for Eight Postcards from Utopia (Romania). The jury members were Qutaiba Barhamji, Fredrik Gertten, and Oksana Sarkisova.
- The FIPRESCI Award went to Writing Hawa (France/Netherlands/Qatar/Afghanistan) by Najiba Noori. The jury members were Paul van Es, Carlos Helí de Almeida, and Cloé Tralci.
IDFA FORUM AWARDS
- On Wednesday Nov 20, the IDFA Forum Awards were announced at Felix Meritis. Ibrahim Omar’s project Dry Sky won the IDFA Forum Award for Best Pitch, Lana Y. Daher’s Do You Love Me took home the Forum Award for Best Rough Cut, and the DocLab Forum Award went to Amorphous by May Abdalla. Presented for the first time, Looking for the Mermaid by Yara Costa won the Producers Connection Award.
The 37th International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) continues until Sunday, November 24.
