Downstream to Kinshasa by Dieudo Hamadi picked up the €10,000 International Long Doc Golden Dove at the end of DOK Leipzig 2020. This co-production from the Democratic Republic of Congo, France and Belgium focuses on war-disabled people from Kisangani in the DR Congo.
The €6000 Silver Dove for best long doc or animation by an up-and-coming director went to the Argentinian production The Poets Visit Juana Bignozzi by writer/journalist Mercedes Halfon and Laura Citarella, known internationally as the producer of La Flor. This documentary tells the story of a young poet who seeks to pass on the artistic legacy of Juana Bignozzi, a renowned poet.
The Golden Dove for German Long Doc/Animation (valued at €3,000) went to Lift Like a Girl, a joint Danish-Egyptian-German production by Mayye Zayed. The filmmaker follows Asmaa, aged 14 at the start, for four years. With the help of her coach, a former professional athlete, Asmaa makes her way to the top league in weightlifting in the streets of Alexandria.
The Golden Dove in the new feature-length “Golden Section” competition (Audience Award, €3000) was won by the Czech production A New Shift by Jindřich Andrš. The director focuses on a miner who, after 21 years of employment, is retraining to become a programmer, because the mine was closed down for economic reasons. A New Shift was awarded the MDR Film Prize.
In the International Short Competition, the French-Nigerian co-production Trouble Sleep by Alain Kassanda, a rhythmic portrait of life in Ibadan, was awarded a Golden Dove for best documentary film (€3000).
The Silver Dove in the German Short Competition (€1,500) was awarded to Erwin by Jan Soldat, a Austrian-German co-production. In this film, the director offers a portrait of an aging man who spends most of his time in a mobile home in his front garden, indulging in erotic online encounters with men.
The Silver Dove in the new short “Golden Section” competition (Audience Award, €1500) was awarded to the animated film Step Into the River by Weijia Ma, a Chinese-French co-production that explores China’s one-child policy from the perspective of two young girls.
For the first time, a panel of cinema enthusiasts representing the DOK Leipzig audience chose films that would receive a Golden Dove and a Silver Dove. This audience jury attended the award ceremony in the cinema.
All of the award-winning films as well as the remaining films offered online will continue to be available on the Web after the week-long festival ends in cinemas. The final films of the festival will be shown online throughout Germany on 14 November.
Partner Awards for Documentary and Animated Films in the Competitions:
DEFA Sponsoring Prize (€4,000): Rift Finfinnee by Daniel Kötter, Ethiopia, Germany 2020.
Goethe-Institut Documentary Film Prize (€2,000): The Guardian by Martina Priessner, Germany 2020.
MDR Film Prize (€3,000): A New Shift by Jindřich Andrš, Czech Republic 2020.
Prize of the Interreligious Jury (€1,500): Downstream to Kinshasa by Dieudo Hamadi, DR Congo, France, Belgium 2020.
ver.di Prize for Solidarity, Humanity and Fairness (€2,500): 80,000 Schnitzels by Hannah Schweier, Germany 2020.
Young Eyes Film Award (€2,000): Operation Moonbird by Dustin Lose, Germany 2020.
International Critics Prize (FIPRESCI): Vicenta by Darío Doria, Argentina 2020.
mephisto 97.6 Audience Award: Bad Mood by Loris Giuseppe Nese, Italy 2020.
Gedanken-Aufschluss: Long Film: Robin’s Hood by Jasmin Baumgartner, Austria
2020; Short Film: “Riven Threads” by Deborah Jeromin, Germany 2020.
DOK Industry awards
Development Prize for the Best Female Director of the Saxon State Minister for the Arts (€5,000): XiXi by Fan Wu (Taiwan, Philippines).
Honorary mention: Bright Future by Andra Popescu (Romania).
Zonta Club Leipzig Elster Female Talent Development Prize (€1,000): The Daughter of the Volcano by Jenifer de la Rosa (Spain, Colombia).
D-Facto Motion Works-in-Progress Prize (post-production grant of €10,000): Viral by Udi Nir & Sagi Bornstein (Germany, Israel).
