The Portuguese Ghosts: Long Way Home, directed by Tiago Siopa and produced by Primeira Idade (2019) won the 2020 Doc Alliance Award on December 14. The prize is awarded for a first or second film and consists of €5000 which goes towards the winner’s next film.
In the film, director Siopa dives into his family universe, within his home town, searching for and revealing the ghosts and family superstitions. The film was part of Arché – Space for Creative Development at Apordoc 2018, where it won the RTP Award for Best Project. The film world-premiered at Doclisboa 2019 in Portuguese competition and had its international premiere at Ji.hlava 2020 where it won the First Lights Competition.
The other nominations were:
Undertrykkelsens sang / Songs of Repression by Marianne Hougen-Moraga & Estephan Wagner. Prod: Final Cut for Real, Denmark, 2020. Nominated by CPH:DOX
Lekcja miłości / Lessons of Love by Małgorzata Goliszewska, Kasia Mateja. Prod: Widok, Poland, 2019. Nominated by Docs Against Gravity
Chanson triste / Sad Song by Louise Narboni. Prod: Mélodrama, France, 2019.
Nominated by FIDMarseille
Vlci na hranicích / Wolves on the Borders by Martin Páv. Prod: Frame Films, Czech Republic, 2019. Nominated by Jihlava IDFF
Never Whistle Alone by Marco Ferrari. Prod: Candy Glass, Basemen, VPRO,
Italy, 2019. Nominated by DOK Leipzig
El father como sí mismo / El Father Plays Himself by Mo Scarpelli. Prod: Rake Films, Ardimages, La Faena Films, Venezuela/United Kingdom /Italy/USA, 2020.
Nominated by Visions du Réel
The Doc Alliance jury was composed of 7 film critics, also nominated by the festival members.
Founded in 2008 and based in Prague, Doc Alliance is an international network of seven European documentary film festivals whose aim is to promote documentary internationally. A major component of te Doc Alliance is DAFilms.com, an online distribution platform for documentary and experimental films focused on European cinema.
