On Wednesday 26 March, Movies That Matter announced the winners of its 17th edition at the award ceremony at Theater Aan het Spui in the Dutch city of The Hague. The Grand Jury Documentary Award (€5,000) went to Tommy Guliksen’s Facing War, about Jens Stoltenberg’s final year as Nato secretary general. The award also makes this film eligible for nomination for the Academy Award® for Best Documentary Film.
The jury, which consisted of Bob Moore, Brian Hill and Justine Nagan, stated that “while the tremendous access granted [them] entry, the tight cutting, edgy score, and consistent commitment to story kept [them] engaged”.
Brazilian-Portuguese drama Manas by Marianna Brennand received the Grand Jury Fiction Award, worth € 5.000. Backed by Walter Salles and the Dardenne Brothers, Manas is set in the depths of the Amazon rainforest, where 13-year-old Tielle grows up with dreams inspired by her older sister’s escape. As she matures, the illusions she clings to begin to crumble, revealing a world of deep-rooted exploitation and abuse. Jury members Mariëtte Rissenbeek, Thomas van Son, and Christopher Zalla called it a “ brilliantly told story” as well as a “spine-chilling experience”.
Alina Simone’s Black Snow received the main award in the Activist Lens programme, a section showcasing the work of human rights activists from all over the world organised in collaboration with the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Black Snow follows Natalia Zubkova, who, furious about the pollution caused by open-pit coal mines in her home town in Siberia, takes her phone and starts filming. A local phenomenon at first, her fearless reporting soon reaches an ever-growing audience. But when the harassment begins, and her children are threatened, Natalia faces an impossible choice. The jury praised the filmmaker for “dynamically capturing both the intimate family life and personal struggles of Natalia while giving context to lesser-known economic, social, political and environmental crises in Russia”.
The Justice Frame award winner was Kamay, by Ilyas Yourish and Shahrokh Bikaran. In the film, a Hazara family in the mountains of central Afghanistan embarks on a journey for truth and justice after their daughter Zahra mysteriously dies at Kabul University. The jury said the film “stood out for its ability to transport [them] to a hitherto perhaps unfamiliar world through contemplative, poetic storytelling and poignant cinematography.
The award in the Dutch Focus section went to Home Game by Lidija Zelovic. Acclaimed filmmaker Lidija Zelovic has been portraying her displaced family in the Netherlands since 1993, when they fled war-torn Sarajevo, exposing the duality that all migrants live with: what is ‘home’? The jury stated the film “offers an invaluable chronicle of 30 years in one family’s life, blending playfulness, dynamism, humour, and a sharp, accurate reflection of Europe’s historical development over the past three decade”.
Man Number 4 by Miranda Pennell received the award for Best Short, endowed with €1,500. Set in Gaza in December 2023, a confrontation with a disturbing photograph on social media triggers questions about what it means to be an onlooker. The jury praised the film for its “courageous and meaningful artistic risks on multiple levels” and stated that the film “speaks volumes about the reason a festival like Movies that Matter is indispensable to highlight voices that are increasingly muffled, if not silenced”.
The Education Award highlights the importance of film in raising the social awareness of children and young people, went to the Dutch documentary short King Ridwan by Sammy Shefa Idris, about 20-year-old TikTokker Ridwan, who wants to be taken seriously in his dream of becoming a successful rapper despite his intellectual disability.
A full overview of the winners and recipients of a special mention can be found HERE.
