The seven Golden Doves and two Silver Doves of the 66th edition of DOK Leipzig were awarded at the festival’s closing ceremony on Saturday October 14.
In the International Competition Documentary Film, the Golden Dove for Feature-Length Film went to Peter Mettler, to whom this year’s homage was dedicated, for While the Green Grass Grows. This cinematic diary draws upon the Swiss-Canadian filmmaker’s own memories and family relationships as it looks at life cycles and the way the world is constantly changing. The jury described “an unpredictable film whose quality of observation makes the viewer see everyday events, places and objects in a poetic new light. The €10,000 Golden Dove is sponsored by Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk.
The Golden Dove Short Film, which includes 3,000 euros in prize money, was presented to Bo Wang for An Asian Ghost Story (Netherlands, Hong Kong), a search for traces based on the 1965 US embargo against “communist” real hair wigs from Asia. The jury called it “a smart, hip, funny amalgam of fact and fiction made with exceptional craft.”
The films that earned Golden Doves in the International Competition Documentary Film qualify for nomination for the annual Academy Awards®, provided they meet Academy criteria.
The Silver Dove Feature-Length Film, sponsored by 3sat, for the best feature-length documentary by an up-and-coming director, was awarded to Hovhannes Ishkhanyan for the Armenian-French production Beauty and the Lawyer. The jury praised it as “a film that builds an intimate relationship with its characters who generously let us into their lives as they invent a new path to deal with a homophobic world.” The prize is valued at €6,000.
The Silver Dove Short Film, valued at €1,500, for the best short documentary by an up-and-coming director went to 30 Kilometres per Second by Jani Peltonen (Finland). The jury described it as “a film which, by using the montage as its main strategy, unveils potentialities for this cinematic direction.” The award was presented by Katja Röckel from the SLM’s Media Council.
The winners of the International Competition Documentary Film were selected by Jennifer Fox, Radu Jude, Marie-Pierre Macia, Steven Markovitz and Rima Mismar.
In the International Competition Animated Film, the newly created Golden Dove Feature-Length Film, endowed with 3,000 euros, went to Xu Jingwei for No Changes Have Taken in Our Life (China), the story of a musician who tries in vain to find work after graduating from university. The jury called it “a courageous and challenging film that is as specific as it is universal, and as critical as it is witty, tackling the uncomfortable subject of dreariness and a lack of perspective.”
The Golden Dove Short Film, valued at €1,500, was awarded to Barbara Rupik for Such Miracles Do Happen (Poland). In its statement, the jury said: “The film uses the outstanding technique of a kind of liquid stop-motion animation, which is also irreplaceable and deeply connected to its theme.”
The film that earns the Golden Dove Short Film qualifies for nomination for the annual Academy Awards®, provided it meets the Academy’s standards.
Jury members Pavel Horáček, Anne Isensee and Irina Rubina also awarded a Special Mention to Tomek Popakul and Kasumi Ozeki for the animated Polish short film Zima.
In the German Competition Documentary Film, the Golden Dove Feature-Length Film went to One Hundred Four by Jonathan Schörnig, a real-time documentation of a rescue at sea on the Mediterranean. “The film team and the crew of the rescue ship show us clearly what it means when we look the other way every day. But they also show that help is possible and needed,” the jury emphasised. The €10,000 award is sponsored by Doris Apell-Kölmel and Michael Kölmel.
The Golden Dove Short Film, valued at €1,500, was awarded to Franzis Kabisch for getty abortions (Germany, Austria), a desktop video essay that explores how media illustrate the topic of abortion. “Our award-winning film finds a convincing contemporary form to address an ancient and at the same time highly topical issue,” said the jury comprised of Birgit Kohler, Claus Löser and Serpil Turhan.
This year’s winner of the Golden Dove in the Audience Competition was selected by jury members Billie Bauermeister, Fritz Czaplinski, Anna Eulitz, Charlotte Hennrich and Annegret Weiß. They honoured Asmae El Moudir for her documentary film The Mother of All Lies” (Morocco, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar). In her search for memories of her childhood, the filmmaker recreates her neighbourhood in Casablanca as an elaborate miniature and in the process comes across a trauma of Moroccan history. “With great fervour and love of detail, a surprising work emerges that dissolves the boundaries between fantasy and reality,” extolled the jury. The award has a cash value of €3000.
PARTNERSHIP AWARDS FOR DOCUMENTARY AND ANIMATED FILMS IN COMPETITION
The DEFA Sponsoring Prize, valued at €4,000 and granted by the DEFA Foundation, went to Julia Charakter for The Children of Korntal (Germany).
The €3,000 MDR Film Prize for an outstanding eastern European documentary film was awarded to Marianna Kaat for The Last Relic (Estonia, Norway).
The Film Prize Leipziger Ring, which honours a documentary film about human rights, democracy or civic engagement, is sponsored by the Stiftung Friedliche Revolution and includes €2,500 in prize money. This year’s award went ex aequo to Jonathan Schörnig for One Hundred Four (Germany) and Nantenaina Lova for Where Zebus Speak French (France, Madagascar, Germany, Burkina Faso).
The Goethe-Institut Documentary Film Prize, valued at €2,000 for licensing and subtitling in eight languages, was awarded to One Hundred Four by Jonathan Schörnig.
One Hundred Four further received the €1,500 ver.di Prize for Solidarity, Humanity and Fairness, bringing the total for the film to four awards, making this the big winner at DOK Leipzig 2023.
The 2,250-euro Prize of the Interreligious Jury was awarded to Sarah Mallégol for Kumva – Which Comes from Silence (France). This award is sponsored by VCH-Hotels Germany along with the VCH-Hotel Michaelis in Leipzig as well as the Interreligious Roundtable and the Oratorium Leipzig.
The Prize of the International Film Critics (FIPRESCI Prize) was awarded to the South Korean production Universe Department Store by Taewoong Won.
The mephisto 97.6 Award went to the short animated film Compound Eyes of Tropical by Zhang Xu Zhan (Taiwan).
The Gedanken-Aufschluss award was handed to Nele Dehnenkamp for her first feature-length documentary film For the Time Being (Germany). This award was voted on by a jury comprised of prisoners at the Juvenile Detention Centre Regis-Breitingen.
At the 66th edition of the festival, 225 films and extended reality works from some 60 countries were screened at the venues around Leipzig. The festival’s opening film, “White Angel – The End of Marinka” by Arndt Ginzel, can be seen in cinemas across Germany from 19 October.
