The German film Mr Bachmann and His Class (BDE review) directed by Maria Speth was awarded the Best Documentary prize at the Hong Kong Film Festival. Meanwhile the Doc Competition Jury Prize was presented to Swedish Sundance winner Sabaya (BDE review), directed by Hogir Hirori.
Mr Bachmann and His Class is an intimate documentary portraying the bond between an elementary school teacher and his students. His unconventional methods clash with the complex social and cultural realities of the provincial German industrial town they live in. The film won the Berlinale Silver Bear 2021.
In Hogir Hirori’s Sabaya, with just a mobile phone and a gun, Mahmud, Ziyad and their group risk their lives trying to save Yazidi women and girls being held by ISIS as sabaya (sex slaves) in the most dangerous camp in the Middle East, Al-Hol in Syria. The film was also awarded the prize for Best Director at Sundance Film Festival.
This year’s HKIFF was a hybrid event, with both in-theatre and online screenings and audience-engagement events. More than 190 titles from 58 countries and regions were screened, including ten world premieres and 11 international premieres. Approximately 60 films were made available through the festival’s online platform.
