04/11/2024 - Pelikan Blue has triumphed in the animated competition, Tarantism Revisited did likewise in the national category, and Once Upon a Time in a Forest scooped the Audience Award

The 67th edition of DOK Leipzig came to a conclusion at two awards ceremonies that took place at the Schaubüchne Lindenfels in Leipzig on Saturday. Seven Golden Doves, two Silver Doves, and various partnership and industry awards were presented, amounting to 23 gongs in total. This year’s edition of DOK Leipzig (28 October-3 November) screened a total of 209 films and XR works from 55 countries.

The jury, consisting of Maria Bonsanti, Sylvaine Dampierre, Mark Edwards, Eric Hynes and Avi Mograbi, decided to award Dominique Cabrera’s La Jetée, the Fifth Shot [+see also:
film review
film profile] with the Golden Dove for Best Feature-length Documentary Film in the International Competition Documentary Film. “With precision and a light touch, the filmmaker takes us on an intimate journey through her family’s connections to La Jetée and Chris Marker, revealing new layers of meaning and emotion behind an enigmatic image of a boy and his family,” they stated, adding that their decision was unanimous. John Smith scooped the Golden Dove for Best Short Film in the same competition for Being John Smith. The distinction came with a bonus prize: qualification for an Academy Award nomination. Regarding the Silver Doves, the one bestowed upon a feature-length documentary by an up-and-coming auteur went to Pierre Michel Jean for Twice Into Oblivion, while Samar Al Summary walked away with the same award for his short documentary What Goes Up.

László Csáki’s Pelikan Blue [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laszló Csaki
film profile] took home the Golden Dove in the International Competition Animated Film. The same award, with the added bonus of a qualification for an Academy Award nomination, was bestowed upon Anu-Laura Tuttelberg for her animated short On Weary Wings Go By. The jury (Merlin Flügel, Isabel Herguera and Nosipho van den Bragt) also singled out Heinrich Sabl’s Memory Hotel and commended it with a Special Mention. The Golden Doves in the German Competition went to Anja Dreschke and Michaela Schäuble’s Tarantism Revisited in the feature-length category, and to Leonard Volkmer’s The King of Spain in the shorts strand. Virpi Suutari’s Once Upon a Time in a Forest [+see also:
film review
film profile] scooped the Golden Dove in the Audience Competition.

The festival also handed out a number of partnership and industry trophies. The former category was dominated by Daniel Abma’s The Family Approach, which scooped three prizes, while the industry awards went to various projects from Germany, Georgia, France, Algeria and Chile (see the list below).

Here is the complete list of award winners:

International Competition Documentary Film

Golden Dove for Best Feature-length Film
La Jetée, the Fifth Shot [+see also:
film review
film profile] – Dominique Cabrera (France)

Golden Dove for Best Short Film
Being John Smith – John Smith (UK)

Silver Dove for Best Feature-length Film
Twice into Oblivion – Pierre Michel Jean (France/Haiti/Dominican Republic)

Silver Dove for Best Short Film
What Goes Up – Samar Al Summary (Saudi Arabia/USA)

International Competition Animated Film

Golden Dove for Best Feature-length Film
Pelikan Blue [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laszló Csaki
film profile] – Lásló Csáki (Hungary)

Golden Dove for Best Short Film
On Weary Wings Go By – Anu-Laura Tuttelberg (Estonia/Lithuania)

Special Mention
Memory Hotel – Heinrich Sabl (Germany/France)

German Competition Documentary Film

Golden Dove for Best Feature-length Film
Tarantism Revisited – Anja Dreschke, Michaela Schäuble (Germany/Switzerland)

Golden Dove for Best Short Film
The King of Spain – Leonard Volkmer (Germany)

Audience Competition

Golden Dove
Once Upon a Time in a Forest [+see also:
film review
film profile] – Virpi Suutari (Finland)

Partnership awards

DEFA Sponsoring Prize
Moria Six – Jennifer Mallmann (Germany)

MDR Film Prize
The Other One [+see also:
film review
film profile] – Marie-Magdalena Kochová (Czech Republic/Slovakia)

Prize of the Interreligious Jury
Twice into Oblivion – Pierre Michel Jean

ver.di Prize for Solidarity, Humanity and Fairness
The Family Approach – Daniel Abma (Germany)

Young Eyes Film Award
Sisterqueens – Clara Stella Hüneke (Germany)

FIPRESCI Prize
Valentina and the MUOSters [+see also:
film review
film profile] – Francesca Scalisi (Italy/Switzerland)

mephisto 97.6 Award
Simply Divine – Mélody Buolissière, Bogdan Stamatin (France/Romania)

film.land.sachsen Prize for Film Culture in Rural Areas
The Family Approach – Daniel Abma

Gedanken-Aufschluss Award
The Family Approach – Daniel Abma

DOK Industry awards

DOK Co-Pro Market

Saxon Award for Best Documentary Project by a Female Director
Oh, Heart, Don’t Be Afraid – Ana Kvichidze (Georgia/Germany)
Production companies: Moonbow Production, parabellum film

Unifrance Doc Award
Bitter Seed – Camélia Gadhgadhi (France/Algeria)
Production companies: Amok Films, Libre Image

DOK Preview Germany

D-Facto Motion Works-in-Progress Prize
Curtains – Alina Cyranek (Germany)
Production company: hug films

DOK Short n’ Sweet

Square Eyes Festival Consultation Award
Hypnagogy – Paula Ábalos Santibáñez (Chile)
Production company: Mesa Grande Producciones