Already named Best Film of the Encounters section all the way back in March (see the news), Alice Diop’s We [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Alice Diop
scheda film] has now cast a spell over the jury for the Berlinale Documentary Award as well. Impressed by her portrayal of the communities in the Parisian suburbs, connected by the RER B commuter train, Albertina Carri, Orwa Nyrabia and Janna Ji Wonders chose the French production from among 16 documentary forms presented at the festival. They praised the director’s curiosity about the human condition and her thoughtful language, as well as arguing, “The feminist principle of writing autobiographically, even if it hurts, redoubled the bet in this film.” The prize money of €40,000 will be shared by Diop and producer Sophie Salbot. Totem Films handles the movie’s world sales.

(L'articolo continua qui sotto - Inf. pubblicitaria)

The Special Mention went to The First 54 Years – An Abbreviated Manual for Military Occupation [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Avi Mograbi
scheda film] by Avi Mograbi, produced by Camille Laemlé and Serge Lalou, showing the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip through statements from Israeli soldiers. “Cinema can be looked at, but perhaps the most moving cinema is the one that looks at us and, with that look, transfers our very existence to another dimension,” argued the jurors. “With very few visual and auditory resources, a handful of archive images and a profound insistence to tell, with more faith in art than in humanity, this film forces us to look and reflect on land, humans, politics and conscience, and challenges our comfortable understanding.”

Finally, the GWFF Best First Feature Award (and €50,000) was given to the USA’s The Scary of Sixty-First by Dasha Nekrasova, produced by Adam Mitchell and Mark Rapaport. “An audacious take on genre cinema that confronts contemporary issues such as global power structures, sexual abuse, conspiracy theories and the dark corners of the internet in a wildly twisted, witty and subversive manner,” noted jurors Carmen Gray, Azu Nwagbogu and Wieland Speck, also noticing District Terminal [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
scheda film] by Bardia Yadegari and Ehsan Mirhosseini, which was granted a Special Mention.

These awards, as well as the ones announced in March, will be presented during the official prizegiving ceremony on 13 June.

Here is the list of the latest winners:

Best Documentary
We [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Alice Diop
scheda film] - Alice Diop (France)
Special Mention
The First 54 Years – An Abbreviated Manual for Military Occupation [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Avi Mograbi
scheda film] - Avi Mograbi (France/Finland/Israel/Germany)

GWFF Best First Feature Award
The Scary of Sixty-First - Dasha Nekrasova (USA)
Special Mention
District Terminal [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
scheda film] - Bardia Yadegari and Ehsan Mirhosseini (Iran/Germany)