On Tuesday, March 8, the Second International Documentary Film Festival “Artdocfest / Riga” ended, where viewers had the opportunity to watch 28 films from 14 countries in two competition programs and in the non-competition program. The film “Island”, directed by Svetlana Rodina and Loran Stupa (Switzerland), won the Grand Prix in the Artdocfest competition.
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The films included in the competition were judged by two international juries, giving a total of nine different prizes. In the program of the “Baltic Focus” competition, the prize for the best film was won by the Ukrainian-Latvian-German co-production film “This Rain Will Never End”, directed by Alina Gorlova.
The jury of the “Baltic Focus” program, awarding the prize for the best film “This Rain Will Never End”, emphasized that the director Alina Gorlova has created an artistically high-quality film at the same time talking about a very important topic.
The award for the best director went to the authors of the film “Survive” – directors Lara Milena Broze and Kilian Armando Friedrich (Germany), who, in the opinion of the jury, managed to combine a visually outstanding narration with emotions and sympathy for the film’s characters.
The jury also awarded a prize for the documentary “Escape” (directed by Jon Poher Rasmussen, Denmark), calling it an example of excellent storytelling and excellent editing, according to the organizers of the competition.
The jury of the Artdocfest competition program awarded six prizes. As mentioned, the main prize – the Grand Prix – went to the film “Island” by the director Svetlana Rodin and Loran Stupa (Switzerland), which tells about the simple life of people in a neglected corner of northern Russia. Thanks to the award, the director of the film called to remember how fragile the human and emotional ties between people are and how important it is to maintain them in the current situation.
The prize for the best work of the director was awarded to the author of the film “Land of Wives” Jelena Žigajeva; the heroines of her film are workers in a rolling mill. A member of the jury, Dmitry Muratov, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, wished the director of the film that the soldiers would never walk in the shoes created by her heroes.
The jury awarded a special prize to director Renato Borayo Serano’s film “Ivan’s Life”, as well as three jury awards. They received the film “Beyond the White” (directed by Yevgeny Kalachikin, Germany) for his wonderful work in the camera and two works by directors born in Belarus but currently living in exile. Regarding the film “Mara” by the director Sasha Kulaka, the jury was unanimous that it is impossible to watch it without tears. Director Andrei Kutsil’s film “When the Flowers Are Not Silent” received an award for outstanding coverage of the struggle of Belarusian women.
“Thank you very much for being with us and thank you for your emotional contribution to what is happening here on screen in Riga, as well as in Ukraine and the world. Together we are strong!” The president of the festival said at the closing ceremony Vitālijs Manskis.
This year’s festival traditionally took place at the festival’s home, the Splendid Palace Cinema.
