The Docs-in-Progress awards were handed out May 24 at the end of the Cannes market’s headline Doc Day. The winners are as follows:
IEFTA AWARD, given by The International Emerging Film Talent Association and endowed with a €10,000 cash prize and professional long term project follow-up by IEFTA.
Winner: Twice Colonized directed by Lin Alluana, and produced by Emile Hertling Péronard, Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, Stacey Aglok Macdonald and Bob Moore, from the Circle Women Doc Accelerator Showcase.
Synopsis: Renowned Inuit lawyer Aaju Peter fights to ensure Indigenous people a seat in European policy when her son suddenly dies by suicide and she embarks on a personal journey writing her story. At the same time she struggles to break free from an abusive relationship, but as tension builds, a key question arises: is it possible to change the world and yourself at the same time?
Jury citation: “The project really struck a chord with the jury for its outstanding empathetic storytelling, as it explores a strong woman who wants to change herself and the world. The film walks an emotional tightrope and asks us broader questions around our culpability in systems of inequality.”
Al Jazeera DOCUMENTARY AWARD (co-production deal, with a minimum contribution of $15,000)
Winner: Bye Bye Tiberias by Lina Soualem, produced by Jean-Marie Nizan, from the Palestine Showcase.
Synopsis: 30 years ago, Palestinian actress Hiam Abbass left her native village Deir Hanna in Galilee to follow her acting dream in France. Camera in hand, her daughter Lina questions her mother’s bold choices and the way the women in her family – who she has left behind – have influenced her life. How do those who live on the screen of our memories define who we are today?
Jury citation: In another place and time, that would have been another story of three generations of women who inherited lullabies and chased after their dreams. Yet as Palestinian women of our time, they learned that they must also inherit resistance, resilience, and preservation of the earth’s memory. With engaging storytelling and an intimate personal archive, the director tells about her mother’s bold choice, which will also determine her own path.
DAE AWARD (offering a free membership and a rough cut consultation with one of its senior consultants).
Winner: Listening to the World directed by Yelizaveta Smith and produced by Eugene Rachkosvky and Olha Beskhmelnytsina, from the Ukraine Showcase.
Synopsis: Iva doesn’t hear the world because of her disability. She is an art curator and human-right activist trying to find her place in the world and make it hear her. But unfortunately, she and her son Mykyta faces the war and are evacuated from bombed Kharkiv to Lviv and then to Germany, where they as well as thousands of other Ukrainians try to find peace until the war ends.
Jury citation: Iva struggles to hear the world, even though it has become increasingly louder with the sound of violence around her. But her message of resilience and courage is clear.
ALPHAPANDA AWARD (endowed with two exclusive consultations on film marketing & social media).
Winner: Malqueridasby Tana Gilbert, produced by Paola Castillo and Dirk Manthey, from the Chile Showcase.
Synopsis: Women in prison reconstruct their experience of motherhood through videos and photographs captured with their forbidden cell phones while serving their sentences. Malqueridas offers a reflection on the severity of motherhood when faced with confinement and the loss of affections.
Jury citation: Maternity is a complex process made even more complicated by confinement and the deprivation of freedom. [Awarded] for the strong potential to raise awareness to a notable female matter.
THINK-FILM IMPACT AWARD (consisting of a strategic impact workshop & an impact pitching coaching session).
Winner: Yintah, directed by Michael Toledano, Jennifer Wickam and Brenda Michell, Michael Toledano and Franklin Lopez, from the Canada Showcase.
Synopsis: Yintah (the Wet’suwet’en word for land) follows Howilhkat Freda Huson and Sleydo’ Molly Wickham as they mobilize their nation in a decade-long battle against fossil fuel corporations, the Canadian government, and militarized police. Building homes and a healing centre on the route proposed for a series of gas and oil pipeline projects, Wet’suwet’en families assert their right to protect their land.
Jury citation: This project explores a strong denouncement against state and corporations, resilient and excruciating humanitarian stories from the voice of indigenous people. The topic is more essential than ever and is portraying a despair from the “marginalized” pleading for justice and human rights.
