IDFA announces award winners

A scene in Nowhere to Hide

The winners of the various International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) competition programs have been announced at the awards ceremony of the 29th IDFA in Amsterdam’s Stadsschouwburg theatre on Wednesday, November 23, 2016. Two awards were presented in each competition: the award for best film and a special jury award.

Nowhere to Hide by Zaradasht Ahmed won the IDFA Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary and Still Tomorrow by Jian Fan won the IDFA Special Jury Award for Feature-Length Documentary.

The award for best Dutch documentary went to Reber Dosky for Radio Kobanî. Guido Hendrikx’s Stranger in Paradise, which opened the festival, received the IDFA Special Jury Award for Dutch Documentary.

At the beginning of the evening, Heddy Honigmann presented the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds Documentary Award (€50,000) to filmmaker Ester Gould.

A total of 16 awards were presented, following the presentation of the IDFA Alliance of Women Film Journalists' EDA Award for Best Female-Directed Documentary to Maite Alberdi for The Grown-Ups.

The festival continues through Sunday, when the winner of the VPRO IDFA Audience Award will be announced.

 Zaradasht Ahmed won the IDFA Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary (€ 12,500) for Nowhere to Hide (Norway/Sweden). The film is an eyewitness report by an Iraqi nurse forced to flee when his home falls into the hands of IS.

From the jury report: “There are those films which are wonderful to see and there are films that the world needs to see. The film we choose is both of these things. The experience was immersive and left us deeply touched. The director respected the unique perspective that only the subject could have and in doing so he gave us an unprecedented window into the real life lasting consequences of war.”

In addition, the jury presented the IDFA Special Jury Award for Feature-Length Documentary (€2,500) to Still Tomorrow (China) by Jian Fan. The documentary is a portrait of Chinese poet Xiuhua Yu, who blossoms from a disabled farmer caught in a loveless marriage into an internet sensation and Chinese media darling.

The jury of the IDFA Competition for Feature-Length Documentary consisted of chair Tom Paul (USA), Yuri Ancarini (Italy), Jordana Berg (Brazil), Ingrid van Tol (the Netherlands) and Debra Zimmerman (USA).

The IDFA DocLab Award for Digital Storytelling (€5,000) went to DeathTolls Experience (Iran) by Ali Eslami.

Mia Donovan received the Scenic IDFA DocLab Immersive Non-Fiction Award (€2,500) for Deprogrammed (Canada).

The jury of the IDFA DocLab Competition for Digital Storytelling consisted of Brett Gaylor (Canada), Anna Higgs (UK) and Jan Rothuizen (the Netherlands).

The IDFA Award for First Appearance (€7,500) was presented to Sine Skibsholt for Who We Were (Denmark).

The Special Jury Award for First Appearance (€2,500), dedicated to the memory of Peter Wintonick, was presented to Plastic China (China) by Jiu-liang Wang. Plastic China was made with financial support from the IDFA Bertha Fund.

The jury of the IDFA Competition for First Appearance was made up of Marjoleine Boonstra (the Netherlands), Uldis Cekulis (Latvia), Kahane Cooperman (USA), Samir Mehanovic (Scotland) and Bob Moore (Canada).

Tali Shemesh and Asaf Sudry won the IDFA Award for Best Mid-Length Documentary (€ 10,000) for Death in the Terminal (Israel).

Ksenia Okhapkina won de IDFA Special Jury Award for Mid-Length Documentary (€ 2,500) for Come Back Free (Estonia).

The jury of the IDFA Competition for Mid-Length Documentary consisted of Ryan Harrington (USA), Noe Mendelle (Scotland), Jake Perlin (USA), Andrea Prenghyová (Czech Republic) and Digna Sinke (the Netherlands).

The Beeld en Geluid IDFA Award for Dutch Documentary (€ 7,500) went to Radio Kobanî by Reber Dosky.

Guido Hendrikx received the IDFA Special Jury Award for Dutch Documentary (€ 2,500) for Stranger in Paradise.

The jury of the IDFA Competition for Dutch Documentary was made up of Tine Fischer (Denmark), Maureen Gosling (USA), Ester Gould (the Netherlands), Nilotpal Majumdar (India) and Qi Zhao (China).

The ARRI IDFA Award for Best Student Documentary (€ 5,000) was awarded to When Will This Wind Stop (Poland) by Aniela Astrid Gabryel.

Close Ties (Poland) by Zofia Kowalewska won the IDFA Special Jury Award for Student Documentary (€2,500). Alongside the cash prize, both winners were given an Amira camera, made available by ARRI for the makers’ next productions.

The jury of the IDFA Competition for Student Documentary was made up of Judy Kibinge (Kenya), Salome Machaidze (Georgia) and Daan Veldhuizen (the Netherlands).

The IDFA Award for Best Children’s Documentary (€2,500) was awarded to Rocknrollers (the Netherlands) by Daan Bol.

Saskia Gubbels won the IDFA Special Jury Award for Children’s Documentary (€1,000) for Naomi's Secret (the Netherlands).

The jury of the IDFA Kids & Docs Competition consisted of Monica Hellström (Denmark), Ollie Huddleston (UK) and Niki Padidar (Nederland).

Other awards included Heddy Honigmann presenting the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds Documentary Award to filmmaker Ester Gould (A Strange Love Affair with Ego, Strike a Pose). This bursary is made available by an anonymous donor and was set up by the Cultuurfonds. It consists of an amount of € 50,000 for the production of a new documentary.

On Tuesday (November 22) evening, the IDFA Alliance of Women Film Journalists' EDA Award for Best Female-Directed Documentary(€2,500) was presented to The Grown-Ups (Chile/the Netherlands/France) by Maite Alberdi.

The Grown-Ups was made with financial support from the IDFA Bertha Fund.

The festival runs until Sunday, 27 November, when the winner of the VPRO IDFA Audience Award (€5,000) will be announced.