Docs on the Spot

On Wednesday November 22 in the Stadsschouwburg of Amsterdam the winners of the different competition programs were announced.

Click through to read the jury reports

IDFA Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary                                  

Mila Turajlic won the IDFA Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary (€ 15,000) for The Other Side of Everything (Serbia, France, Qatar). The film takes place within the walls of a sub-divided apartment in Belgrade. A family portrait that symbolises the political unrest in the country. 

In addition, the jury presented the IDFA Special Jury Award for Feature-Length Documentary (€ 2,500) to The Deminer (Sweden) by Hogir Hirori and Shinwar Kamal. The documentary is a nerve-racking portrait of a Kurdish colonel, who disarmed thousands of roadside bombs and mines armed only with his courage and a pair of wire-cutters.

The jury of the IDFA Competition for Feature-Length Documentary was made up of Zaradasht Ahmed (Norway), Galia Bador (Israel), Ernesto Pardo (Uruguay), Diana Sanchez (Canada) and Frank Scheffer (the Netherlands). 

IDFA Award for Best First Appearance                                                   

Simon Lereng Wilmont won the IDFA Award for Best First Appearance (€ 10,000) for The Distant Barking of Dogs (Denmark, Sweden, Finland).  Ieva Ozolina won the IDFA Special Jury Award for First Appearance in memory of Peter Wintonick (€ 2,500) for Solving my Mother (Latvia). 

The jury of the IDFA Competition for First Appearance was made up of Sigrid Dyekjær (Denmark), Ilona Hongisto (Australia), Niels Van Koevorden (the Netherland), Jose Rodriguez (US) and Severine Roinssard (France).

The IDFA Competition for First Appearance was made possible by the Friends of IDFA.

IDFA Award for Best Mid-Length Documentary                                       

IDFA Award for Best Mid-Length Documentary (€ 10,000) was awarded to Martin Benchimol and Pablo Aparo for The Dread (Argentina). 
The IDFA Special Jury Award for Mid-Length Documentary (€ 2,500) went to Last Days in Shibati (France) by Hendrick Dusollier. 

The jury of the IDFA Competition for Mid-Length Documentary was made up of Yael Bitton (Switzerland), Reber Dosky (the Netherlands) and Lars Skree (Denmark).

IDFA DocLab Award for Digital Storytelling                                              

Trine Laier won the IDFA DocLab Award for Digital Storytelling (€ 5,000) for Cosmic Top Secret (Denmark).

The jury of the IDFA DocLab Competition for Digital Storytelling was made up of Hugues Sweeney (Canada), Annelies Termeer (the Netherlands) and Dan Tucker (United Kingdom). 

IDFA DocLab Immersive Non-Fiction Award                                            

The IDFA DocLab Award for Immersive Non-Fiction (€ 5,000) went to Lauren (United States) by Lauren McCarthy.

The jury of the IDFA DocLab Competition for Immersive Non-Fiction was made up of Toby Coffey (United Kingdom), Shirin Anlen (Israel) and Klasien van de Zandschulp (the Netherlands).

IDFA Award for Best Short Documentary                                                

Zhalanash – Empty Shore (Poland) by Marcin Sauter won the IDFA Award for Best Short Documentary (€ 5,000).
The IDFA Special Jury Award for Short Documentary (€ 2,500) went to As We’re Told(Sweden) by Erik Holmström and Fredrik Wenzel.

The jury of the IDFA Competition for Short Documentary was made up of Tamás Almási (Hungary), Gema Juarez (Argentina) and Dana Lixenberg (the Netherlands). 

Beeld en Geluid IDFA Award for Dutch Documentary                               

The Beeld en Geluid IDFA Award for Dutch Documentary (€ 7,500) went to The Long Seasonby Leonard Retel Helmrich. 
Maasja Ooms received the IDFA Special Jury Award for Dutch Documentary (€ 2,500) for Alicia. 

The jury of the IDFA Competition for Dutch Documentary was made up of Khalil Benkirane (Qatar), Nicoline van Harskamp (the Netherlands) and Young-woo Kim (South Korea).

ARRI IDFA Award for Best Student Documentary                                   

Klaudiusz Chrostowski won the ARRI IDFA Award for Best Student Documentary for Call Me Tony (Poland). He wins € 5,000 and an Amira camera which ARRI will give on loan for the winner’s next production.
The IDFA Special Jury Award for Student Documentary was presented to Denise Kelm Soares for I Am (Cuba, Brazil). The award consists of € 2,500 and an Amira camera which ARRI will give on loan for the winner’s next production.

The jury of the IDFA Competition for Student Documentary was made up of Rémi Bonhomme (France/Lebanon), Sophie Dros (the Netherlands) and Vincent Moloi (South Africa).

IDFA Award for Best Children’s Documentary                                          

The IDFA Award for Best Children’s Documentary (€ 5,000) went to Lenno & the Angelfish(the Netherlands) by Shamira Raphaëla. 
Astrid Bussink received the IDFA Special Jury Award for Children’s Documentary (€ 2,500) for L I S T E N (the Netherlands).

The jury of the IDFA Competition for Kids & Docs was made up of Daan Bol (the Netherlands), Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami (Iran) and Christian Popp (France). 

The competition program 2017 was made possible by Ammodo.

VPRO IDFA Audience Award

On the evening of Friday, 24 November, the winner of the VPRO IDFA Audience Award (€ 5,000) was announced during the broadcast of the Best of IDFA: Audience Award 2017. This years winner is Deaf Child (The Netherlands) by Alex de Ronde. 

Look at the runner ups.

Other Awards during IDFA

At the beginning of the ceremony, Ester Gould presented the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds Stipend (€ 50,000) to filmmaker Reber Dosky (The Sniper of Kobani, Radio Kobanî and Meryem). This 50,000-Euro stipend towards the making of a new documentary was donated by an anonymous donor, who has made the stipend possible through the Cultuurfonds.

The first Amsterdam Human Rights Award (€ 25,000) was presented on Monday evening to Piripkura (Brazil) by Renata Terra, Bruno Jorge and Mariana Oliva. The award was made possible by the City of Amsterdam.

On Thursday, 16 November, the Karen de Bok Talent Prize was presented to Marina Meijer for her film plan C’est les autres.