2017 DOXA Documentary Film Festival Award Winners
The 2017 DOXA awards were announced on May 13th, 2017 at 8PM (PST) in advance of the Festival’s closing night screening of Julian Rosefeldt’s Manifesto.
Jury members Steven Hawkins, Jacob Saltzberg, Tegan Dobson and Anna Hetherington presented The Nigel Moore Award for Youth Programming to Olivier Babinet’s Swagger. Honourable mention was awarded to David Goldberg’s film The Caretakers.
Alice Diop’s Vers la tendresse captured The Short Documentary Award (sponsored by BRAVOFACT). Jury members Sarah Berman, Joyce Rosario and Rachel Feldbloom-Wood stated of the winning film: “Pure and spare in its form. This film left us thinking, left us trying to connect those experiences to our own.” Honourable mention was also given to Cat Mills’ FIXED! “This portrait of a community is full of tongue-in-cheek moments that speak to our current, very broken moment.”
The Colin Low Award for Canadian Documentary (presented in partnership with William F. White) was given to Julia Ivanova’s Limit Is the Sky. Jury members Tammy Bannister, Lisa Christiansen and Josh Cabrita said of the film: “In 20 years if someone asks you ‘Tell me about Fort Mac’, you can tell them to watch a documentary that is both timely and timeless…” The jury also awarded an honorable mention to François Jacob’s incredibly ambitious and accomplished first film A Moon of Nickel and Ice that “captures the extreme landscape and contemporary life in the Russian-Siberian city of Norilsk. “
The Alliance of Women Film Journalists EDA Award for Best Female-Directed Film, presented by AWFJ president Jennifer Merin, was awarded to Yan Chun Su’s Drokpa. Jury members Marina Antunes, Jennifer Merin, Stephanie Merry, Janice Page stated: “Yan Chun Su’s unprecedented access paints a fascinating picture of a people caught between tradition and modernization.” The EDA Award for Best Short Documentary was given to Alexandra Gaulupeau’s Life at a Snail’s Pace. “Quirky and sweet, this film urges viewers to slow down and appreciate all of life’s details.”
The Feature Documentary Award was presented to Jérôme Clément-Wilz’s Etre Cheval (Horse Being). Jurors Pablo de Ocampo, Yi Cui and Kurt Walker stated of the winning film: “With its subdued and close camera work, and intimate relationship to its subjects, Clément-Wilz’s generous film transcends the particulars of fetish, creating a beautiful and subtle observation on physical intimacy, love, and trust.” Honourable mention was also given to Petra Lataster-Czisch and Peter Lataster’s Miss. Kiet’s Children “for all of the boundless kindness contained by its filmmaking and for its elegantly realized humanist politic and child advocacy.”
The DOXA Documentary Film Festival ran May 4 –14, 2017. DOXA is presented by The Documentary Media society, a Vancouver-based non-profit, charitable society.
