Apolonia, Apolonia wins Best Film in the International Competition and Manifesto wins Best Film in the Envision Competition

Apolonia, Apolonia by Lea Glob is the winner of the IDFA Award for Best Film. The award is accompanied by a €15,000 cash prize.

"This film has characters who breathe life and take us on a journey, opening us up to the worlds of culture and art, of business and politics, of the mechanics of a success story. It is infused with love. The Award for Best Film goes to Lea Glob for her film Apolonia, Apolonia," the jury reported.

The IDFA Award for Best Directing (worth €5,000) in the International Competition went to Simon Chambers for Much Ado About Dying (Ireland, United Kingdom).

The IDFA Award for Best Editing (worth €2,500) in the International Competition went to Mario Steenbergen for Journey Through Our World (The Netherlands) and the IDFA Award for Best Cinematography (worth €2,500) in the International Competition went to Paul Guilhaume for Paradise (France, Switzerland).

The jury members of the International Competition were Pirjo Honkasalo, Vanja Kaludjercic, Yousry Nasrallah, Mary Stephen and Yoshihiko Yatabe.

Angie Vinchito won the IDFA Award for Best Film in the Envision Competition for Manifesto (Russia). The award is accompanied by a €15,000 cash prize.

"This film is an outcome of the digital era, of an entire generation of children whose reliable outlet for their intimacies, fears, and desires is social media. The filmmaker blew us away with his ability to structure and edit the found footage of these individual voices into a powerful collective choir. Dark at moments, the film is a humorous yet heart-wrenching portrait of a lost generation under a dictatorial regime. Surrounded by violence and hopelessness, from the home and the school to the intimidating political system, they show persistent rebellion and dignity. For its dramaturgical rigor, masterful editing, and political commitment, the Award for Best Film goes to Manifesto by Angie Vinchito," the jury reported.

The Award for Best Directing (worth €5,000) in the Envision Competition went to Roberta Torre for The Fabulous Ones (Italy), and the Award for Outstanding Artistic Contribution (worth €2,500) went to Ishtar Yasin Gutiérrez for My Lost Country (Costa Rica, Iraq, Chile, Egypt).

The jury for the Envision Competition decided to award a special mention to Notes for a Film (Chile, France) by Ignacio Agüero.

The jury members for the Envision Competition were Rosa Boch, Thania Dimitrakopoulou, Pawel Lozinski, Jumana Manna and Kidlat Tahimik.

Darren Emerson won the IDFA DocLab Award for Immersive Non-Fiction for In Pursuit of Repetitive Beats (United Kingdom). The award is accompanied by a €5,000 cash prize.

"This year, the jury chose a project that was an arrival for the immersive creative community. This project is a clear manifestation of this unique medium that uses VR, touch, sound, and lived experience to honor the human need for community and a collective desire to be free, together. Through documentary, we remember those who are policed, are reckless, are alive, are unlimited and demand to be free, even if for a night. This jury, blindfolded in light, walked through a corridor to experience this story and found ourselves transported, arms raised, with euphoric beats in our chest, and delighted to announce this winner of the IDFA DocLab Award for Immersive Non-Fiction is In Pursuit of Repetitive Beats by Darren Emerson," reported the jury.

The Special Jury Award for Creative Technology (worth €2,500) went to Miri Chekhanovich and Edith Jorisch for Plastisapiens (Canada, Israel)

The jury members for the IDFA DocLab Competition for Immersive Non-Fiction were Marcel van Brakel, Katayoun Dibamehr and Amelia Winger-Bearskin.

Taylor McCue won the IDFA DocLab Award for Digital Storytelling with He Fucked the Girl Out of Me (United States). The award is accompanied by a €5,000 cash prize.

"He Fucked the Girl Out of Me by Taylor McCue is a personal account of a horrific experience, as it is supposed to be. The writing of the story is phenomenal, emotional, and intimate. The experience is a unique approach to conveying a complicated personal history in the artist's own terms. They wanted to tell their story on their terms, and you feel this in the pacing and in the gravity of the storytelling. The use of a retro computer game as the medium for the story was well chosen, so lo-fi and yet so dense. The gameplay itself is an often effective symbol for the powerlessness of the protagonist, as we’re given the suggestion of choice, but ultimately, there is none. It is an experience we will not soon forget; at times, we wanted to escape the game and the painful story, but we just couldn’t. The jury kept on talking about it, and therefore we are convinced this is the winner of the 2022 IDFA DocLab Competition for Digital Storytelling," reported the jury.

The Special Jury Award for Creative Technology went to His Name Is My Name (The Netherlands) by Eline Jongsma and Kel O'Neill.

The jury members for the IDFA DocLab Competition for Digital Storytelling were Loren Hammonds, Jepchumba and Leonieke Verhoog.

Away (Hungary, Belgium, Portugal) by Ruslan Fedotow won the IDFA Award for Best Short Documentary. The award is accompanied by a €5,000 cash prize.

"A film made from urgency: an urgency to accompany, to make visible, to get closer, and to take care of each other. A brave film in which we feel the filmmaker's audacious gaze and tenderness with which he sits with his characters. A film about people who are displaced from their lands, where the pain is transformed into tenderness and art is transformed into resistance. We feel the effects of war out of the frame, through memories, gestures and expressions; the power of listening and care. For his mastery in playing with the cinematographic language, the tenderness of his approach to the young characters creating a deeply personal and political film, the Award for Best Documentary Short Film goes to Away, by Ruslan Fedotow," said the jury.

A special mention in the IDFA Competition for Short Documentary went to The Porters (Belgium) by Sarah Vanagt.

The jury members for the IDFA Competition for Short Documentary were Manuel Abramovich, Núria Aidelman and Stefan Pavlović.

The IDFA Award for Best Youth Film (14+) went to Carlos Hagerman and Jorge Villalobos for Home Is Somewhere Else (Mexico, United States). The award is accompanied by a €5,000 cash prize.

The IDFA Award for Best Youth Film (9-13) went to Matthias Joulaud and Lucien Roux for Ramboy (Switzerland). The award is accompanied by a €5,000 cash prize.

A special mention in the IDFA Competition for Youth Documentary went to Jasmin's Two Homes (Finland) by Inka Achté and Hanna Karppinen.

The jury members for the IDFA Competition for Youth Documentary were Eneos Çarka, Viola Gabrielli, and Shamira Raphaëla

The international juries also awarded three additional films across the program. The Beeld & Geluid IDFA Reframe Award was also handed out.

The IDFA Award for Best First Feature went to The Etilaat Roz (Afghanistan) by Abbas Rezaie. The award is accompanied by a €5,000 cash prize.

The jury also awarded a special mention to Guapo'y (Paraguay, Argentine) by Sofia Paoli Thorne.

The jury members were Ben Fowlie, Coco Schrijber, and Rasmus Steen. Read the jury statements here.

The IDFA Award for Best Dutch Film went to Petra Lataster-Czisch and Peter Lataster for Journey Through Our World (Netherlands). The award is accompanied by a €7,500 cash prize.

A special mention was awarded to Inside My Heart (Netherlands) by Saskia Boddeke.

The jury members were Susanna Helke, Maori Karmael Holmes and Jacopo Quadri. Read the jury statements here.

The Beeld & Geluid IDFA ReFrame Award went to Janaína Nagata for Private Footage (Brazil). The award is accompanied by a €5,000 cash prize.

A special mention was awarded to Mark Cousins for The March on Rome (Italy).

The jury members were María Álvarez, Niklas Engstrøm, and Dina Iordanova. Read the jury statements here.

The NPO IDFA Audience Award 2022 went to Blue ID by Burcu Melekoglu and Vuslat Karan.

On Tuesday, the IDFA Forum Awards were announced at Felix Meritis. Kani Lapuerta's project Niñxs won the IDFA Forum Award for Best Pitch, Alison O'Daniel's The Tuba Thieves picked up the IDFA Forum Award for Best Rough Cut, while the DocLab Forum Award went to We Speak Their Names in Hushed Tones by Omoregie Osakpolor. Each award includes a cash prize of €1,500. Read more about the IDFA Forum Awards here.

The total number of visits by audiences and students this edition is expected to reach 147,000 visitors, amounting to 25% more than in 2021. There were approximately 45,000 visits to industry events and programs during the festival. Throughout the year, IDFA received 40,000 visits through screenings for audiences, professionals, and students (Docschool). The total number of visits is expected to reach 230,000.

The Envision Competition is supported by Ammodo.

IDFA's audience program is supported by VriendenLoterij, Deloitte, VPRO, Fonds 21, de Volkskrant, Gieskes-Strijbis Fonds, WePresent by WeTransfer, Ammodo, NPO, Oxfam Novib, IDFA Friends/Special Friends, Creative Europe Media, Netherlands Film Fund, European Cultural Foundation, VSB fonds, vfonds and Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds.

IDFA DocLab is supported by Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, CLICKNL,Gieskes-Strijbis Fonds, The Netherlands Film Fund, Onassis Foundation and IDFA Special Friends+

DocLab research collaboration partners include MIT Open Documentary Lab, Nederlands Instituut voor Beeld en Geluid, ARTIS-Planetarium, Atlas V, Bombina Bombast, Diversion cinema, East City Films, Eye Filmmuseum, Kaspar AI, National Film Board of Canada, ONX Studio, Polymorf, POPKRAFT, Sandman Studio, The Immersive Storytelling Studio (National Theatre), and Vlaams Cultuurhuis de Brakke Grond.