Mr. Landsbergis wins IDFA Award for Best Film in the International Competition and Octopus wins IDFA Award for Best Film in the Envision Competition

Today, IDFA announced the winners of the competition programs during the IDFA 2021 Awards Ceremony. The ceremony took place in Amsterdam’s Compagnietheater, in addition to being live-streamed. The 34th edition of IDFA has run as an in-person event, with twelve special online screenings for audiences, and an extensive library of films, talks, and consultancies available to online guests around the world. To date, IDFA has received over 100,000 cinema visits.

Mr. Landsbergis (Lithuania, Netherlands) by Sergei Loznitsa is the winner of the IDFA Award for Best Film (€15,000).

“It is not easy to bring history to life. It is even more difficult to make it thrilling, urgent, and totally enriching, to make it feel like we are living through it as it happens. On every level of craft, the winning film represents a monumental achievement that fully explores the role one man, one nation, and one historical moment can play in the still-unfolding story of the global struggle for freedom and self-determination. The 2021 IDFA Award for Best Film in the International Competition goes to Sergei Loznitsa’s stunningly complete and gripping Mr. Landsbergis,” the jury reported.

The IDFA Award for Best Directing (€5,000) in the International Competition went to Diem Ha Le for Children of the Mist (Vietnam).

The IDFA Award for Best Editing (€2,500) went to Danielius Kokanauskis for Mr. Landsbergis (Lithuania, Netherlands), and the IDFA Award for Best Cinematography (€2,500) went to Where Are We Headed (Belarus, Russia), filmed and directed by Ruslan Fedotow.

The jury members for the International Competition were Arne Birkenstock, Claire Diao, Elena Fortes, Jessica Kiang, and Ryan Krivoshey. Read the jury statements here.

Karim Kassem won the IDFA Award for Best Film in the Envision Competition (€15,000) for Octopus (Lebanon, Qatar, United States).

“This film develops its own imagistic language: a language of mystery and loss in the aftermath of a tragedy. It was made with great respect toward the subject matter and it felt like a story told from the inside. There are no answers presented, just the questions of life in the face of a disaster,” the jury reported.

The Award for Best Directing (€5,000) in the Envision Competition went to Pim Zwier for O, Collecting Eggs Despite the Times (Netherlands), and the Award for Outstanding Artistic Contribution (€2,500) went to Lindiwe Matshikiza for One Take Grace (South Africa). The jury for the Envision Competition decided to award a special mention to Skin (Brazil) by Marcos Pimentel.

The jury members for the Envision Competition were Andrea Arnold, Joe Bini, Charlotte Serrand, and Akram Zaatari. Read the jury statements here.

Sacha Wares and John Pring won the IDFA DocLab Award for Immersive Non-Fiction (€5,000) for Museum of Austerity (United Kingdom).

The Special Jury Award for Creative Technology (€2,500) went to Marcel van Brakel and Mark Meeuwenoord for Symbiosis (Netherlands).

The jury members for the IDFA DocLab Competition for Immersive Non-Fiction were Myriam Achard, Avinash Changa, and Eleanor (Nell) Whitley. Read the jury statements here.

Tamara Shogaolu won the IDFA DocLab Award for Digital Storytelling (€5,000) with Un(re)solved (United States, Netherlands).

The Special Jury Award for Creative Technology (€2,500) went to Ravi and Emma (Australia) by Kylie Boltin, Ella Rubeli, Ravi Vasavan, and Emma Anderson.

The jury members for the IDFA DocLab Competition for Digital Storytelling were Marie Blondiaux, Arnold van Bruggen, and Sanne De Wilde. Read the jury statements here.

Handbook (Germany, Belarus) by Pavel Mozhar won the IDFA Award for Best Short Documentary (€5,000).

A special mention in the IDFA Competition for Short Documentary went to Wolf Whispers (France) by Chloé Belloc.

The jury members for the IDFA Competition for Short Documentary were Eliane Esther Bots, Pamela  Cohn, and Sara Ishaq. Read the jury statements here.

The IDFA Award for Best Youth Film (€5,000) went to Shamira Raphaëla for Shabu (Netherlands, Belgium).

A special mention in the IDFA Competition for Youth Documentary went to Water, Wind, Dust, Bread (Iran) by Mahdi Zamanpoor Kiasari.

The jury members for the IDFA Competition Youth Documentary were Ulla Haestrup, Eef Hilgers, and Edwin Mingard. Read the jury statements here.

This edition was the first to present four cross-section awards. From the International Competition, Envision Competition, Luminous, and Frontlight selections, three international juries chose the winners of the IDFA Award for Best First Feature, the IDFA Award for Best Dutch Film, and the FIPRESCI Award. From across the program, an international jury chose the winner of the Beeld en Geluid IDFA ReFrame Award for Best Creative Use of Archive.

From the nominated films, the IDFA Award for Best First Feature (€5,000) went to Where Are We Headed (Belarus, Russia), directed by Ruslan Fedotow. The jury also awarded a special mention to Children of the Mist (Vietnam) by Diem Ha Le. The jury members were Mahdi Fleifel, Daniella Shreir, and Jacqueline Zünd. Read the jury statements here.

From the nominated films, the IDFA Award for Best Dutch Film (€7,500) went to Maasja Ooms for Jason (Netherlands). A special mention was awarded to Housewitz (Netherlands) by Oeke Hoogendijk. The jury members were Susanne Guggenberger, Sacha Polak, and Farahnaz Sharifi. Read the jury statements here.

The FIPRESCI Award (€5,000) was given to Jafar Najafi for Makeup Artist (Iran). The FIPRESCI jury members were Nino Kovačić, Steffen Moestrup, and Elena Rubashevska. Read the jury statements here.

From the nominated films, the Beeld en Geluid IDFA ReFrame Award for Best Creative Use of Archive (€5,000) went to Robin Hunzinger for Ultraviolette and the Blood-Spitters Gang (France). A special mention was awarded to Sergei Loznitsa for Babi Yar. Context (Netherlands, Ukraine). The jury members were Pascal Capitolin, Maciej J. Drygas, and Giovanna Fossati. Read the jury statements here.

Yesterday, the IDFA Forum Awards were announced at the Compagnietheater. Bettina Perut and Iván Osnovikoff's project La Casa won the IDFA Forum Award for Best Pitch, Anna Shishova-Bogolubova's The New Greatness picked up the IDFA Forum Award for Best Rough Cut, while the DocLab Forum Award went to Continuum VR by Daniela Maldonado, Tomas Espinosa, and Paula Gempeler. Each award includes a cash prize of €1,500. Read more about the IDFA Forum Awards here.

IDFA 2021 still has three more days to go. With approximately 3,000 guests in Amsterdam and online, extensive health and safety measures such as reduced venue capacity were in place to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all present. The measures taken have proven effective for the public, international guests, and staff; no outbreaks have occurred.

To date, IDFA has received over 100,000 cinema visits.

The International Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) continues until Sunday, November 28.

IDFA’s competition program is supported by Ammodo.

The IDFA Award for Best Dutch Documentary is supported by Vevam fund.

IDFA's audience program is made possible by Vriendenloterij, VPRO, Fonds 21, de Volkskrant, Gieskes-Strijbis Fonds, WeTransfer, Ammodo, NPO 2DOC, Oxfam Novib, and IDFA Vrienden/DikkeVrienden.

IDFA DocLab is supported by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy of the Netherlands, CLICKNL, Gieskes-Strijbis Fonds, Netherlands Film Fund, Flanders Audiovisual Fund, VIVE, VIVEPORT, A Lab and Special Friends+.

IDFA Forum is made possible by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science of the Netherlands.