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Eine Frau mit Kopftuch sitzt vor einem Baum. Sie hat einen Jungen auf dem Schoß.
DOK Leipzig 2021 | Nasim (directors: Ole Jacobs, Arne Büttner)

The films competing for this year's Doc Alliance Awards have been announced. Each of the seven European documentary film festivals that make up the Doc Alliance network has nominated one short and one feature-length documentary film from its past programme. The Doc Alliance Awards support emerging talents in European documentary film. Only the directors' debut or second feature-length films are nominated for the Best Feature Film category.

DOK Leipzig nominated the feature-length film "Nasim" and the short film "Light Years". In "Nasim", filmmakers Ole Jacobs and Arne Büttner follow the Afghan Nasim and her family in the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos. The observational documentary shows with great empathy the daily life of the mother of two who time and again manages to deal impressively with the challenges of this unacceptable and extreme situation. "Nasim" was part of the German Competition at DOK Leipzig 2021 and was honoured with the DEFA Sponsoring Prize, ver.di Prize for Solidarity, Humanity and Fairness. "Light Years" by Monika Proba was shown in the International Competition Short Film at DOK Leipzig last year. The protagonists of the film Witali and Łukasz have graduated from the Orthodox seminary and would now have to start a family or become monks to take up priesthood. But the two friends prefer to live for the moment, to muse, philosophize and sing. The empathetic film follows the two men between religious obligations, family expectations and their tender friendship.

The 15th Doc Alliance Awards will be presented on 24 May in Cannes as part of the Marché du Film industry programme. The winning films will be decided by a jury of seven international film critics and film professionals, also selected by network’s festivals. This year’s jury members are journalists Esther Buss (Jungle World, Filmdienst, Der Tagesspiegel), Frederik Bojer Bové (POV.International), Teresa Vieira (Antena 3, Cineuropa), Nepheli Gambade (Critikat), Michał Walkiewicz (Filmweb) and Leila Basma (dok.revue) as well as Nicolas Wadimoff (filmmaker, Head of the Cinema Department at HEAD – Genève).

Since 2008, a feature-length documentary has annually been honoured with the Doc Alliance Award and since 2021 an additional award has been given to a short film. The prizes are endowed with 8,000 EUR each for the filmmakers to spend on their next project. In addition, each of the festivals in the network shows at least 3 films from the selection at its next edition.

Members of the Doc Alliance network include: CPH:DOX, Doclisboa, Millennium Docs Against Gravity FF, DOK Leipzig, FIDMarseille, Ji.hlava IDFF and Visions du Réel.

 

Overview of the nominated feature-length films:

  • 5 Dreamers and a Horse, Armenia/ Germany/ Switzerland/ Denmark/ Georgia, Directors: Aren Malakyan and Vahagn Khachatryan, nominated by Visions du Réel
  • A Night of Knowing Nothing, France/ India, Director: Payal Kapadia, nominated by FIDMarseille
  • The Eclipse, Norway, Director: Nataša Urban, nominated by CPH:DOX
  • Kapr Code, Czech Republic/ Slovakia, Director: Lucie Králová, nominated by Ji.hlava IDFF
  • Nasim, Germany, Directors: Ole Jacobs and Arne Büttner, nominated by DOK Leipzig
  • The Pawnshop, Poland, Director: Łukasz Kowalski, nominated by Millenium Docs Against Gravity
  • Yoon, Portugal, Directors: Pedro Figueiredo Neto and Ricardo Falcão, nominated by Doclisboa

 

Overview of the nominated short films:

  • Abyss, Denmark, Director: Jeppe Lange, nominated by CPH:DOX
  • Aralkum, Uzbekistan/ Germany, Directors: Daniel Asadi Faezi and Mila Zhluktenko, nominated by Visions du Réel
  • Beautiful Solution, Czech Republic, Director: Eliška Cílková, nominated by Ji.hlava IDFF
  • Joanna d'Arc, Poland, Director: Aleksander Szamałek, nominated by Millenium Docs Against Gravity
  • Light Years, Poland, Director: Monika Proba, nominated by DOK Leipzig
  • In the Billowing Night, France, Director: Erika Etangsalé, nominated by FIDMarseille
  • Peace, Portugal, Directors: José Oliveira and Marta Ramos, nominated by Doclisboa

 

More information about the nominated films: Doc Alliance Nominations