19/08/2020 - Other winners at the 19th, online edition of the Kosovo event include The Earth Is Blue as an Orange, Smog Town, Collective, Sun Dog, The Exit of the Trains, Radio Silence and Strike or Die

The 19th edition of Prizren-based event Dokufest, Kosovo's largest film festival, which is taking place online 7-25 August, announced its awards last weekend.

Once Upon a Youth [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], the first feature-length documentary from Croatian filmmaker Ivan Ramljak, which had its world premiere at the festival, picked up the Balkan Doc award.

Ivana Desivojević's short Doclisboa and DOK Leipzig entry Outside the Oranges Are Blooming (Serbia/Portugal) received a special mention.

In the International Doc - Feature competition, Catarina Vasconcelos’ Berlinale Encounters title The Metamorphosis of Birds [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Catarina Vasconcelos
film profile] (Portugal) won the main award, while Isabel Pagliai's Tender (France) triumphed in the International Doc - Shorts section, with Randa Maroufi's Bab Sebta (France/Morocco) getting a special mention.

Aulona Fetahaj's 25-minute film She Asked Me Where I Was From won in the National Competition.

Arguably the biggest documentary hit of the year so far, Iryna Tsilyk's The Earth Is Blue as an Orange [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Iryna Tsilyk
film profile] (Ukraine/Lithuania), won in the Human Rights Docs competition, where the jury gave out two special mentions, to Juliana Fanjul's IDFA title Radio Silence [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Juliana Fanjul
film profile] (Switzerland/Mexico) and Jonathan Rescigno's Berlinale entry Strike or Die [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (France).

Another IDFA film, Meng Han's Smog Town (China/South Korea/Netherlands), won in the Green Doc competition, while Sky Hopinka's Sundance doc małni - towards the ocean, towards the shore (USA) bagged a special mention.

Romanian cinema triumphed in the Truth section, with Alexander Nanau's Collective [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] picking up the main prize, and Radu Jude and Adrian Cioflâncă's The Exit of the Trains [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Adrian Cioflâncă
film profile] getting a special mention.

Finally, in the International Shorts competition which traditionally includes shorts of all genres, two fiction films came out on top: Dorian Jespers pocketed the main prize for his Rotterdam prizewinner Sun Dog (Belgium), and the special mention went to Stefan Djordjević's Heart of Sarajevo-winning The Last Image of Father (Serbia).

Full list of awards:

Balkan Doc Competition

Best Film
Once Upon a Youth [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Ivan Ramljak (Croatia)

Special Mention
Outside the Oranges Are Blooming - Nevena Desivojević (Serbia/Portugal) (short film)

International Doc - Feature Competition

Best Film
The Metamorphosis of Birds [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Catarina Vasconcelos
film profile] - Catarina Vasconcelos (Portugal)

National Competition

Best Film
She Asked Me Where I Was From - Aulona Fetahaj (Kosovo/Belgium) (short film)

Human Rights Docs Competition

Best Film
The Earth Is as Blue as an Orange [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Iryna Tsilyk
film profile] - Iryna Tsilyk (Ukraine/Lithuania)

Special Mention
Radio Silence [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Juliana Fanjul
film profile] - Juliana Fanjul (Switzerland/Mexico)
Strike or Die [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - Jonathan Rescigno (France)

Green Doc Competition

Best Film
Smog Town - Meng Han (China/South Korea/Netherlands)

Special Mention
małni - towards the ocean, towards the shore - Sky Hopinka (USA)

Truth Competition

Best Film
Collective [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Alexander Nanau (Romania/Luxembourg)

Special Mention
The Exit of the Trains [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Adrian Cioflâncă
film profile] - Radu Jude, Adrian Cioflâncă (Romania)

International Doc - Shorts Competition

Best Film
Tender - Isabel Pagliai (France)

Special Mention
Bab Sebta - Randa Maroufi (France/Morocco)

International Shorts Competition

Best Film
Sun Dog - Dorian Jespers (Belgium)

Special Mention
The Last Image of Father - Stefan Djordjević (Serbia)