The 11th edition of MDOC awarded the best short or medium-length film to ‘Al Basateen’ by Antoine Chapon, while Portuguese filmmaker Cláudia Varejão received the best Portuguese documentary award for “Kora,” focusing on refugee women living in Portugal.
“Between July 28 and August 3, the jury had the opportunity to evaluate 16 short and medium-length films and 17 feature films (28 were national premieres),” the organization stated in a release.
The Jean-Loup Passek award for best international documentary was given to the work by Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni, which tells the story of Sara Shahverdi, the first elected female council member of an Iranian village. Shahverdi challenges patriarchal traditions by teaching teenage girls to ride motorcycles and campaigning against child marriages.
“A powerful testimony revealing the different layers of resistance and transformation in contemporary Iran amidst constant geopolitical and social tensions,” the organization described.
In this category, Danish filmmaker Birgitte Stærmose received an honorable mention for “Afterwar,” a “touching project” filmed over 15 years, following a group of children “from their days selling cigarettes and peanuts on the streets of Pristina (Kosovo) to their adult lives.”
In ‘Al Basateen,’ recognized as the best short or medium-length film, Antoine Chapon shares the memories of two former residents of Syria’s Basateen al-Razi district, whose orchards were destroyed as punishment for the locals’ revolt against the regime.
The official jury of the festival’s 11th edition included Jurek Sehrt, Noé Mendelle, Paulo Portugal, Renata Ferraz, and Sandra Ruesga.
The FIPRESCI award, presented by film critics of the International Federation of Film Critics, was awarded to ‘My Memory is Full of Ghosts’ by Anas Zawahri, who also received the D. Quixote Prize from the International Federation of Film Societies for Best Film.
In the best short film category, the D. Quixote Prize was awarded to ‘Beneath Which Rivers Flow’ by Ali Yahya.
According to the organization, this year’s festival attracted over 4,500 attendees and was attended by more than 15 filmmakers and producers.
