Inaugural Henry Awards for documentary film awarded by Harvard's Shorenstein Center
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To that end, the Shorenstein Center is also hosting a two-day symposium for filmmakers, distributors, and other stakeholders to discuss some of the field's thornier issues, including financial challenges, distribution, and the ethical obligations filmmakers have to their subjects.
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Gibbs added that a 'priority was to anchor this prize in the context of best practices for creating films that serve the public interest.'
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The winning films were honored at a celebratory dinner Wednesday evening, where Linda Henry described the Henry's hopes for the awards and symposium.
The 'big, audacious dream,' she said in an early draft of prepared remarks obtained by the Globe, 'is that this incredible group of leading filmmakers, this Shorenstein Center, this Harvard University, can help further elevate and validate documentary films.'
The top award winner, '
'His specific story manages to instantly transcend its locality and become a real time documentation of the global rise of fascism, and the attack against the free press,' the jury said in a statement about the film. 'The film is a brave effort by the filmmakers that should serve as a warning to us all.'
Vinay Shukla, director of "While We Watched." (Movies That Matter)
Movies That Matter
Jury member Petra Costa said Shukla's film affected her deeply.
'It was like seeing my future,' said Costa, a documentary filmmaker from Brazil. 'I think that is the case for the US as well, in the sense of how fascism can evolve in the guise of democracy.'
The Henry Awards also honored four finalists: director Kaouther Ben Hania's 'Four Daughters,' which explores mother daughter relationships; Ibrahim Nash'at's 'Hollywoodgate,' which follows Taliban leaders after the US withdrawal; Agniia Galdanova's 'Queendom,' which profiles a queer artist in Vladimir Putin's Moscow; and Yousef Srouji's 'Three Promises,' which tells his family's story during the Second Intifada.
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Honorable mentions when to director Alain Kassanda's 'Coconut Head Generation' and 'If We Burn,' a film by directors and producers James Leong and Lynn Lee.
'The films are of such excellence, both in form and content,' said Costa of the honorees. 'I think it's what documentary filmmaking should aspire to.'
Shukla, whose film was originally released in 2022, said he was deeply honored to receive the award.
'Every time you make a film, it's like putting a paper boat in the water,' he said. 'To see it sailing after all these years, I'm really grateful.'
Malcolm Gay can be reached at
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