Deming Chen's ‘Always' Wins Main Prize at CPH:DOX as Mstyslav Chernov Nabs F:ACT Award for ‘2000 Meters to Andriivka'
On Friday, the top DOX award at Copenhagen documentary festival CPH:DOX went to 'Always,' the first feature by Chinese director Deming Chen. The film follows eight-year-old Youbin, raised by his father and grandparents in a remote mountain village in Hunan province, who discovers poetry as a means of making sense of his solitude and the world around him.
Shot in stunning black and white, the film blends lyrical beauty with raw realism, following Youbin's coming-of-age as he grapples with life, loss, and the passage of time.
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Taking to the stage, a very emotional Chen thanked his entire team. Producer Hansen Lin said: 'Through the journey of making this film, we hope to share this happiness and achievement with everyone who still believes in their dreams. If you believe in it, you will make it – even if life may sometimes disappoint you. We always hold onto the hope that peace and support will guide us all toward a brighter future.'
The jury, composed of Danish director Max Kestner ('Life and Other Problems'), producer Rikke Tambo Andersen, New York Times critic Nicolas Rapold, Italian director and researcher Adele Tulli, and Raul Niño Zambrano, head of film programs at Sheffield DocFest, lauded the film, saying: 'There's a huge difference between nothing and small things. But life is in fact made up of many, often unnoticed, small things. We need the sensibilities of artists to show us the greatness of the little things. This exquisitely shot chronicle of a rural farming family is alive with compassion and poetry.'
Danish photographer-turned-director Monica Strømdahl received a Special Mention for her directorial debut 'Flophouse America,' which follows 12-year-old Mikal, growing up with his alcoholic parents in a cheap hotel – one of many flophouses that tens of thousands of Americans living on society's margins call home. Filmed with simplicity and compassion, the doc offers a stark portrait of America's deepening economic and housing crisis.
Both DOX winners were world premieres, among a record-breaking 94 – the highest number in the festival's history.
Sponsored by Danish daily newspaper Politiken, the award comes with a cash prize of €10,000 ($10,800).
The F:ACT award went to Ukrainian director Mstyslav Chernov (who won an Oscar for '20 Days in Mariupol') for the film '2000 Meters to Andriivka,' about a group of soldiers fighting their way through two kilometres of war-torn terrain to liberate a devastated Ukrainian village. The film reunites Chernov with '20 Days in Mariupol' producer and editor Michelle Mizner from PBS's flagship investigative journalism docu series Frontline, along with the series' editor-in-chief and exec producer Raney Aronson-Rath. CPH:DOX marks the film's European premiere following its Sundance debut in January.
The F:ACT jury, comprising directors Alexis Bloom – whose 'The Bibi Files' was screening at CPH:DOX – Mikala Krogh and Steffi Niederzoll, said the film was 'a masterpiece in filmmaking: a haunting, multi-layered portrayal of war comparable to 'All Quiet on the Western Front.' But this is not the First World War, it's today.'
Accepting the award, Chernov, who is working on his next project, sent a recorded video message saying: 'This is a time where we struggle for truth and for survival and this award is helping us find our ground. […] A lot of people around the world are looking at Ukraine, they hear a lot of important but abstract words. We, filmmakers, want to bring reality to people who make important decisions about how the world will look, how peace will look.'
Emmy-winning director Geeta Gandbhir received a Special Mention for Sundance winner 'The Perfect Neighbor,' which dissects the deadly consequences of 'stand your ground' laws through bodycam and surveillance footage of a fatal neighborhood shooting. Netflix has acquired the Sundance-winning film, with plans for a release later this year.
In the NORDIC:DOX competition, Greenland-set film 'Walls – Akinni Inuk' by Sofie Rørdam and Nina Paninnguaq Skydsbjerg took the top prize.
Receiving the award on behalf of the team, producer Emile Hertling Péronard celebrated the announcement on Friday of what he called Greenland's broadest ever coalition agreement, adding that it was also a day of 'fear and frustration as an unwelcome guest lands in Greenland,' referring to the arrival of J.D. Vance at the U.S. Pituffik Space Base in northern Greenland amid threats by President Donald Trump to take over the Danish territory.
In the NORDIC:DOX category, a Special Mention went to Josefine Exner and Sebastian Gerdes' 'The Nicest Men on Earth,' a portrait of Danish masculinity in a society of strong women.
The winner in the NEXT:WAVE competition, dedicated to first-time talent, awarded its top prize to 'Abode of Dawn' by Kristina Shtubert, who spent a decade chronicling life inside a Christian cult in the Siberian wilderness. A Special Mention went to 'Who Witnessed the Temples Fall' by Lucía Selva, exploring the mythical Roma king Chorrojumo.
In the NEW:VISION competition, which highlights artists' films, visual artist and filmmaker Juliette Le Monnyer won for 'Ramallah, Palestine, December 2018,' a single take depiction of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers in the West Bank. A Special Mention was given to 'Scrap' by Fémis graduate Noémie Lobry, a conceptual doc that weaves past and present in a dreamlike narrative.
The F:ACT, NORDIC, NEXT:WAVE, NEW:VISON and HUMAN:RIGHTS awards come with a cash prize of €5,000 ($5,400) each.
The HUMAN:RIGHTS Award, now in its second year, went to '9-Month Contract' by Ketevan Vashagashvili, an alumnus of the CPH:DOX's industry Change program dedicated to amplifying underrepresented voices from Eastern Europe. A Special Mention was awarded to 'The Encampments' by up-and-coming San Francisco based filmmaker Michael T. Workman, about the occupation of Colombia University by Palestinian students.
The Israel-Palestine conflict remained a focal point at the festival with pro-Palestinian groups calling for the festival to take a stance on the war in Gaza, and a Danish-Palestinian filmmaker walking out of a panel discussion with a Lebanese director working with an Israeli comedian.
As she opened the awards ceremony with artistic director Niklas Engstrøm, managing director Katrine Kiilgaard said: 'We believe in dialogue as a key to exploring different perspectives, challenging ingrained beliefs, and connecting across differences, even if dialogue is difficult, imperfect and never free from power dynamics. We believe in pluralism, and we aim to make room for a multitude of opinions and ideas, including those that challenge our own perspective as a festival.'
Engstrøm continued: 'This also means that we will keep inviting voices from Ukraine and from Russia, even if the Russian regime has invaded Ukraine, broken basic rules of international law and been responsible for numerous human rights violations. From Palestine and from Israel, even if Israel has been illegally occupying Palestinian lands for decades, and has been responsible for numerous human rights violations since the invasion of Gaza as their reaction to the Hamas attack on October 7th, 2023.'
Running under the theme 'Right Here, Right Now,' this 22nd edition of CPH:DOX hosted multiple debates on human rights and freedom of expression, and saw a 20% increase in attendance.
CPH:DOX concludes on March 30.
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