DOK Leipzig Honors Films About Belarus and U.S. Protests

The best documentaries and animated films were awarded Golden Doves at the DOK Leipzig Film Festival. In the international documentary competition, Andrei Kutsila won the Golden Dove for Best Feature-Length Documentary for “Letters from the Silenced Country,” according to the festival. The film is set in Belarus and centers on the private correspondence of political prisoners. The prize is worth 10,000 euros.

The Golden Dove for Best Short Film, worth 3,000 euros, went to Oscar winner Laura Poitras (“Citizenfour” about Edward Snowden) and Rachel Lauren Mueller for their documentary “They’re Here.” According to the festival, the documentary follows residents of Minneapolis who are fighting back against raids by the immigration agency ICE.

The Silver Dove for Best Feature Film, with a prize of 6,000 euros, was won by Asmahan Bkerat for “Concrete Land” —a film about the daily life of a Palestinian Bedouin family in Jordan, as luxury villas spring up around them, threatening their home. The short film “in memory of” by Florinda Ciucio, which depicts an image of Gaza that now exists only in the artist’s memory, was awarded the Silver Dove for Best Short Film and 1,500 euros.

Awards for Animated Films

In addition to awards for documentary films, DOK Leipzig also presented awards for animated films. Chris Sullivan received the Golden Dove for Best Feature-Length Film, along with 3,000 euros, for “The Orbit of Minor Satellites”—an animated story about a psychiatrist and his patient on an abandoned space station from the Cold War era.

With his animation of a pirate’s son who, after years of radio silence, returns to his mother coughing up blood and full of secrets, Alexandre Siqueira won the Golden Dove for Best Short Film and 1,500 euros for “Terminal.”

Awards for German Documentaries

“Übergang” by Peter Badel and Chris Wright was honored as the best German documentary film, receiving the Golden Dove for Best Feature-Length Film and 10,000 euros. The film brings to life the unpublished archives and fragments of the planned but never completed Heimatfilm by the late director Thomas Heise.

The Golden Dove for Best Short Film and 1,500 euros went to Rosa Gocht for “Hallo Debus.” The film is about a father who leaves messages on his son’s answering machine, while the son, in turn, freezes into a still life, as described.

Audience Award for a film set on Lake Geneva

The Golden Dove in the Audience Competition, along with 3,000 euros, went to the documentary “Nicole Nicole” by Lauren Dällenbach. The film features 55-year-old protagonist Nicole, who lives with her mother on Lake Geneva, and tells a story of connection and emancipation.

According to the festival, the winning films in the International Documentary Competition and the Animated Short Film Competition are thus eligible for a potential Oscar nomination.