Thinkers have always been fascinated by the deep-rooted causes of hatred, violence and war, which constantly give rise to questions about what lies in the murky depths of human nature. For its powerful cinematography, exacting selection of protagonists, uncompromising approach to telling their story and the importance of the questions they raise, the WATCH DOCS 2018 award goes to Talal Derki for the film Of Fathers and Sons.
The jury also handed out two other awards: - to Sinead O’Shea for the film A Mother Brings Her Son to Be Shot
“For shedding light on an ongoing conflict that deserves more global attention and for her impressive insight into the mind, consciousness and interpersonal relationships that are both the source and the victims of violence.”
- to Tim Wardle for the film Three Identical Strangers
“For the use of an incredible, wonderfully told story to draw attention to agonizing ethical dilemmas and eternal questions about what determines who we are?nature or nurture?and about personal responsibility for every life.”
The jury included director Karolina Bielawska; Gaetano Capizzi, founder and director of Cinemambiente; Iveta Černá from the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival; Aleksandar Govedarica of Syndicado; and Paweł Kasprzak, chairman of the Citizens of Poland civic movement.
During the ceremony, two awards were also given out as part of the FUTURE DOCS project. The Polish Bar Council financed a prize of PLN 10,000 for the development of a documentary film project that presents pro bono work being done by Polish lawyers. This prize was given to Finnish documentary filmmaker Inka Achté for the development of her project Last Wagon , about the refugee crisis at the Polish-Belarusian border. The main prize, in the amount of USD 5,000, went to Magdalena Pięta for her project Fabryka (The Factory).
Congolese director Dieudo Hamadi won this year’s Marek Nowicki Prize for outstanding for exceptional achievements in showing human rights in film. The Warsaw-based festival has come to an end, but WATCH DOCS Belarus begins today in Minsk. In 2019, viewers in more than 40 Polish cities will be able to watch festival films through the WATCH DOCS Traveling Festival.
Thank you for joining us. See you next year!
