Sheffield Doc/Fest Announces Award Winners 2018

The award winners of the 25th edition of Sheffield Doc/Fest have been announced at the official award ceremony at the City Hall Ballroom in Sheffield. Among the prize winners are Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar, who won the top award for their documentary ’The Silence of Others’ as well as Sascha Schöberl, who took home The Whickers Film & TV Funding Award for his documentary project ’Mirror Mirror on the Wall’ which previously took part in the Crossing Borders programme, a joint initiative by EDN and Documentary Campus.

The award ceremony of Sheffield Doc/Fest, which was this year once again hosted by a radio presenter Paulette Edwards (BBC Radio Sheffield), provided a unique platform for celebrating and recognizing a number of high profile documentary films and inspiring projects. The works awarded at Sheffield Doc/Fest stand out in terms of their compelling narratives, their artistic and filmic quality and their innovative approach to storytelling. This year’s Grand Jury Award went to The Silence of Others (Spain/USA, 2018) directed by Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar. The film takes a closer look at the epic struggle of victims of Spain’s 40-year dictatorship under General Franco, who continue to seek justice to this day. Jury member Liv Wynter said, “The Silence of Others is a deeply inspiring and captivating film that makes us grateful that people are dedicated to a fight and put their lives on hold for justice. This is combined with a real filmmaking sensibility.”

The Wickers Film & TV Funding Award, an £80,000 cash prize aimed at young filmmakers looking to make their first full length documentary, was given to Beijing-based director Sascha Schöberl for his project Mirror Mirror on the Wall (produced by Antje Boehmert, DOCDAYS Productions, Germany and CNEX Foundation Ltd., China). The project tells the story of a Chinese plastic surgeon and self-proclaimed artist who seizes the spotlight for never-seen-before performances. It’s a modern tale about vanity and self-glorification as well as an extreme investigation into humanity set against the backdrop of China today. It’s for the second year in a row, that the Whickers Film & TV Funding award goes to a project of the Crossing Borders programme, an annual training initiative for international co-productions between Europe and Asia, organized by EDN and Documentary Campus.

Looking back at the anniversary edition of Sheffield Doc/Fest, CEO & Festival Director Liz McIntyre said: “The 25th edition of Doc/Fest has been a chance to celebrate extraordinary storytellers from debut directors to established names, all forming part of the new wave of documentary makers for a brave new world”.

The award winners of Sheffield Doc/Fest 2018 are:

GRAND JURY AWARD

The Silence of Others | D: Almudena Carracedo, Robert Bahar | Spain/USA

SPECIAL MENTION

A Woman Captured | D: Bernadett Tuza-Ritter | Hungary

ENVIRONMENTAL AWARD

Wild Relatives | D: Jumana Manna | Lebanon/Norway/Germany

TIM HETHERINGTON AWARD

Kinshasa Makambo | D: Dieudo Hamadi | DRC/France/Switzerland/Germany/Norway

ILLUMINATE AWARD

América | D: Erick Stoll, Chase Whiteside | USA

SPECIAL MENTION

Young Solitude | D: Claire Simon | France

ART DOC AWARD

Music When The Lights Go Out | D: Ismael Caneppele | Brazil

NEW TALENT AWARD

Minding the Gap | D: Bing Liu | USA

SPECIAL MENTION

The Proposal | D: Jill Magid | USA, Mexico, Switzerland

YOUTH JURY AWARD

Amal | D: Mohamed Siam | Denmark/Egypt/France/Germany

SHORT DOC AWARD

Black Sheep | D: Ed Perkins | UK

SPECIAL MENTION

Weltschmerz | D: Jesper Dalgaard | Denmark

ALTERNATE REALITIES VIRTUAL REALITY AWARD

Face to Face | D: Michelle Gabel and Michaela Holland

SPECIAL MENTION

Vestige | Aaron Bradbury, Paul Mowbray | UK/France/USA

ALTERNATE REALITIES INTERACTIVE AWARD

The Voice of the Unicorn | Richard Butchins | Japan/UK

HONOURABLE MENTION

Terminal 3 | Asad J. Malik | USA/Pakistan

DOC AUDIENCE AWARD

Minding the Gap | D: Bing Liu | USA

ALTERNATE REALITIES AUDIENCE AWARD

Grenfell: our Home | Jonathan Rudd

THE WHICKERS FILM & TV FUNDING AWARD

Mirror Mirror On the Wall | D: Sascha Schöberl | Germany, China

THE WHICKERS FILM & TV FUNDING AWARD (Funding Award: Runner Up)

Disappearing Village | D: Megumi Inman | UK

DOC/DISPATCH AWARD

Notes from Dunblane: Lessons From A School Shooting | D: Kim Snyder | UK

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