The 22nd International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival Docudays UA has announced its winners.
The grand prize in the Docu/World competition was awarded to “2000 Meters to Andriivka” by Mstyslav Chernov. The jury noted, “The film conveys a raw, almost physical experience, showing heroism without any romanticization, exposing the brutal reality of war.”
This is Mstyslav Chernov’s second feature-length film about the Russia-Ukraine war. It tells the story of the liberation of the village of Andriivka near Bakhmut by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, specifically the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade.
The special mention in the Docu/World competition went to the film “About the Sacred and the Sinful” by Giedrė Beinoriūtė. “This is a film about cultural identity, set against the backdrop of the war unleashed by Russia. The film shows how collective memory can come alive in the present,” the jury added.
The film “Songs of the Slowly Burning Land” by Olha Zhurba received the top prize in the Docu/Ukraine competition “for the precise and deep depiction on screen of the collective experience of war and the multilayered trauma.”
“For outstanding courage in the chosen path, generosity in sharing intimate experiences, and the ability to turn film characters into friends of the audience,” the special mention in the Docu/Ukraine competition was awarded to “With Love from the Front” by Alisa Kovalenko.
The grand prize in the Docu/Short competition was awarded to “Dust is a Whale, It’s Sunlight” by María Casas Castillo “for the poetic reflection on the temporal perspective of existence on the planet, for a delicate reminder of the fragility of human existence, and for embodying the dignity of human finiteness.”
A special mention was given to the film “Mama Mikra” by directors Rebecca Blocher and Frederik Schuldt “for creating an original artistic language to tell a personal story, and for the ability to accept the traumatic experience of loved ones without judgment.”
In the Right Now category, the human rights jury named Mstyslav Chernov’s “2000 Meters to Andriivka” as the main winner. “From a close distance, war appears not as an abstraction but as an almost unbearable, disgusting reality in which people are forced to live, lose, and survive. Without choice, without protection, on the edge. This terrible closeness and human vulnerability are what this film shows,” the jury commented.
The special mention in this section went to the film “Letters to Khava” by directors Nadjiba Nouri and Rasul Nouri “for an extraordinarily sensitive and powerful depiction of the dignity and inner strength of a person striving for self-realization despite global political decisions and repressive systems.”
The Andriy Matrosov Award (named after the festival producer who died in a car accident in 2010) was given to Darya Penkova for the film “Where is My Bulletproof Vest?” “for the successful embodiment in a short form of deep shifts that should never have happened in a free and peaceful world, and with the aim to support the first but confident steps in documentary filmmaking.”
On June 13, the winning films will be screened at the Zhovten cinema as part of Docudays UA’s audience day. The screening schedule is available here, and tickets can be purchased via the link.
