The Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival has announced the complete list of award winners for its 30th edition, recognizing films from a wide range of countries and honoring filmmaker Trinh T. Minh-ha with the Contribution to World Cinema Award. The main prize in the international Opus Bonum competition went to Mohabat, directed by American filmmaker James Longley.
In the same section, Songs from Within, by Elvis A-Liang Lu, received the first Special Mention, while Yi-ling Huang was recognized for the film’s editing. Among the other awards, Sacred Songs, by Nona Giunashvili, won Best Central and Eastern European Documentary, and Love Exposed, by Filip Remunda, was named Best Documentary Film in the Visegrad Region. Ishtar Yasin Gutiérrez received the Award for Original Approach for Life is There.
The competition also recognized Ania Winiarska for the cinematography of Good Girls and Diana Martínez for the sound design of 19th floor. Meanwhile, For the Moon, by Éric Baudelaire, received the Student Jury Award.
In the First Lights competition, dedicated to emerging filmmaking voices, the Main Award went to After the Rehearsal, by Philipp Fröhlich. Journey, by Eli Maene, received a Special Mention as well as the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) Prize. Emma Boccanfuso was recognized for the cinematography of Saudades Eternas, while Leinad Pájaro De la Hoz and Manuel Escorihuela received the sound design award for Voices from Neptune. The Award for Original Approach went to Jihyeon Oh for Erotic Blossoms in a Dream.
In the Testimonies section, the Main Award was presented to Barbara Forever, by Brydie O’Connor. Special Mentions were distributed across three thematic categories: Light it Before it Burns, by Markéta Ekrt Válková, was named Best Film on Nature; 771 Days, by Zainab Entezar, received the award for Best Film on Politics; and The Sessions, by Sien Versteyhe, was recognized as Best Film on Knowledge.
The Fascinations section awarded its Main Prize to Elusiveness of Today, by Dominika Kováčová, while Rocío Salima received the first Special Mention for Identity and Transit Document No. 4. In Exprmntl.cz, the Main Award went to Klára Trsková and Anežka Horová for On the Peaks of All the Beech Mountains. The Audience Award recognized Mushroom Seconds, by Aleš Pojar, while the Short Joy award went to never been there, never., by Joseph Vitali.
The Czech Joy competition, dedicated to Czech documentary filmmaking, presented two Main Awards: one to Glowing, by Martin Páv, and the other to Land of Fire, by Nikola Klinger. Sebastian Kučkovský received the editing award for Anatomy of a Crash, while Jakub Jurásek and Marek Buranovský were recognized for the sound design of Wasteland Chronicles. Matěj Piňos received the cinematography award for Light it Before it Burns, and Karolína Hovězáková won the Award for Original Approach for Love video letter.
Rounding out the Czech Joy awards, the Student Jury Award went to My Father from the Island Russia, by Georgij Mežujev, while Donbas within Reach, by Dariia Kovalchuk, received the award for Best Czech Short Documentary Film.