DOCU/WORLD is the international competition of feature- and medium-length documentaries which are longer than 30 minutes. It presents creative documentaries that reveal human rights, ethic and social issues with unique artistic vision.
The DOCU/WORLD jury includes James Berklaz-Lewis, co-head of programming at Visions du Réel and programmer at the Vevey International Funny Film Festival; Maryna Stepanska, a filmmaker and screenwriter; and Alexandre Marionneau, head of international coproductions for the Society and Culture Department at ARTE.
MAIN PRIZE
A Golden Life / dir. Boubacar Sangaré Burkina Faso / Benin, France / 2023 / 83'
In an industry where issues often take precedence over the artfulness of cinema, we are delighted to award the Main Prize to an exemplary film. In seeking the human in a dehumanising industry, the film develops its own subtle cinematic language, oscillating between a fascinating procedural — in a harsh world of dust, rock, mud, steel and sweat — and a delicate portrait of precarious working youth that stubbornly refuses to treat its chosen subjects as objects of pity. In Bolo, we meet a character whose determination is only matched by his sensitivity, and with this award we honour a film that lives up to these values, and more.
SPECIAL MENTION
Fragments of Ice / dir. Maria Stoianova / Ukraine, Norway / 2024 / 95'
Our special mention goes to a film which achieves an increasingly rare and precious feat in the contemporary documentary landscape: to express social, political and historical truths by remaining truthful to personal stories. In the filmmaker’s masterful hands, a family’s treasure of archives is rebuilt in such a remarkable way that it draws us both into the relatable drama of one — admittedly extraordinary — family while also acknowledging the common history of a people. Its labour is one of memory, of personal detail, of historical breadth and cultural depth. In a word, it is essential. Our special mention goes to Fragments of Ice.
The DOCU/WORLD international feature-length competition included:
