Docaviv Winners 2022

This year's Best Picture at DocAviv was an expression of pure cinema, that makes full effect of all the tool's available within film vocabulary. It is extremely risky to form your entire feature from archive materials, particular of such a personal nature, but the filmmakers have taken this footage and elevated them far beyond a cinephilic joy of material film or a nostalgia for generations past. From bringing vividly and vibrantly to life one family and one place, we are able to see how the joy, sorrow and intensity of everyday life quietly intertwines itself around an alternative pioneer spirit within Israel. This is the magic of cinema and this film gave the jury members a truly magical experience.

This director exhibits a supreme command of his material, finding a central narrative path of a photographer's life spent in the turbulence and turmoil of conflict zones. The director manages to give us a critical and reflective view upon Zionism and the Israeli nation through the narrow lens of being embedded within the IDF in combat as a war photographer. This overarching vision of the photographer ultimately consumes his entire home and public life, bringing his whole family into the work. It is remarkable to see one medium being able to fully comprehend and comment upon another and Ran Tal's excellent work has undoubtedly achieved this.

The remarkable aspects of this documentary are the ways in which the filmmakers marry form and content together in a near seamless manner to give a compelling account of a fascinating creative figure. This gentle and subtle film says so much about love, death, grief, sexuality, illness, creativity and family, without ever overstating or forcing the narrative into inauthentic or false directions. It is also an excellent portrait of brotherly love and how a sibling has embraced the role of being his brother's keeper with real honesty and integrity. Staying true to the restrained and humble nature of the artist's work THE SEVEN YEARS OF ABSALON reveals itself to be one of the best artist's profiles of recent years and thoroughly deserving of this Special Jury award.

This bold and creative debut feature appears to use cinema in an inventively therapeutic manner that showed great promise to this jury. Choosing to approach the subject of an artist and their work through the complicating factor of the director's own proximity to this artist, the film offers both a dual portrait narrative and a struggle for authorship and agency that exhibits real potential all the way to the film's closing revelations. Margarita and Yaniv Linton, with this debut work, have marked themselves out as a directorial duo to watch in coming years.

Very wise combination of professional and amateur cinematography allows us, in an extraordinary way, to feel the emotions shown from two different perspectives: of a protagonist himself and of the external world. Both perspectives give us a picture which can help to better understand the family relations and the inner world of the main character. The Award for Best Cinematography goes to ''I Am Not.''

TThe masterful way in which this film editor created a complex narrative and pacing within this film's profile of an artist, their family and their work makes for a powerful and dynamic cinematic experience. It manages to pull together an impressive array of archive materials and private and public histories to forge a singular story of a person's shifts in political and artistic perspective across the duration of a lengthy career. Playing voiceover off of photographic archive to create additional layers of meaning in an already impressively nuanced structure, this editor has managed to forge a compelling conflict between the memory of an image and the dissonance of an oral recollection.

Drawing authority from a sizeable research team committed to seriously interrogating Israel's official foundational myths and narratives, this film was a clear winner in this category. Using original archive research conducted by one of the main contributors, Teddy Katz, Tantura wove together conflicting stories and perspectives on an alleged massacre within the eponymous town during the 1948 war. Many of these stories, including Katz own thesis research, continue to be denied by some. Taking a comprehensive approach to its material, the film made its complex history easily accessible for this jury. Gaining access to an exhaustive array of contributors from all sides of the political divide in Israel, the film has clearly left the jury with a true sense of the many conflicting narratives that swarm around the early history of the Israeli state. This challenging film brings new light to a hitherto awkwardly obscured part of the nation's story.

When considering the films in this year's competition that were inspired by the history of Israel and Israeli society and which spotlight a historical perspective on significant processes, places and periods in the history of the country, there was one film that seemed to best encapsulate so many of these elements. Using the work of one prominent creative individual within the last half a century of Israeli history, yet managing to extend this person's life work out into so many of the key historical moments in the foundation of contemporary Israeli society 1341 Frames of Love and War stands out as a work of true integrity that will serve to set the bar high for future editions of this new major award.

First time director, Ha Le Diem, tells the compelling story of DI, a bold teenage girl from the Hmong community in North Vietnam caught between the cruel tradition of kidnapping girls for the purpose of marriage, and her wish to continue her childhood and go to school. With a clear eye and open heart, maturity, sensitivity, and without compromising the craft of her filmmaking, Ha Le Diem’s gives life to a truly unique yet universal and political real-life story.Her colorful and vivid photography, combined with the intelligent editing makes Children of the Mist the stand-out film of this year’s International Competition.

Igor Ivanko sets out on an intimate quest to keep his beloved grandfather’s memory, which is slowly deteriorating in front of his camera, alive.
His charming grandfather, Leonid Burlaka, was once an acclaimed USSR cinematographer in Odessa. Now, Igor is desperately trying to revive Leonid’s fragile memory and reclaim his legacy, by diving into his forgotten and damaged films.
First time director Igor Ivanko’s fresh, and humble approach makes this surprising film a moving story about the capacity of cinema to commemorate life.

A film that invites us to search for truth beyond our comfort zone. It is a truth that lays within the diversity of human experiences that reminds us that despite our contradicting worldviews, we are more alike than we think. It is a story that begins with hope, with two protagonists who represent the opposite ends of a spectrum and are bound together by circumstance. Through their shared journey they teach us empathy and tolerance, with their unique ability to communicate vulnerably. So despite the film ending with these two remarkable protagonists caving under the forces of the conflict in the midst of which they exist, it still remains a story of humanity and love. It is a story that goes beyond its locality.

For the remarkable achievement of bringing an intimate portrait of motherhood and the brave and uncompromising quest for freedom in the face of danger and challenging shooting conditions

A film made with great rigor over many years, this meticulous journey about life and labor is told richly in an awe-inspiring cinematic and sonic language. To be transported and immersed into this remote community is made all the more impressive as it is done without using a single word. In a chaotic world of fast and disposable imagery we were delighted with the restraint displayed in this beautiful odyssey which invites the viewer into a timeless and mesmerizing place.

The honorable mention is given to a work that challenged what is possible using archival material. Displaying ingenuity and resourcefulness, creatively turning a disadvantage into a unique and enchanting language. The result is the unearthing of a secretive and intimate female world filled with love, compassion, and courage.

This meditative and visually and narratively rich film brings three forgotten minutes filmed in 1939 in the Polish village of Nasielsk back to life, as a result of the comprehensive and profound research that focused on the circumstances of the film’s production. The film tells the story of the village and its Jewish residents, who held a variety of world views and lived together side by side, while reviving several of the names and voices that belonged to some of those who appear in the film.

This strong film manages to convey an immersive experience, about words that go through people and affect them for life. Using original cinematic language, of minimalism and artistic precision, the film gives a voice to the usually transparent people who serve as translators, and manages to powerfully translate the burden and even pain that is inherent in their crucial craft. The stylised environment and the off-screen monologues create a distance, one which nevertheless generates emotions and stays with you. The film echoes all the conflict areas in the world, where people are witnessing violence, and emphasizes the responsibility of the people who are in charge of translating, in the broadest sense of the word, as well as the consequences of this act.

A delicate and touching portrait of a strong woman, whose current small and peaceful life in her farm is being disrupted by toxicity of a greedy and corrupt system from the past. The intimate everyday shots, the use of the natural light, the poetic scenery and the calm pace – embrace her character, leaving us with her love and resilience, despite the revolting situation.

For its refreshing and creative cinematic vision, its concise editing and for its sensitive and thoughtful directing. The film captures its spectators and draws them into a moving and multi-dimensional story of immigration and exile experienced twice over, and of a protagonist that wholeheartedly and against all odds insists on believing in his dream.

For finding beauty in a dark and gloomy corner of our daily lives, for the ability to turn a news report into a poetic and cinematic fable on the meaning of life and death and the cruel encounter between humans and their surroundings.

For its persistence and determinacy in accompanying the protagonists throughout complex moments, and for the courage to ask uncompromising questions. The filmmaker’s intimate point of view reveals unto spectators the exceptional and unusual manner in which the protagonists cope with the reality of their lives.

For its concise and intelligent cinematography that grant the film a poetic essence by adding depth and meaning to its story.

For the unravelling of a family story in a touching and exceptional manner, brimming with humor without relinquishing any aspect of its storytelling, for the beautiful work in incorporating and interweaving of archival footage, unique animation and still photography, for the personal yet universal outlook directed and edited with great thoughtfulness and talent, and for its heart-wrenching use of animation.