The international documentary film festival ARTDOCFEST/RIGA has announced the winners of its competitive programs. The Grand Prix was awarded to the film "Mission 200" by Ukrainian director Volodymyr Sydyk.
This information was shared by the chief editor of Ukrainska Pravda, Sevgi Musaieva, during the award ceremony in Riga.
The documentary "Mission 200" tells the story of a volunteer from Lutsk, Tetiana Pototska–Yevchuk, who, after the onset of the full-scale war, became involved in the search and delivery of the bodies of fallen Ukrainian soldiers to their families.
"Like the mythological Charon, who ferries souls across the river Styx, she transports the bodies of fallen soldiers, overcoming thousands of kilometers without stopping or sleeping, sending them on their final journey", the festival organizers noted.
The award for Best Director went to Ukrainian filmmakers Tetiana Doronitsyna and Andrii Lytvynenko for their film "Everything Must Live", which tells the story of a woman who helps injured and abandoned animals during the war.
The jury awarded a special prize to the film "Close Ones" about Russian businessman Dmytro Zimin. The film "The Return of the Cinematographer" by Orkhan Agazade also received an honorable mention from the jury.
The jury of the ARTDOCFEST/RIGA festival included Ivar Seletski (Latvia), Kristina Kamdesus (France), and Sevgi Musaieva (Ukraine).
Other Ukrainian films were also featured in the competitive program:
- "Father's Lullaby" from a Ukrainian-Romanian-Croatian team directed by Lesia Diak;
- "Dear Beautiful Beloved" of Austrian production directed by Yurii Rechynskyi;
- "In Limbo" of Polish production by Ukrainian director Alina Maksymenko.
The international documentary film festival ARTDOCFEST was founded in 2007 in Russia. After the beginning of the war initiated by the Russian Federation against Ukraine in 2014, the competitive program was first shown in Riga. In 2018, all competitions and jury activities were relocated to Latvia.