Lea Glob’s documentary Apolonia, Apolonia, a 13-year portrait of Paris-born painter Apolonia Sokol, has won best film at the 2022 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), the world’s largest documentary film fest.
The honor, announced at an awards ceremony in Amsterdam on Thursday night, comes with a €15,000 ($15,000) cash prize.
The Danish director stitched her doc together from multiple meetings over the years with Sokol, as she traced the artist’s development and reflects on her personal and professional obsessions, including art, love, motherhood, sexuality, queerness, capitalism and the patriarchy.
The best film prize in the IDFA’s Envision Competition section, and its $15,000 cash prize, went to Angie Vinchito’s Manifesto, a found-footage doc compiled from videos Russian teenagers posted on social media.
IDFA’s best director honor in the international category, and a €5,000 ($5,200) cash prize, went to Simon Chambers for Much Ado About Dying, a touching, often very funny, look at Chambers’ Uncle David in the final years of his life. Roberta Torre took best directing honors in the Envision Competition category, and $5,200, for The Fabulous Ones, a documentary about a villa housing transgender women who try to fulfill the last wish of their late friend, buried in male clothing against her will.
The 2022 IDFA runs through Sunday.
A full list of 2022 IDFA winners follows.
Best Film International Competition
Apolonia, Apolonia, dir. Lea Glob
Best Directing International Competition
Much Ado About Dying, dir. Simon Chambers
Best Editing International Competition
Journey Through Our World, editor Mario Steenbergen
Best Cinematography International Competition
Paradise, cinematographer Paul Guilhaume
Best Film Envision Competition
Manifesto, dir. Angie Vinchito
Best Directing Envision Competition
The Fabulous Ones, dir. Roberta Torre
Outstanding Artistic Contribution Envision Competition
My Lost Country, dir. Ishtar Yasin Gutiérrez
Special Mention Envision Competition
Notes for a Film, dir. Ignacio Agüero
IDFA DocLab Award for Immersive Non-Fiction
In Pursuit of Repetitive Beats, dir. Darren Emerson
Special Jury Award for Creative Technology
Plastisapiens, dir. Miri Cherkhanovich and Edith Jorisch
DFA DocLab Award for Digital Storytelling
He Fucked the Girl Out of Me, dir. Taylor McCue
Special Jury Award for Creative Technology
His Name Is my Name, dir. Eline Jongsma and Kel O’Neill.
IDFA Award for Best Short Documentary
Away, dir. Ruslan Fedotow
Special Mention Short Documentary
The Porters, dir. Sarah Vanagt
IDFA Award for Best Youth Film (14+)
Home Is Somewhere Else, dir. Carlos Hagerman and Jorge Villalobos.
IDFA Award for Best Youth Film (9-13)
Ramboy, dir. Matthias Joulaud
Special Mention Youth Film
Jasmin’s Two Homes, dir. Inka Achté and Hanna Karppinen
IDFA Award for Best First Feature
The Etilaat Roz, dir. Abbas Rezaie
Special Mention First Feature
Guapo’y, dir. Sofia Paoli Thorne
IDFA Award for Best Dutch Film
Journey Through Our World, dir. Petra Lataster-Czisch and Peter Lataster
Special Mention Best Dutch Film
Inside My Heart, dir. Saskia Boddeke
Beeld & Geluid IDFA Reframe Award
Private Footage, dir. Janaína Nagata
Special Mention Beeld & Geluid IDFA Reframe Award
The March on Rome, dir. Mark Cousins
IDFA Forum Award for Best Pitch
Niñxs, dir. Kani Lapuerta
IDFA Forum Award for Best Rough Cut
The Tuba Thieves, dir. Alison O’Daniel
IDFA DocLab Forum Award
We Speak Their Names in Hushed Tones, dir. Omoregie Osakpolor
