For its immense courage in entering a closed, closely guarded world and exposing the mechanisms of authoritarian systems, the Mayor of Gdynia Award goes to HOLLYWOODGATE by Ibrahim Nash'at. The film was awarded with the special mention of Bydgoszcz Regional Bar Council as well.

 

The special mention of the Bydgoszcz Regional Bar Council for a film that addresses human rights issues goes to HOLLYWOODGATE by Ibrahim Nash'at with the justification:
"The author of the film, demonstrating great intuition, courage and responsibility, shows almost day by day the behind-the-scenes of the Taliban military regime taking over Afghanistan, which is gradually turning the country into a religious and patriarchal dictatorship, where disobedience is punishable by death.
The filmmakers managed to show in a brave yet artistically mature way the resistance of defenseless Palestinian villagers to the brutal violence of the Israeli army.
The silent heroes of this film are the citizens of Afghanistan, especially women, whose rights are systematically suppressed. The current authority, based on the principles of Sharia, restricts their right to be present in public life, bans their education at universities, work in NGOs, interferes with their clothing, controls every aspect of their lives, and reinstates corporal punishment and its public execution.
The artist, recording at risk and showing the world this case study of the birth of a dictatorship, penetrating with his camera into the very interior of the dictatorship and showing the mechanisms of power from the inside, stands up for all those citizens who are deprived of their rights by this power, and who have no possibility in their country to express any opposition." Statement of the Jury.

Browse all awards of 21MDAG here.

  #21MDAG

showcasing 190 documentaries from all ove the world, including about 16 German productions & co-productions. The largest Polish film festival takes place in eight cities, such as Warsaw, Wroclaw, Gdynia, Poznan, Katowice, Lódz, Bydgoszcz, and Lublin, followed by an online edition.  Browse the catalogue 2024 A-Z.

LineUp German productions and co-productions:

• ARCHITECTON by Victor Kossakovsky, 98min, P: ma.ja.de, Point du Jour, Les Films du Balibari, D: Neue Visionen Filmverleih GmbH, [Climate for Change]
• AT THAT VERY MOMENT | EN EL MISMISIMO MOMENTO by Rita Pauls, Federico Luis Tachella, 12min, P: RUIDO Buenos Aires – Juan Pablo Labonia & RUIDO Berlin – Manuel Abramovich [DAAD], [Short Competition]_
• THE EMPTY GRAVE | DAS LEERE GRAB by Agnes Lisa Wegner, Cece Mlay, 79min, P: kurhaus production Film & Medien GmbH, [First Nations]
• ETERNAL YOU | ETERNAL YOU – VOM ENDE DER ENDLICHKEIT by Hans Block, Moritz Riesewieck, WS: DOGWOOF, P: beetz brothers film production, [Fetish and Culture]
• HOLLYWOODGATE by Ibrahim Nash’a, 92min, WS: Cinephil, [Cinema for Humans]
• THE MOLE AGENT by Maite Alberdi, 86min, WS: dogwoof, ©2020 [The Best of MDAG]
• NILA'S DREAM IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN | NILAS TRAUM IM GARTEN EDEN by Niloufar Taghizadeh, 98min, WS: NEW DOCS , [Cinema for Humans]
• OBSESSED WITH LIGHT by Zeva Oelbaum, Sabine Krayenbühl, 90min, WS: auTLOOK FILMSALES, [Unforgettable Female Stories]
• OUR LAND, OUR FREEDOM by Meena Nanji, Zippy Kimundu, 100min, WS: First Hand Films, P: Muiraquita Filmes, Twende Pictures, AUTENTIKA FILMS, [Cinema for Humans]
• PHOBOS by Mina Keshavarz, 15min, P: Road River Films, Pejman Foundation, La Onda Productions, [Shorts Competition]_
• ROOM 666 by Wim Wenders, C: Road Movies GmbH, © 1982 [Muse and Inspiration]_
• ROOM 999 by Lubna Playoust, P: mk2 Films, 85min, [Muse and Inspiration]_
• SULTANA'S DREAM by Isabel Herguera, 83min, WS: Square Eyes Film, [Unforgettable Female Stories]
• TANJA – UP IN ARMS by Marcel Mettelsiefen, 85min, WS: MAGNETFILM, P: DREAMER JOINT VENTURE, D: mindjazz-pictures, [Intimate Stories]
• TONGO SAA – RISING UP AT NIGHT by Nelson Makengo, 95min, P: Twenty Nine Studio & Production, Mutotu Productions, coP: Film Five GmbH, Diam Productions, Auguste Orts, Magellan Films, [Places]
• sr by Lea Hartlaub, 103min,  P: Blinker Filmproduktion, [Main Competition]

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