The Grand Prize for the City of Lisbon at the 23rd edition of the DocLisboa film festival was awarded in the international competition to “The Night Is Fading Away”, by Ezequiel Salinas and Ramiro Sonzini, from Argentina, the organization announced this Saturday.
The awards ceremony began in the early evening at Culturgest, and was followed by the screening of “The Tree of Knowledge”, by Eugène Green, the closing film of the festival that ends on Sunday.
For the award jury, “The Night Is Fading Away” (“The night is fading”, in free translation) “celebrates cinema as the ultimate collective adventure, where imagination and solidarity light the way in the darkness”.
The film tells the story of a lonely projectionist who, after losing his house and being demoted, starts to live secretly in the cinema where he worked, transforming it into a refuge for himself and homeless friends, thus rediscovering a purpose, according to the synopsis.
Once the secret is discovered, the projectionist challenges the authorities to try to recover the space, in a narrative that pays homage to the seventh art as a crucial place of conviviality and resistance, especially in difficult times in contemporary Argentina.
The DocLisboa Prize from the jury of the international competition distinguished “Tell Me a Fairy Tale” (“Tell me a fairy tale”, in free translation), by Ebrû Avci (Turkey), “an elegant, honest and disarming film in its simplicity, which reveals how much can be said with so little, finding depth in silent gestures and truth in restraint”.
The Doctors Without Borders — Portugal Award for Best Director in the international competition was awarded to “Fantasy”, by Isabel Pagliai (France), “an intimate, tender and visceral portrait of grief, love and longing, a raw poetry that remains alive in its fragility”, according to the jury.
In the Portuguese competition, the DocLisboa Prize for Best Film was awarded to “Água Mãe”, by Hiroatsu Suzuki and Rossana Torres (Portugal), “an elegant and courageous work that elevates the everyday to the sublime, inviting us to experience a world beyond cinema”.
The Portuguese Society of Authors Award from the jury of the Portuguese competition distinguished “As Estações”, by Maureen Fazendeiro, “a tactile and engaging film, which combines a discovered past with a present almost out of time”, considered the jury.
Regarding the School Prize — School of Innovation and Creation Technologies, “Explode São Paulo, Gil”, by Maria Clara Escobar, was awarded, “a collaborative work of punk sensitivity and generosity, where dreams and reality coexist in a gesture of pure cinematic vitality”.
“Complô”, by João Miller Guerra, had an honorable mention in this festival category, while in the Verdes Anos Competition, the Conserveira de Lisboa Award for Best Film went to “Ping Pong”, by Tianji Yu.
As for the Pedro Fortes Award for Best Portuguese Director, it was awarded to “Se Eu Não Morresse Nunca!” by David Falcão, and “I Lit the Fire!” (“I lit the fire”, in free translation), by Valeria Lemeshevskaya (Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, Azerbaijan) was awarded an honorable mention.
In the transversal competition, the Revelation Award — DocLisboa for Best First Feature Film was awarded to “Under the Flags, the Sun” (“Under the flags, the sun”, in free translation), by Juanjo Pereira (Paraguay), while “Do You Love Me” (“Loves me”, in free translation) (France, Qatar, Lebanon, Germany), by Lana Daher, had a mention honorable.
The Award for Best Short Film distinguished “Baumettes Studio”, by Hassen Ferhani (France) and the Safe and Healthy Workplaces Award — European Agency for Safety at Work was awarded to “Wishful Filming”, by Sarah Vanagt (Belgium).
In the public awards, “Aurora”, by João Vieira Torres, won the Legal Partners Rights and Freedoms Public Prize, while “Soco a Soco”, by Diogo Varela Silva, won the Canalis TVCine Prize.
The 23rd edition of DocLisboa took place over eleven days, bringing together around 20 thousand spectators, including sold-out sessions, conversations with directors and meetings with the public, according to the organization.
A tribute was also paid to the filmmaker, editor and actress Patrícia Saramago, who passed away on Thursday.
The screening sessions of the award-winning films from this edition of DocLisboa will take place between Monday and Wednesday at Cinema Ideal, in Lisbon.
DocLisboa returns in 2026, from October 15th to 25th, with Greece as a guest country, they announced.
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