by FilmInk Staff
Boasting a diverse spectrum of features and shorts, ranging from big budget exposés to investigative indies, the documentary landscape has seen a resurgence of late, thanks in part to shifting social norms, rolling lockdowns and festival celebrations of the form such as the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival.
With the 2021 festival taking its program online, audiences have been treated with an eclectic array of documentary features from both domestic and international filmmakers.
Some of the more notable winners of the festival include this year’s recipient of the Supreme Feature Award, We Are Conjola. Directed and produced by Anthony ‘Ash’ Brennan. The film offers a deeply personal recount of the devastation bought by the 2019/20 bush fires, and the healing facets of community, creativity, and the long path to recovery.
The Best Australian Feature Award went to Women of Steel. Directed by Robynne Murphy, the David verses Goliath story is set against the legal battle bought against BHP by a group of female Steel Workers from Wollongong fighting for their rights to make a living during the 1980s and ’90s, an era dominated by gender inequality, and sexist policies.
Taking out the gong for Best International Feature was Ollie Aslin and Gary Lennon’s Castro’s Spies, a penetrating look into the spy craft and culture of Cuban intelligence agents, and their subversive infiltration of American soil during the 1990s. The Best Director went to Barat Ali Batoor (Australian) for his harrowing autobiographical account in Batoor: A Refugee Journey and Yael Bridge (International) for her political expose on socialism in the US with The Big Scary S Word.
Additional winners include:
AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARD Winner: Inferno Without Borders -Dir. Sandrine Charruyer & Sophie Lepowic
BEST MUSIC DOCUMENTARY Winner: The Rumba Kings – Dir. Alan Brain
BEST MELBOURNE DOCUMENTARY Winner: Wild Things – Dir. Sally Ingleton
For a full list of winners and or view a selection of this years most engaging, thought provoking and diverse documentary feature films and shorts, visit Melbourne Documentary Film Festival.
