Awards to DocNomads films in Ji.hlava and DocLisboa
Santwana Bayaskar’s doc short Kata's Motherhood won the Best Short Documentary award of the Short Joy section and Violena Ampudia’s graduation film BLUE received a Special Mention of the Jury for Best Experimental Doc in the Fascinations section at Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival.
Also, Memories of a Perfect Day by Davina-Maria El Khoury won the Special Jury Award of the Portuguese Authors Society in the Portuguese Competition of Doclisboa IFF.
By Santwana Bayaskar (India) • 22’ • 2022
Synopsis:
Can someone become a mother without giving birth to a child? Twenty-nine-year-old filmmaker Santwana, who is not yet ready to become a mother, and forty-five-year-old doula Kata, who, though childless herself, helps many couples bring their children into the world, are searching for the answer to this question together. This highly intimate documentary empathetically introduces us to the most beautiful and vulnerable moments of life surrounding childbirth.
“You know Khalil Gibran? Do you remember what he says about children? Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, and though they are with you yet they belong not to you.” — Kata.
In Ji.lava catalogue
Trailer here.
By Violena Ampudia (Cuba) • 16’ • 2023
Synopsis:
Abstract blue paintings, blue-dyed lace and footage from her personal archive are interspersed with fragments of conversations, dream prints and personal memories of those who have experienced postpartum depression. The film was created together with the director by participants of her workshop on the cyanotype technique.
“Due to her last master's degree (DocNomads), she has made her latest films in Portugal, Hungary, Spain, Belgium and Serbia, surrounded by fellow filmmakers from diverse cultures from almost all over the world. Therefore, her film approach is deeply permeated by an openness to understand and incorporate other cultures and diversities.”
In Ji.lava catalogue
Trailer here
SOUVENIRS D’UNE JOURNÉE PARFAITE
By Davina-Maria El Khoury (Lebanon) • 18’ • 2023
Synopsis:
Filmmaker Davina Maria and illustrator Dominique Goblet share a fascination for the beach in Ostend. Made up of photographs and illustrations, the film subtly interweaves their respective artistic practices. With a delicate and melancholic tone, Souvenirs d’une journée parfaite celebrates friendship, memory and the fleeting nature of shared moments.
In DocLisboa catalogue