The Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM) has named the grant and support recipients for the 20th edition of its Forum RIDM.

The awards were announced as part of a closing ceremony on Nov. 27, according to a release. A total of 16 Canadian and international participants were awarded through RIDM’s Doc Lab Montréal.

Nine of the awards for Doc Lab Montréal were for feature films in development. The feature film jury consisted of Leonard Cortana, inclusion programs and strategic partnerships manager, EURODOC; Zeynep Güzel, head of doc station, Berlinale Talents; and Benjamin Hogue, executive director, Les Films du 3 Mars.

The Royal Photo Support, which offers $2,500 worth of filming equipment rental services via Royal Photo, went to Montreal-based filmmaker Yann-Manuel Hernandez for his feature documentary To These Lands I Returned. The same award for short to medium-length documentaries, which offers $2,000 worth of filming equipment rental services, went to Quebec filmmaker Luiza Cocora for Ariane’s Thread.

The Main Film Support, a grant of $2,000 in equipment rental, $500 in cash and a one-year subscription to Main Film’s services, was awarded to the feature documentary Tehran: Good/Bad or Worse from Toronto and Tehran-based filmmakers Farnaz and Mohammadreza Jurabchian. The film was produced by Étienne de Ricaud from Paris-based prodco Caractères Productions.

The CineGround Support, offering $5,000 in post-production services through CineGround, was won by Quebec filmmaker Loïc Darses for the feature cinematic essay Our Hearts Are Dark and Secret Like the Knots of Our Oaks. Darses was also the winner of the DOK.fest München Award, which will give him the opportunity to take part in the German film festival next May.

The Rogers Award, which consists of a $1,000 cash prize, went to Shape of Silence from Toronto and Delhi-based filmmaker Varun Trikha. The film is produced by Margit Lillak for Estonia’s Tiny Desk Productions.

The Directors Guild of Canada (DGC) Award, comes with $1,500 in cash from the DGC, was won by Calgary-based filmmaker Bruce Thomas Miller for Starry Night. The documentary is produced by Kevin Dong for his Calgary prodco Tall Hero Films.

Seven of Doc Lab Montréal’s awards were for short to medium-length documentaries. The short and medium-length film jury was comprised of Serge Abiaad, distributor and sales representative, La Distributrice de Films; Severine Roinssard, CEO, producer, Parati Films; and Tam Dan Vu, artistic director, head of communications, Travelling Distribution.

The Vital Distribution Award, offering $500 in cash from Vital Distribution, went to the 40-minute Plumage from Toronto and Beijing-based filmmaker Mingzhe Zhou and produced by Yiqian Zhang from Toronto-based Touchstone Productions. The Vidéographe Support award, consisting of $500 in editing suite or equipment rental and a one-year membership to Vidéographe services, was offered to Quebec filmmaker Manuel Orhy Pirón for the short film John Banks.

The SLA Location Support, valued at $2,500 in film equipment rental services, was awarded to short film Haven from Quebec filmmaker Mirkö Lafrenière and produced by Irène Bessone from Montreal-based prodco Art et essai. The Lussier & Khouzam Support, which offers a $1,000 sponsorship for legal fees, went to the 45-minute Canoe Racers by Montreal filmmaker Maïlys Flamand.

The T&S Coop Support, offering a $500 grant in subtitling services, was awarded to short film Rosie by Quebec filmmaker Kellie Nadeau.

The Parati Films Support, which offers three production coaching sessions, was won by 24-minute In the Night Trees Grow by Montreal-based filmmaker Stéphane Mukunzi.

The Rough Cut Pitch, which offers a space for projects in the editing or post-production phase, saw two projects awarded.

The Grandé Studios Support, consisting of $7,000 worth in filming equipment rental services, went to the essay film Skin of the Sky by Toronto-born filmmaker Andrea Bussmann. The Forum RIDM Prize, which offers $1,000 in cash, was awarded to On the Serbian Border by Italian filmmakers Federico Cammarata and Filippo Foscarini.

The Rough Cut Pitch jury was comprised of Jinseok Kang, programmer, DMZ International Documentary Film Festival; Berlin-based writer, editor and programmer Giovanni Marchini Camia; and Lorena Morin, sales agent and international distribution, Split Screen.

Forum RIDM was also able to increase its support for Quebec projects this year through the TaCIC – Tremplin Territoires Grant, which was awarded to filmmakers Raphaëlle Ainsley-Vincent and Samuel Bellefleur, for their project Récits de maisons et de transhumance. The project will receive complete and in-depth support through its development, according to the release.

For the Doc Labs Montréal international feature documentary winners, the Parati Films Support went to Mujer Partera from Mexican filmmaker Valentina Ortega Backhoff and produced by Antonia Lema and Carlos Alberto Cuesy Díaz. The award offers translation services for French or English from Parati Films.

The EURODOC Mention, which offers a one-year membership to EURODOC along with a consultation, was awarded to El Lugar y la Esperanza from Cuban filmmaker Ariagna Fajardo Nuviola and produced by Julio Raúl Vega Garcés. The EURODOC Award, offering €700 in cash and a one-year membership to the organization, went to In the Shades of a Royal Palace by Egypt-based filmmaker Hend Bakr and produced by Tamer Nady for Cellar Door Studios.

Image courtesy of RIDM; photo by Camille Gladu-Drouin