Activists Without Borders Film Festival 2023
Activists Without Borders Film Festival 2023 – Award Winners
| Award | Film | Country | Director | Logline | Cover |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best Experimental Film | IMAGINE Y | United Kingdom | Daniel Samray | A short film about why Black lives should not only matter when black men and women are killed by a white person but also when black on black killings. |  |
| Best Short Documentary | Cut Short: Fighting Against Knives in the North | United Kingdom | Owen Seabrook | A short documentary from Leeds, following a mother and a young man irreversibly changed by knives as they explore the causes and consequences of knife culture for today’s youth. |  |
| Best Feature Documentary | Sarura. The future is an unknown place | Italy | Nicola Zambelli | At the gates of the Negev desert young Palestinians fight through videocameras and nonviolent actions the Israeli military occupation, taking back the lands stolen from their families. |  |
| Best Short Drama | Birth of a Mind | United States | Daren D. Dien | “Birth of a Mind” delves into the struggle of innocent young minds confronting negative beliefs instilled by their parents. |  |
| Best Animated Film | Unstoppable Beat | United Kingdom | Dr Benjamin Worku-Dix (Pr) | The film tells the story of a Haitian migrant in Brazil fighting for his rights to work, buy a house and most importantly, reunite with his family from Haiti. |  |
Social Impact Awards 2023
| Film Title | Country | Directors |
|---|---|---|
| Si Se Puede! – Trade Union Action in Colombia | Belgium | Pieter De Vos |
| At night you become a mother | Netherlands | Julia Roeselers |
| Be My Guest | Israel | Sivan Elashvili |
| Bending the Arc: Origins | United States | Pam Powell |
| Beyond a place | Germany | Nicola Schwartz |
| Breaking Barz | No Dogs – No Blacks – No Irish | United Kingdom | Baazir Kaleelur Rahman |
| Comrade Poopy | Myanmar | M |
| Conflict | United States | Chozy Aiyub, Malik J Ali |
| Death in Jenin | United States | Chris Giamo |
| EMTEZAJ | Iran, Islamic Republic of | HOSSEIN VADIZADEH |
| Feeling the Apocalypse | Canada | Chen Sing Yap |
| Flutter | Ireland | Shane W. Brennan |
| Guanches of the Sea: The pilot whales of Tenerife | Not Specified | Lorimer Macandrew, Iro Tsarmpopoulou-Fokianou |
| I am Kanaka | United Kingdom | Genevieve Sulway |
| Interbeing | United Kingdom | Nicoleta Carpineanu |
| It’ll Never Catch On: The Veganuary Story | United Kingdom | Andrew Jolly |
| Jelena’s Story | United Kingdom | Helena van Kampen |
| Land of Upright People | Italy | Christian Carmosino Mereu |
| LEAKS | France | Alain Declercq |
| Let’s Do a Miracle: The Story of Elissa Montanti and the Global Medical Relief Fund | United States | Michael McKinley |
| Levi: Becoming Himself | Canada | Shannon Kaplun |
| MANDILAKHE – LET ME BUILD | South Africa | Adrian Madikisa, Wonga Lucas |
| Pedigree | United States | Brittney S. Harris, Russ Fulmore |
| Ramen Day | United States | Corey Hendrickson |
| Release | Iran, Islamic Republic of | Sasan Behroozian |
| Saving the Lungs of London | United Kingdom | Kingsley Obaseki |
| Sing Sings – Keepers of the culture | Australia | Mateo Arango Guerrero |
| Storming Caesars Palace | United States | Hazel Gurland-Pooler |
| Straight from the Pen | United States | Paul Sutton, Lori Sutton |
| System Change – A story of growing resistance | Germany | Klaus Sparwasser |
| The Apple | United Kingdom | Mayank Sharma |
| The Art of Hope | Canada | David Rouben |
| The Choice | United Kingdom | Eve Turner |
| The Engine Inside | Canada | Darcy Wittenburg, Darren McCullough, Colin Jones, Anthill Films |
| The Strong Man of Bureng | Italy | Mauro Bucci |
| Trees | United Kingdom | Mian Rahman |
| Tula Lives! | Netherlands | Thijs Borsten, Rens Polman |
| Voices of Reentry | United States | Nomi Sofer |
| We are the Earth | France | Zoé Rose |
| WHERE HAVE ALL THE SMILES GONE | Nepal | ANJA STRELEC |
| With my own hands | Brazil | José Francisco Tapajós |
Honourable Mentions & Honorary Award for Efforts in Social Filmmaking 2023
| Film Title | Country | Directors |
|---|---|---|
| Across the Border | United Kingdom | Klaudia Dóra Csikós |
| Behind the Glass Wall | Poland | Gloria Kurnik |
| Bicycle Island (A donde nos lleva) | United States | Mitra Elena Ghaffari |
| Careseekers | Italy | Teresa Sala |
| Case Notes | United States | Sebastian Rogers |
| CIRERERS PICTURES OF A CONSTRUCTION | Spain | Santiago Gonzalez Pla, Valeria Ormaechea Otalora |
| Collective Resistance | Canada | Isak Vaillancourt |
| Come Back | Russian Federation | Roman Duneshenko |
| Cow In A Stall (On Antibiotics) | United Kingdom | Jay Dixon |
| Frogs in a Pan | Australia | Greg Barnett |
| FULL STOP | Sweden | Hugo Lindström |
| Heal the disconnect | United States | Daniel E Kennedy |
| In Our Lifetime: The UK Citizens’ Jury on Human Embryo Editing | United Kingdom | Mark Downes, Anna Middleton |
| Invisible World | United States | Kym McDaniel |
| Just One Minute | Brazil | Wagner Cinelli |
| Kelly Street Garden | United States | Matthew Kohn |
| LA LIXEIRA – the invisibles’ dignity | Italy, Mozambique | GUIDO GALANTE, ANTONIO NOTARANGELO |
| Leaning Into the Lens | Canada | Kathleen Cummins, Maureen McKeon |
| Longing for Iran: The Tehran Diary | United Kingdom | Farouq Mohime |
| Lydia: Drawing a connection | United Kingdom | Sally Assor |
| MANDILAKHE – LET ME BUILD | South Africa | Adrian Madikisa, Wonga Lucas |
| Mark Cook: Inside and Out | United States | Janet Stanton |
| Matryoshka | Cuba | Joseph Ros |
| Meritocracy-A True Fiction | India | Samanya Gandavarapu |
| PADDLE TRIBAL WATERS | United States | Paul Robert Wolf Wilson, Rush Sturges |
| Paper Prayers | Japan | Carolyn Robertson |
| Polinizadorxs | Mexico | Lilia Torres |
| PRIMA NOI (Us First) | Italy | Benjamin Jr. Vasquez Barcellano |
| PUT YOURSELF IN MY SHOES | Germany | Johanna Sofia Kausch |
| Release | Iran, Islamic Republic of | Sasan Behroozian |
| Rich Appetites | Africa | Theo Calhoun |
| Santa Claus | Spain | Jesús Eguía Armenteros |
| Speak | Netherlands | Lisa Frey, Marit van der Heijden |
| Thank you for your souvenir, UK! | United Kingdom | Oushi Lin |
| The Bee – A Reflection on Women, Land, and Occupation. | Puerto Rico | Nelson Varas-Díaz |
| The Choice: a fable | Not Specified | Laura Lewis-Barr |
| THE HOLE IN THE SOCK. | Poland | Michal Lebski |
| The Moral Compass | Netherlands | Silvie Wolff |
| THE NURSE PRACTITIONER | Netherlands | Gwen Jansen |
| The Planting Of A Seed | United Kingdom | Joseff Morgan |
| The Renegade Legacy of Bleecker and MacDougal | United States | karen kramer |
| The Terminal Man | Norway | Brita Sørli Jærnes |
| Unsettled | Australia | Katrina Channells |
