Awards of the 8th Golden Tree International Documentary Film Festival

Three days of festival and 47 films to tell the world

The 2024 edition of the Golden Tree International Documentary Film Festival opened Thursday, November 7 with the screening at the Club de l'Etoile of Ashley Sabin and David Redmon's film "Kim's video".

For three days, the screenings were divided between the Grand Rex and the B&B Hôtel Paris 17 Batignolles under the eyes of the jury chaired by the French producer Nicolas Deschamps and composed of the Indian director Deepika Suseelan, the Korean producer Bae Yoonho, the Congolese director Monique Mbeka and Marc Obéron, founder of the Cinema For Change festival.

The program included "LAGUNARIA" by Italian director Giovanni Pellegrini, "Guranay" by Chinese director A Gu, "Sacrificial Rites of Fire" by DaoLongjiang, "From afar, every mountain range is blue" by Brazilian director Neto Borges and “Maryam” by Iranian director Elnaz Zhalehchin.

According to director and screenwriter Frédéric Auburtin, guest of honor of the festival: "This 8th GTDFF has the merit of discovering and highlighting the work of passionate and exciting filmmakers. Thanks to a reinvented narrative and new inspired talents, the emotion happily crosses the bridge between fiction and documentary".


Between roots and gateways 

The 8th Golden Tree International Documentary Film Festival had the theme “Root of Culture – Bridge”, with the ambition to explore the singularities specific to the identity of each human group while celebrating the constant exchanges between different cultures and civilizations.

“Golden Tree aims to record and reveal the cultural roots of different nations through the cameras held by filmmakers, strengthen mutual understanding and respect, and build a platform for communication and cooperation among documentary filmmakers,” says Wang Libin , President of the festival.
 

Nicolas Deschamps, Zaynê Akyol, Arshia Shakiba and Marc Obéron 

The prize list 

The jury revealed the winners of the 8th edition of the Golden Tree International Documentary Film Festival during the closing evening, which was held on November 9 at the Club de l'Etoile. The winners are: 

• Golden Tree Award: “Rojek”, by Zaynê Akyol (Canada)  
• Best feature documentary: “Alone”, by Jafar Najafi (Iran)  
• Best medium-length documentary: “Maryam”, by Elnaz Zhalehchin (Iran)  
• Best documentary short film: “Will You Look at Me”, by Shuli Huang (China) 
• Best director: “Les Chenilles”, by Michelle and Noel Keserwany (France)  
• Best cinematography: “Rojek”, by Zaynê Akyol (Canada)

Furthermore, a selection committee composed of Dalil Belkhoudir, Laurence Koe, Irina Khangoshvili, Priscilla Frey, and Carlos Sargedas selected the three best projects as part of the Golden Tree International Documentary Film Festival: 

1. “The Naked Truth”, by Yessica Hurtado Martinez (Spain) 
2. “Living in China”, by Qin Xiaoyue (China) 
3. “Ni A Yong”, by Gao Longjiang (China)

Finally, two projects received a special mention:

1 “Come On! Girls!”, by Liu Yitong (China)  
2 “More than Statistics”, by Borislav Banjac (Bosnia Herzegovina)

The jury and winners of the 8th edition of the Golden Tree International Documentary Film Festival

About GTIDFF – “Limited Nations, Endless Culture”

Founded in 2016, the Golden Tree International Documentary Film Festival (GTIDFF), is held alternately each year in Paris and Frankfurt. It aims to highlight human realities rooted in their land as in their time, using the lens of the camera as a revealer of cultural singularities, in order to promote exchanges and mutual learning.

With the support of experts and academics from around the world, the GTIDFF has become, through the organization of exhibitions, shows, forums and the development of investment and exchange mechanisms, the bridge connecting the industry Eastern and Western documentary film.

Furthermore, GTIDFF strives to provide a platform for communication and exchange between directors and producers around the world in order to promote innovation and development of the global documentary industry.

More information: www.goldentreefestival.com

Press contact

Xin Wang
Golden Tree Festival
Email: xinwang@drunkendragon.cn