Winners & Special Mentions: Berlin Lift-Off Film Festival 2023

We express our utmost gratitude to all the filmmakers who participated in the 2023 Berlin Lift-Off Film Festival. It has been an exhilarating experience to witness an overwhelming number of filmmakers taking part and the tremendous global support for authentic independent cinema.

After meticulous scrutiny, the judges' evaluations have been combined with the audience's feedback. We extend our warmest congratulations to the filmmakers who graced our screens! In particular, we commend the following films for their exceptional contribution...

We are thrilled to announce the winners of the Berlin Lift-Off Film Festival in their respective categories! Huge congratulations to all the winners!

MOTHER OF APOSTLES

Dir. Zaza Buadze
Synopsis:In 2014, Sofia's peaceful life was invaded by the war, when she received a news informing her that the humanitarian plane that her son was flying was shot down over the occupied territory, where there is war.
After receiving an unsatisfactory response from the military regarding her son's life, she packs a small suitcase and travels to the occupied territory, to find her son.
Sofia understands the danger, however is determined to find her son. While traveling by bus, at the border, she gets saved from the militants by a local resident - Fedir.

Short Listed for Best Feature Narrative

To stage the music - Heiner Goebbels

Dir. Giulio Boato
Synopsis: Story of a composer for whom an orchestra is not enough.
Three years with Heiner Goebbels, to tell the story of his half-century-long career through his latest symphonic work.
What holds together a Bach fugue, a road sign used as a gong, a text by Samuel Beckett and the voices of two Georgian prisoners from 1916? Heiner Goebbels is an eclectic composer, impossible to define according to the definitions of XX century’s music and art. He uses space, objects, bodies and ethnographic recordings as musical instruments. In his fifty-year career he has experimented with everything: from rock bands to opera directing, starting with “Bella Ciao” to arrive at “A House of Call”, his latest creation and a synthesis of his career. The film goes through the three-year creation of this particular symphonic work, from the first meeting with the conductor to its debut at Berlin Philharmonic.

Short Listed for Best Documentary

Yearbook

Dir. David Cano
Synopsis: The Danish yearbook, is a book full of memories, where all the students from each grade write small biographies, anecdotes, hook-ups, etc about eachother.

Short Listed for Best Acting ensemble

MATKA / POLKA [MOTHER / POLE]

Dir. Joanna Suchomska
Synopsis: MATKA / POLKA [MOTHER / POLE] is a meditation on what it means to be a woman in today’s Polish society. As a collection of stories – all verbatim – from waiting rooms, gynaecology chairs, abortion clinics, and bedrooms, the documentary bears witness to everyday acts of patriarchy and systemic violence. Adopting a poetic visual language, MATKA / POLKA breaks the taboo around the experiences, emotions and identity of Polish women who have faced the country's strict reproductive policy and social prejudices to make decisions about their own life and body.

Short Listed for Best Short Documentary

The Lift-Off Season Awards is an annual event that celebrates the very best of indie film. Following each Lift-Off film festival, films that have excelled in their respective category are short listed for a Season Awards Nomination.  At the end of the year, once all the 12 city-based festival have taken place, the shortlisted nominated films are reviewed again by the jury and Official Nominations are designated.  Click here for more information about the Lift-Off Season Awards.

After the Flood: The Church, Slavery, and Reconciliation

Dir. Sheila Marshall
Synopsis:"How the church came to justify slavery, its consequences and how, we can move on from those legacies."

Short Listed for Best Feature Documentary

One Last Wish

Dir. Galia Osmo
Synopsis: The Fisherman and the Fish folk tale comes to life, in a bitter-sweet animation. A lonely fisherman has a magical goldfish, who granted him three wishes. He already used two wishes to help others in need. Now he is facing a grave decision; after accidentally killing a stranger, he has to choose whether to keep his last wish and stay a murderer. Or to use it to save a stranger's life, but in doing so he will lose the only thing that truly matters, his friend.

Short Listed for Best Animation

The Air You Breathe

Dirs. Sara Lucia Birceño, Leonardo Jurado
Synopsis: The air you breathe is inspired by those couple conversations in which there is nothing left but the breakup. Between disagreements, fights and wounds we try to rebuild memories that are no longer common between two people. It is a reflection on love that can no longer be decided by one party.

Short Listed for Best Music Video

L'amour en jachère

Dir. Tim Bouvette
Synopsis: The music video opens with a couple of women who wake up in a room that we discover gradually installed in the middle of the remains of an abandoned factory. The couple then carry out their daily activities, observed by the singer who tells their story through her performance. The actions take part in a series of exterior 'non-places', natural or dilapidated, where the rooms of a dwelling have been recreated by the dreamlike staging.

Short Listed for Best Music Video

A Matter of Time

Dir. Yang Liu
Synopsis: The music video opens with a couple of women who wake up in a room that we discover gradually installed in the middle of the remains of an abandoned factory. The couple then carry out their daily activities, observed by the singer who tells their story through her performance. The actions take part in a series of exterior 'non-places', natural or dilapidated, where the rooms of a dwelling have been recreated by the dreamlike staging.

Short Listed for Best Cinematograpghy

The Audience Choice award is given to the filmmakers whose film received the most votes during the festival. The filmmakers will be invited to join us on the Lift-Off YouTube channel for a directors commentary roundtable. Join in the conversation as we delve deeper into each film.