Winners of Cinema for Peace Awards 2021 & 2022
Including films on Alexei Navalny, Jamal Khashoggi, David Attenborough, and Iranian women’s rights activist Nasrin Sotoudeh; by filmmakers such as Ai Weiwei, Jasmila Žbanić, and Bryan Fogel.
Berlin - Cinema for Peace Foundation hereby releases the winners of the Cinema for Peace Awards for the years 2021 and 2022.
As the Cinema for Peace Galas 2021 and 2022 could not take place due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and in solidarity with victims of war in Ukraine, the Cinema for Peace Foundation has been gearing up to organize a special awards ceremony in Kyiv on the 19th of November, commemorating the beginning of Euromaidan. However, due to the recent bombing in Kyiv, and prevalent security concerns, the foundation has decided to announce the award winners online and invite winners to a Ukraine solidarity event “Hollywood Stands with Ukraine” in Los Angeles, on the 8th of January 2023 and the next Cinema for Peace Gala in Berlin on the 24th of February 2023.
The Cinema for Peace awards are presented annually at the Cinema for Peace Gala to the most valuable films of each year whose work has served to cast a focus on the human condition and values, as well as aim to tackle the perception and resolution of global social, political, and humanitarian challenges of our time. The awards include seven categories, including a new category introduced in 2021, called ‘Cinema for Peace Award on Global Health’, inspired by the huge impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on social justice, poverty, and health.
The winner of The Cinema for Peace Award for The Most Valuable Film of the Year 2021 is Quo Vadis, Aida?, a story of an English teacher and translator in Srebrenica who tries to save her family from invading Serbian forces. The Cinema for Peace Award for The Most Valuable Documentary of the Year 2021 goes to two films - Welcome to Chechnya, which exposes the government-directed detention, torture, and execution of LGBTQ Chechens, and The Mole: Undercover in North Korea, a real-life 10-year undercover mission in North Korea. The film Mayor, a look into the life of Mayor Musa Hadid of the Palestinian city of Ramallah wins The Cinema for Peace Award for The Political Film of the Year 2021, and The Dissident, investigating the murder of Jamal Khashoggi wins The Cinema for Peace Award for Justice 2021. The Cinema for Peace Award for Women’s Empowerment 2021 goes to Nasrin, a portrait of political prisoner Nasrin Sotoudeh and the Iranian women's rights movement. David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet, on the monumental scale of humanity's impact on nature wins The International Green Film Award 2021. The first edition of the new award category The Cinema for Peace Award on Global Health 2021 goes to Coronation, documenting the aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan.
The Cinema for Peace Award for The Most Valuable Film of the Year 2022 goes to CODA, a CODA’s (child of Deaf Adults) story as the only hearing member of a deaf family and The Cinema for Peace Award for The Most Valuable Documentary of the Year 2022 goes to Flee, an animated documentary on the life of an Afghan refugee in Europe under false pretenses. The Cinema for Peace Award for The Political Film of the Year 2022 goes to three films - Not Going Quietly, a documentary following Ady Barkan embarking on a national campaign for healthcare reform while being diagnosed with ALS; Courage, following the peaceful mass protests after the 2020 presidential elections in Belarus; The Caviar Connection, on corruption among the ruling families of Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan. The Winner of The Cinema for Peace Award for Justice 2022 is Navalny, detailing the 2020 assassination attempt of Alexei Navalny; and the winner of The Cinema for Peace Award for Women’s Empowerment 2022 is Writing with Fire, on India's only newspaper run by Dalit women. The International Green Film Award 2022 also has multiple winners - Milked, on the alarming impact of New Zealand's multi-billion-dollar dairy industry on the environment and public health; as well as Eating Our Way to Extinction, presenting comprehensive science-based solutions to the most pressing environmental and health issues of our time. The Cinema for Peace Award on Global Health 2022 goes to Introducing, Selma Blair, following Selma Blair adapting to new ways of living after revealing her multiple sclerosis diagnosis.
The award winners are selected by former nominees and honorees as well as the Cinema for Peace Jury which consists of more than 100 filmmakers, 150 film journalists, members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Oscars), and Hollywood Foreign Press Association (Golden Globes), NGO and CSO representatives, as well as selected members of the Cinema for Peace Foundation. Notable jury members in the past years include personalities such as the founder of Participant Media Jeff Skoll, president of Plan B Entertainment Dede Gardner, and Co-Founder of Sony Pictures Classics Michael Barker.
The Cinema for Peace Award winners of the year 2021:
The Cinema for Peace Award for The Most Valuable Film of the Year 2021:
Quo Vadis Aida? directed by Jasmila ZbanicThe Cinema for Peace Award for The Most Valuable Documentary of the Year 2021:
Welcome to Chechnya directed by David France
The Mole: Undercover in North Korea by Mads BrüggerThe Cinema for Peace Award for The Political Film of the Year 2021:
Mayor directed by David OsitThe Cinema for Peace Award for Justice 2021:
The Dissident directed by Bryan FogelThe Cinema for Peace Award for Women’s Empowerment 2021:
Nasrin directed by Jeff KaufmanThe International Green Film Award 2021:
David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet directed by Alastair Fothergill, Jonnie Hughes, and Keith ScholeyThe Cinema for Peace Award on Global Health 2021:
Coronation directed by Ai Weiwei
The Cinema for Peace Award winners of the year 2022:
The Cinema for Peace Award for The Most Valuable Film of the Year 2022:
CODA directed by Sian HederThe Cinema for Peace Award for The Most Valuable Documentary of the Year 2022:
Flee directed by Jonas Poher RasmussenThe Cinema for Peace Award for The Political Film of the Year 2022:
Not Going Quietly directed by Nicholas Bruckman;
Courage directed by Aliaksei Paluyan; and
The Caviar Connection directed by Benoit BringerThe Cinema for Peace Award for Justice 2022:
Navalny directed by Daniel RoherThe Cinema for Peace Award for Women’s Empowerment 2022:
Writing with Fire directed by Sushmit Ghosh, Rintu ThomasThe International Green Film Award 2022:
Milked directed by Amy Taylor;
Eating Our Way to Extinction directed by Ludo Brockway, Otto BrockwayThe Cinema for Peace Award on Global Health 2022:
Introducing, Selma Blair directed by Rachel Fleit
About Cinema for Peace Gala: The Cinema for Peace Gala started after 9/11 in Berlin as an annual platform for valuable films and as a fundraising event that supports humanitarian projects all over the world for a variety of causes, ranging from UN programs to protecting democracy and human rights defenders. Beneficiaries include UNICEF, UN Women, UNHCR, Sean Penn’s work in Haiti, Ben Affleck’s Eastern Congo initiative and Charlize Theron’s Africa Outreach Project. Past Cinema for Peace Galas took place in Berlin, New York, Los Angeles, London, Cannes, Kampala, and Johannesburg, among others. The Gala has supported a number of important causes with help of artists like Angelina Jolie, Charlize Theron, Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Sean Penn, Nicole Kidman, and personalities such as Muhammad Ali, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Mikhail Gorbachev, and the former Honorary Patron Nelson Mandela.
About Cinema for Peace Foundation: The nonprofit organization Cinema for Peace Foundation was founded in 2008. The foundation supports humanitarian film projects and has run initiatives including over 500 film screenings in politically and socially relevant areas, human rights campaigns, support for filmmakers, community outreach projects, and peacebuilding activities. The foundation has regularly partnered with organizations like Amnesty International, Greenpeace, Human Rights Watch, United Nations programs, and the International Criminal Court.