Winners of ARTDOCFEST/RIGA: Documentaries That Inspire

The ARTDOCFEST/RIGA international documentary film festival has announced the winners of its competitive programs. The Grand Prix was awarded to "Mission 200" by Ukrainian director Volodymyr Sydyk.

This was reported by the editor-in-chief of Ukrainska Pravda, Sevgi Musaieva, during the awards ceremony in Riga.

The documentary "Mission 200" tells the story of volunteer Tetiana Pototska-Yevchuk from Lutsk, who has been searching for and returning the bodies of fallen Ukrainian soldiers to their families since the onset of the full-scale war.

"Like the mythological Charon, who ferries souls to the other side of the Styx river, she transports the bodies of fallen warriors, traveling thousands of kilometers without rest, helping those who have finished their struggle in this world find their final peace," the festival organizers stated.

The award for best directing was given to Ukrainian directors Tetiana Doronitsyna and Andriy Lytvynenko for the film "Everything Must Live", which tells the story of a woman who helps injured and abandoned animals during the war.

A special jury prize was awarded to the film "Close Ones", about Russian businessman Dmytro Zimin. The film "Return of the Cinematographer" by Orkhan Agazade received a special mention from the jury.

The jury of the ARTDOCFEST/RIGA festival included Ivars Seletski (Latvia), Kristina Kamdesus (France), and Sevgi Musaieva (Ukraine).

Other Ukrainian films were also featured in the competition program:

• "Father's Lullaby" from a Ukrainian-Romanian-Croatian team directed by Lesia Dyak;
• "Dear Beautiful Beloved" from Austrian director Yuri Rechynskyi;
• "In Limbo" by Ukrainian director Alina Maksimenko from Poland.

The ARTDOCFEST international documentary festival was founded in 2007 in Russia. Following the onset of the war with Ukraine in 2014, the competitive program was showcased in Riga for the first time. In 2018, all competition and jury activities were moved to Latvia.