WINNERS AND HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOVA FRONTIER FILM FESTIVAL 2020 VIRTUAL FESTIVAL
The Annual Nova Frontier Film Festival went virtual for 2020! It took place on June 11th to June 14th and culminated on a high with a global panel and performances by spoken word artists, Jessica Care Moore, reading from her new book, We Want Our Bodies Back, and performances from Roberta Estrela D’alva from Brazil, one of the directors of Slam: Sworded Words. She was accomanied by Lucas Afonso, a poet, MC, art educator, champion of National Slam Brazil, and representative of Brazil at the World Cup of Poetry in France in 2016.
Amid two pandemics, and the global scenario of the film industry grappling with how to adapt to the times, NFFF was able to quickly mobilize our resources, partnering with Laurel Channel, a streaming platform to bring the 2020 edition completely free of charge to our audiences, while continuing to support our filmmakers and communities. This was also made possible through our partnership with The Billie Holiday Theatre, who hosted all our panels. “During these unprecedented times in our global society which has severely affected communities of color underscoring systemic inequities, we as leaders in the arts decided to come together to find fresh and unique ways to allow important stories to be told,” said Dr. Indira Etwaroo, executive director of The Billie Holiday Theatre. “We all feel deeply that these perspectives- which celebrate our diverse experiences and human connectedness – needed to be shared, particularly now!”
Despite the pandemic and the geographical distance that separated our filmmakers and audiences, we learned that we can make the inaccessible, accessible, and what we did in this scenario is create the conditions and space for filmmakers and audience to meet, debate, share experiences to bring us together in virtual rooms and time zones. This is the core of what Nova Frontier Film Festival’s mission is about— to break down geographical barriers and ideological divides; create new frontiers through exceptional stories, praxis, and the arts.
Our 2020 winners was also a global and diverse group, whose films attempt to encapsulate the complexity of the world— a referendum on the times.
BEST SHORT FILM ( WE HAD A TIE)
Director Riad Bouchoucha - France (2019)
Narrative - 29 MIN
Salim comes to meditate near his mother’s body. But very quickly, between religious customs which he does not understand and the incessant comings and goings of people who are unknown to him; the young man feels uncomfortable in the small family apartment. When Imad arrives as a prodigal brother, it’s too much for Salim to handle.
Director Josza Anjembe - France (2019)
Narrative - 20 MIN
Issa, 20 years old, is about to get out of jail, when he meets Gaetan, a young inmate who has not served his sentence yet…
BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM
Director Randa Maroufi - Spain/Morocco (2019)
Documentary - 20 MIN
”Bab Sebta” (or Ceuta's Gate) is a series of reconstructions of diverse situations observed in Sebta/Ceuta, a Spanish enclave in the north of Morocco. The border of Bab Sebta is the scene of a traffic of manufactured goods, sold at discounted prices. Thousands of people cross this border every day, carrying enormous packages of goods. In the film, we watch this "ballet" of individuals around the border, and witness the dynamics of movement, the plastic and visual appearance of the passage, the characteristic situations of waiting and the redundancy of gestures.
BEST DOCUMENTRAY SHORT
Director Rendah Haj - Australia/Ethopia (2019)
Documentary - 14 MIN
Rahma, a single mother of four, encourages her children to maintain a strong sense of family, faith and cultural identity. This inevitbly is contrasted with the difficulties and disconnect she faces as a migrant and Muslim living in Melbourne.
BEST ACTOR — MOHAMMED SADI
Director Foued Mansour - France (2018)
Narrative - 30:00 MIN
One day Ahmed, employed at the public baths and nearing retirement, encounters Mike, a teenager adrift. Between the bath house walls, in a place on the point of disappearing, a strange relationship will develop between these two fractured souls.
BEST FEATURE DOCUMENTARY
Director Morgane Wirtz - Belgium/Africa (2019)
Narrative - 52 MIN
In Agadez, a city of Niger on the outskirts of the Sahara, migrants on the road to Europe cross paths with others who fled Libya or have been expelled from Algeria. We spent several days with them as well as with a smuggler. They told us about their hopes, their dreams, their difficulties. Sometimes they play, they cook or they dance: they are human beings.
SPECIAL MENTION
Directors Tatiana Lohman and Roberta Estrela D’alva - Brazil (2019)
Documentray - 1:35:00 MIN
The same scene with different facets in Chicago, NYC, Paris and São Paulo: the poetry slams, poetry performance battles established as encounters that instigate creativity and diversity and defy the conservative wave in politics as Agoras for expression and free thinking. In Brazil, the poet Luz Ribeiro wins the national championship and goes to the Poetry Slam World Cup in Paris, representing the new black and feminist standpoint that has been gaining momentum through the poetic virulence of the politicized word.
NYWIFT OUTSTANDING FEMALE CONTENT CREATOR AWARD - IDIL IBRAHIM
Director Idil Ibrahim - Senegal/USA (2018)
Narrative - 24 MIN
When his efforts to reach Europe prove unsuccessful, Sega is thrust back to Dakar where he must now confront his family and friends and navigate his disappointment as well.