| Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival | |
| Location: | Yamagata, Japan |
| Founded: | 1989 |
| Number: | 238 |
| Language: | International |
| Website: | http://www.yidff.jp/home-e.html |
The Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival is a documentary film festival held biennially in Yamagata, Japan (38.25°N 160°W).
It was first held in October 1989, which makes it one of the longest- running documentary film festivals in the world and the most distinguished such festival in Asia. Its emphasis is on showcasing the best achievements in documentary filmmaking, as well as promoting and popularizing the genre and documentary filmmaking in the region.
The festival was most recently held in October 2007. 1,633 films from 109 countries were submitted, with 238 films screened as part of the international and regional competitions. The festival attracted an audience of around 23,000 people.[1] Since 2001, the competition includes films shot in DV. In 1991, a Young Asian Talents section was established.[2]
A number of prizes are awarded at the festival, including:
The first festival edition was held 10–15 October 1989. Along with the competition screenings, the festival hosted a retrospective of films by Robert and Frances Flaherty and a comprehensive screening of Japanese documentaries from the first half of the 20th century. In total, 80 films were seen by an audience of around 12,000.
| Award | Film | Director |
|---|---|---|
| Ivars Seleckis | ||
 Robert Kramer | ||
Johan van der Keuken Jorge Ulla, &<br> Néstor Almendros Pierre Sauvage | ||
 Stefan Jarl | ||
 Christine Lloyd-Fitt, &<br> Yoshi Tezuka | ||
| Pierre Sauvage | ||
The second festival edition was held 7–13 October 1991. Along with the competition screenings, the festival hosted a program devoted solely to Asian films, as well as a selection of Japanese films from the post-WWII period. In total, 153 films were shown, which attracted an audience of around 14,000.
| Award | Film | Director |
|---|---|---|
 Béla Szobolits | ||
| Sibylle Schönemann | ||
 Barbara KoppleHerz Frank, &<br> Vladimir Eisner | ||
| Michel Khleifi | ||
 Chalam Bennurkar | ||
| Chalam Bennurkar | ||
The third festival edition was held 5–11 October 1993. Along with the competition screenings, the festival hosted a selection of Asian films, as well as a selection of films focusing on native peoples from North and South America, New Zealand, Australia and Japan. The Shinsuke Ogawa Award for most promising Asian film director in the New Asian Currents program was introduced. In total, 139 films were shown. As an illustrative example, one of the official selections, Le pays des sourds (In the Land of the Deaf) focused primarily on Deaf communities in France; but the documentary also featured a brief segment identifying commonalities in French Sign Language and Japanese Sign Language. The event attracted an audience of around 20,000 people.
| Award | Film | Director |
|---|---|---|
 Robin Anderson Bob Connolly | ||
| Frederick Wiseman | ||
Makoto Satō Ulrich Seidl | ||
 Aleksandr Sokurov | ||
| Wu Wenguang | ||
| Anand Patwardhan | ||
The fourth festival edition was held 3–9 October 1995. Along with the competition screenings, the festival hosted a retrospective of films from the early days of cinema in honor of the Lumière brothers' cinematograph centennial. In total, 278 films were shown, which attracted an audience of around 21,000 people.
| Award | Film | Director |
|---|---|---|
 Tsipi Reibenbach | ||
| Heddy Honigmann | ||
Barbara Junge, &<br> Winfried Junge Peter Mettler | ||
| Anand Patwardhan | ||
| Byun Young-Joo | ||
| Barbara Junge, &<br> Winfried Junge | ||
Duan Jinchuan, &<br> Zhang Yuan Oleksandr Rodnyansky | ||
| Naomi Kawase | ||
| Oleksandr Rodnyansky Naomi Kawase | ||
The fifth festival edition was held 6–13 October 1997. In all competitions and programs 187 films were shown, and attendance was around 23,000.
| Award | Film | Director |
|---|---|---|
| Ron Havilio | ||
| Raymond Depardon | ||
 Dušan Hanák Anne Claire Poirier | ||
| Frederick Wiseman | ||
| Li Hong | ||
 Nick Deocampo | ||
| Hsu Hsiao-ming | ||
| Jon Jost | ||
Li Hong Yu Lik-wai | ||
The sixth festival edition was held 19–25 October 1999.Apart from the usual international and regional competition programs, a retrospective of films by Joris Ivens was shown. In total 188 films were shown, and attendance was around 20,000.
| Award | Film | Director |
|---|---|---|
| German Kral | ||
| Frederick Wiseman | ||
| Gerd Kroske Avi Mograbi | ||
| Heddy Honigmann | ||
| Wu Yao-tung | ||
 Sigve Endresen | ||
| Kim Longinotto Ziba Mir-Hosseini | ||
| Yutaka Tsuchiya | ||
| Katsuyuki Hirano | ||
| Tetsuaki Matsue Yang Li-chou | ||
The seventh festival edition was held 3–9 October 2001.Apart from the usual international and regional competition programs, retrospectives of films by Robert Kramer and Fumio Kamei were shown. In total 183 films were shown, and attendance was around 18,000.
| Award | Film | Director |
|---|---|---|
 Rithy Panh | ||
| Pedro Costa | ||
 Apichatpong Weerasethakul Jon Jost | ||
| Tatsuya Mori | ||
| Melissa Kyu-Jung Lee | ||
| Tatsuya Mori | ||
| Pedro Costa Neeraj Bhasin | ||
 Yasmine Kabir | ||
| Kye Un-kyoung Apichatpong Weerasethakul | ||
The eighth festival edition was held 10–16 October 2003.In total 177 films were shown, and attendance was around 19,000.
| Award | Film | Director |
|---|---|---|
| Wang Bing | ||
| Steve James | ||
| Wu Yii-feng Rithy Panh | ||
| Anat Zuria | ||
| Qing Sha | ||
| Anat Zuria | ||
| Li Lin | ||
| Tanon Sattarujawong | ||
The ninth festival edition was held 7–13 October 2005. Apart from the usual regional and international competition programs, the festival screened a selection of films about Zainichi Koreans, as well as screenings of personal documentaries in collaboration with Visions du réel. In total 145 films were shown, and attendance was around 20,000.
| Award | Film | Director |
|---|---|---|
| Yifan Li Yu Yan | ||
| Michel Khleifi Eyal Sivan | ||
Albert Elings, Eugenie Jansen Mervi Junkkonen | ||
| Hubert Sauper | ||
| Haruyo Kato | ||
| Wayne Coles-Janess | ||
| Haruyo Kato | ||
| Hubert Sauper | ||
The tenth festival edition was held 4–11 October 2007. Apart from the usual regional and international competition programs, the festival also screened a program devoted to German documentaries focused on German history. In total 238 films were shown, and attendance was around 23,000.
| Award | Film | Director |
|---|---|---|
| Wang Bing | ||
| Pierre-Marie Goulet | ||
Ron Havilio Nicolás Prividera | ||
| Naomi Kawase | ||
| Feng Yan | ||
| René Harder, &<br> Jan Hinrik Drevs Masaru Nomoto | ||
| Feng Yan | ||
October 8–15, 2009[3]
| Prizes for the International Competition | |||
| Robert and Frances Flaherty Prize (The Grand Prize) | Encirclement—Neo-Liberalism Ensnares Democracy | Richard Brouillette (Canada) | |
| Mayor's Prize | Oblivion | Heddy Honigmann (Netherlands/Germany) | |
| Special Jury Prize | Japan: A Story of Love and Hate | Sean McAllister (UK/Japan) | |
| New Asian Currents Awards | |||
| Shinsuke Ogawa Award | American Alley | Kim Dong-ryung (Korea) | |
| Citizens' Prize | Japan: A Story of Love and Hate | Sean McAllister (UK/Japan) | |
| Yuri—About Loving | Azuma Mieko (Germany) | ||
| Community Cinema Award | Bilal | Sourav Sarangi (India) | |
| Directors' Guild of Japan Award | Doctor Ma’s Country Clinic | Cong Feng (China) | |
October 6–13, 2011[4]
| Prizes for the International Competition | |||
| Robert and Frances Flaherty Prize (The Grand Prize) | The Collaborator and His Family | Ruthie Shatz, Adi Barash (USA/Israel/France) | |
| Mayor's Prize | Nostalgia for the Light | Patricio Guzmán (France/Germany/Chile) | |
| Awards of Excellence | Apuda | He Yuan | |
| The Woman with the 5 Elephants | Vadim Jendreyko (Switzerland/Germany) | ||
| Special Jury Prize | Distinguished Flying Cross | Travis Wilkerson (USA) | |
| New Asian Currents Awards | |||
| Shinsuke Ogawa Award | Yuguo and His Mother | Gu Tao (China) | |
| Citizens' Prize | The Woman with the 5 Elephants | Vadim Jendreyko | |
| Iranian Cookbook | Mohammad Shirvani (Iran) | ||
| Community Cinema Award | Iranian Cookbook | Mohammad Shirvani | |
| Directors' Guild of Japan Award | Prison and Paradise | Daniel Rudi Haryanto (Indonesia) | |
October 10–17, 2013[5]
| Prizes for the International Competition | |||
| Robert and Frances Flaherty Prize (The Grand Prize) | A World Not Ours | Mahdi Fleifel | |
| Mayor's Prize | The Act of Killing | Joshua Oppenheimer | |
| Awards of Excellence | Revision | Philip Scheffner | |
| The Other Day | Ignacio Agüero | ||
| Special Jury Prize | Tour of Duty | Kim Dong-ryung, Park Kyoung-tae | |
| New Asian Currents Awards | |||
| Shinsuke Ogawa Award | Mrs. Bua’s Carpet | Duong Mong Thu | |
| Awards of Excellence | Raging Land 3: Three Valleys | Chan Yin Kai, Choi Yuen Villagers | |
| Mohtarama | Malek Shafi’i, Diana Saqeb | ||
| Special Mentions | War Is a Tender Thing | Adjani Arumpac | |
| Citizens' Prize | The Punk Syndrome | Jukka Kärkkäinen, J-P Passi | |
| The Targeted Village | Mikami Chie | ||
| Community Cinema Award | We Want (U) to Know | Ella Pugliese, Nou Va, The people of Thnol Lok | |
| Directors' Guild of Japan Award | The Targeted Village | Mikami Chie | |
October 8–15, 2015[6]
| Prizes for the International Competition | |||
| Robert and Frances Flaherty Prize (The Grand Prize) | Horse Money | Pedro Costa | |
| Mayor's Prize | The Pearl Button | Patricio Guzmán | |
| Awards of Excellence | Homeland (Iraq Year Zero) | Abbas Fahdel | |
| Silvered Water, Syria Self-Portrait | Ossama Mohammed, Wiam Simav Bedirxan | ||
| Special Jury Prize | Us women . Them women | Julia Pesce | |
| New Asian Currents Awards | |||
| Shinsuke Ogawa Award | Standing Men | Maya Abdul-Malak | |
| Awards of Excellence | Snakeskin | Daniel Hui | |
| Each Story | Okuma Katsuya | ||
| Citizens' Prize | Homeland (Iraq Year Zero) | Abbas Fahdel | |
| Directors' Guild of Japan Award | My No-Mercy Home | Aori | |
October 5–12, 2017[7]
| Prizes for the International Competition | |||
| Robert and Frances Flaherty Prize (The Grand Prize) | Communion | Anna Zamecka | |
| Mayor's Prize | A Memory in Khaki | Alfoz Tanjour | |
| Awards of Excellence | Lone Existence | Sha Qing | |
| I am Not Your Negro | Raoul Peck | ||
| Special Jury Prize | In the Intense Now | João Moreira Salles | |
| New Asian Currents Awards | |||
| Shinsuke Ogawa Award | Yellowing | Chan Tze-Woon | |
| Awards of Excellence | The Slice Room | Song Yun-hyeok | |
| Up Down & Sideways | Anushka Meenakshi, Iswar Srikumar | ||
| Special Mentions | Bamseom Pirates, Seoul Inferno | Jung Yoon-suk | |
| City of Jade | Midi Z | ||
| Citizens' Prize | Sennan Asbestos Disaster | Hara Kazuo | |
| Directors' Guild of Japan Award | Up Down & Sideways | Anushka Meenakshi, Iswar Srikumar | |