Encounters Announces 2024 Award-Winners

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Encounters South African International Documentary Festival has announced the award-winners of its 2024 edition which took place in Cape Town and Johannesburg from 20 to 30 June.

Encounters Adiaha Award (in collaboration with the Ladima Foundation): Judges in this category were South African Producer Carolyn Carew, Cameroonian Filmmaker Cyrielle Raingou, and Zimbabwean film and New Media Content Producer Siza Mukwedini.

The filmmakers receive $2,000 towards their next production and an invitation to attend DOK.fest München, Germany.

The jury citation said: “This documentary is beautifully heartbreaking. The dazzling camera slowly invites us on a journey of discovering amazing people who fought for their freedom, their land, and are still paying the high price today. (It) digs deeper into the past in order to challenge the narrative and fight for a better future for the forgotten.”

This film is beautifully heartbreaking. The dazzling camera slowly invites us on a journey of discovering amazing people who fought for their freedom, their land, and are still paying the high price today.

The combination of archive materials, the very sensitive topic of colonialism and its aftermath on the people, dispossessed from their land, reveal the horrific hidden history of Kenya and how it can keep the victims in a perpetual state of imprisonment. 


Encounters Al Jazeera Awards for Best African Documentary: Judges in this category were sales agent Berry Hahn, Programs, Partnerships and Fundraising Manager, Susan Mbogo and film and culture critic Wilfred Okiche. 


Encounters Al Jazeera Awards for Best International Documentary: Judges in this category were producer Nothando ‘Thando’ Shozi-Malanga, writer and art director Peter Machen, and screenwriter and producer Sean Drummond.