The Silver Eye Award has been granted annually since 2009 to the best East and Central European documentary films. Since 2018 the award goes to the best short (up to 40 min) and feature documentary film (over 60 mins), selected from the nominated films, approx. 11 in each category. The aim of the award is to support directors with innovative approach, authors of films that create social impact, filmmakers, who has the courage to open discussion on serious topics, and creators offering unique point of view.
The final decisions are in the hands international juries of film industry professionals, who are picked up for their experience in documentary filmmaking. In 2019, the Award will be again announced at Ji.hlava IDFF.
Evaluation by the juries consisting of sales agents, distributors, alternative distribution channels, VoD and festival representatives brings a strategic advantage to all nominated films, gaining them an excellent opportunity to increase their chances of being distributed across various platforms. The winner in each category receives not only a unique award trophy, but also a prize money of 2 500 €, a year-long festival service of the East Silver Caravan worth of additional 2 500 €.
The nominated films are selected by the IDF committee based on the submissions to the East Silver 2019.
Silver Eye Award 2019 nominees – feature length documentaries:
When the Persimmons Grew (dir. Hilal Baydarov, Azerbaijan, Austria, 2019)
Movements of a Nearby Mountain (dir. Sebastian Brameshuber, Austria, France, 2019)
Spoon (dir. Laila Pakalniņa, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, 2019)
Hungary 2018 (dir. Eszter Hajdú, Hungary, Portugal, 2018)
The Wind. A Documentary Thriller (dir. Michał Bielawski, Poland, Slovakia, 2019)
Transnistra (dir. Anna Eborn, Sweden, 2019)
Come with Us (dir. Mihai Dragolea, Romania, 2019)
Over the Hills (dir. Martin Mareček, Czech Republic, 2019)
A Year Full of Drama (dir. Marta Pulk, Estonia, 2019)
Telenovela: Grey-Scale in Color (dir. Filip Martinovic, Serbia, Spain, 2019)
Feature length documentaries jury:
Heleen Gerritsen (goEast, Germany)
Karin Rywkind Segal (Docaviv, Israel)
Luisa Schwamborn (New Docs, Germany)
Silver Eye 2019 nominees - short documentaries:
Infinity is 50 Meters Away (dir. Daniel Światły, Poland, 2018)
Terraria (dir. Hanna Hovitie, Hungary, 2019)
The Day After the Afternoon (dir. Khosro Khosravi, Hungary, 2018)
Currents (dir. Katerina Duda, Croatia, 2019)
Wild Berries (dir. Marianna Vas, Hedda Bednarszky, Romania, Portugal, Hungary, 2018)
Blue Frontier (dir. Ivan Milosavljević, Serbia, Slovenia, 2019)
The Tough (dir. Marcin Polar, Poland, 2019)
Pripyat Piano (dir. Eliška Cílková, Czech Republic, 2019)
Waiting for a Miracle (dir. Aljona Surzhikova, Estonia, 2019)
Boundaries (dir. Yuliya Shatun, Belarus, 2019)
Then Comes the Evening (dir. Maja Novaković, Serbia, 2019)
Short documentaries jury:
Ingrid Beerbaum (International Short Film Festival "interfilm", Germany)
Laurence Boyce (PÖFF, Estonia)
Matt Lloyd (Glasgow Short Film Festival, United Kingdom)
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