Dealing With Death wins IDFA Award

27 November 2020

Dealing With Death Best Dutch Documentary and Special Mention for Silence of the Tides at IDFA 2020

IDFA just announced it's winners for 2020. Dealing With Death, directed by Paul Sin Nam Rigter and produced by Witfilm, has won the IDFA award for Best Dutch Documentary. The film centers around funeral director Anita who learns about the many cultures in a suburb of Amsterdam, the more she learns however, the more she doubts her mission to build a multicultural funeral home.

From the jury report: "The Award for Best Dutch Documentary goes to a film that, in its construction as well as the quality of its narrative, takes us on a journey of initiation into the cultures of others in one of Holland's most diverse neighborhoods. Here the protagonist struggles to balance the needs of different communities with the corporate interests of the company she works for. Through parallel editing, a camera close to the protagonists, and solid cinematographic aesthetics, the filmmaker creates a strong, contemporary, and deeply human experience."

Pieter-Rim de Kroon received Special Mention from the IDFA jury for Silence of the Tides, produced by Windmill Film. The director of a.o. F.I.S.H.I.N.G (2013) and DUTCH LIGHT (2003), created a cinematic portrait of the largest tidal wetlands in the world, the Wadden Sea. The film plays witness to the rough yet fragile relationship between man and nature as it pulsates with the inhaling and exhaling of the tides.

From the jury report: "We give a special jury mention to a film that, without a conventional narrative, takes us onto a poetic exploration. A film that in its silence not only tells the story of time and nature, but also invites us into the realms of dedicated work, inherited faith, technological phenomena, and the circularity of all being.
Wonderfully shot, and with masterful editing and sound design, it achieves a deeply cinematic experience."
 

For further reading: 
-> Interview Paul Sin Nam Rigter and Pieter-Rim de Kroon: SEE NL Magazine Online, November 2020 / IDFA Doc issue 
-> Line-Up Dutch Docs At IDFA 2020 
-> Watch: Showreel Dutch Documentaries IDFA 2020