# Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival

The Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival is a documentary film festival held biennially in Yamagata, Japan (38°15′N 140°20′E﻿ / ﻿38.250°N 140.333°E﻿ / 38.250; 140.333 ).
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 2023. 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. Since 2001, the competition includes films shot in DV. In 1991, a Young Asian Talents section was established.

## Awards

A number of prizes are awarded at the festival, including:
* For films in the international competition:
** Robert and Frances Flaherty Prize (The Grand Prize)
** Mayor's Prize (Prize of Excellence)
** Special Jury Prize
** Runner-up Prize
* For films in the regional competition:
** Shinsuke Ogawa Award, for new up-and-coming Asian filmmakers
* Overall:
** Citizens' Prize, voted for by the festival audiences

## Award winners
### 1989 YIDFF

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 |
| Robert and Frances Flaherty Prize (The Grand Prize) | The Crossroad Street (Skersiela) | Ivars Seleckis [lv] |
| Mayor's Prize (Award of Excellence) | Route One USA | Robert Kramer |
| Runner-up Prize | The Eye above the Well (Het Oog boven de put) Nobody Listened (Nadie escuchaba) Weapons of the Spirit (Les Armes de l'esprit) | Johan van der Keuken Jorge Ulla, & Néstor Almendros Pierre Sauvage |
| Special Jury Prize | Time Has No Name (Tiden har inget namn) | Stefan Jarl |
| Encouragement Prize | Over the Threshold | Christine Lloyd-Fitt, & Yoshi Tezuka |
| Citizens' Prize | Weapons of the Spirit (Les Armes de l'esprit) | Pierre Sauvage |

### 1991 YIDFF

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 |
| Robert and Frances Flaherty Prize (The Grand Prize) | Stubborn Dreams | Béla Szobolits [hu] |
| Mayor's Prize (Award of Excellence) | Locked-Up Time (Ha-Behirah V'Hagoral) | Sibylle Schönemann [de] |
| Runner-up Prize | American Dream OnceThere Were Seven Simeons (Reiz dzīvoja septiņi Simeoni) | Barbara Kopple Herz Frank [lv], & Vladimir Eisner [ru] |
| Special Jury Prize | Canticle of the Stones (Le Cantique des pierres) | Michel Khleifi |
| Encouragement Prize | Children of Mini-Japan (Kutty Japanin Kuzhandaigal) | Chalam Bennurkar |
| Citizens' Prize | Children of Mini-Japan (Kutty Japanin Kuzhandaigal) | Chalam Bennurkar |

### 1993 YIDFF

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 |
| Robert and Frances Flaherty Prize (The Grand Prize) | Black Harvest | Robin Anderson Bob Connolly |
| Mayor's Prize (Award of Excellence) | Zoo | Frederick Wiseman |
| Runner-up Prize | Living on the River Agano (Agano ni ikiru) Loss Is to Be Expected (Mit Verlust ist zu rechnen) | Makoto Satō Ulrich Seidl |
| Special Jury Prize | Elegy from Russia (Le Cantique des pierres) | Aleksandr Sokurov |
| Shinsuke Ogawa Award | My Time with the Red Guards | Wu Wenguang |
| Citizens' Prize | In the Name of God (Raam Ke Naam) | Anand Patwardhan |

### 1995 YIDFF

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 |
| Robert and Frances Flaherty Prize (The Grand Prize) | Choice and Destiny (Ha-Behirah V'Hagoral) | Tsipi Reibenbach |
| Mayor's Prize (Award of Excellence) | Metal and Melancholy (Metaal en melancholie) | Heddy Honigmann |
| Runner-up Prize | Screenplay: The Times (Drehbuch - Die Zeiten) Picture of Light | Barbara Junge [de] & Winfried Junge [de] Peter Mettler |
| Special Jury Prize | Father, Son, and Holy War (Pitra, Putra Aur Dharamyuddha) | Anand Patwardhan |
| Shinsuke Ogawa Award | The Murmuring (Najeun moksori) | Byun Young-Joo |
| Citizens' Prize | Screenplay: The Times (Drehbuch - Die Zeiten) | Barbara Junge, & Winfried Junge |
| FIPRESCI Award | The Square (Guang Chang) Last Farewell USSR | Duan Jinchuan, & Zhang Yuan Oleksandr Rodnyansky |
| FIPRESCI Special Mention | Embracing (Ni tsutsumarete) | Naomi Kawase |
| We Love Cinema Award | Last Farewell USSR Scenes of Violence (Katatsumori) | Oleksandr Rodnyansky Naomi Kawase |

### 1997 YIDFF

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 |
| Robert and Frances Flaherty Prize (The Grand Prize) | Fragments: Jerusalem (Shivrei T'munot Yerushalayim) | Ron Havilio |
| Mayor's Prize (Award of Excellence) | Africa, How Are You with Pain? (Afriques, comment ça va avec la douleur?) | Raymond Depardon |
| Runner-up Prize | Paper Heads (Papierové hlavy) Tu as crié: Let me go | Dušan Hanák Anne Claire Poirier |
| Special Jury Prize | La Comédie-Française ou l'amour joué? | Frederick Wiseman |
| Shinsuke Ogawa Award | Out of Phoenix Bridge (Hui dao feng huang qiao) | Li Hong |
| Citizens' Prize | Private Wars | Nick Deocampo |
| FIPRESCI Award | Homesick Eyes (Wang hsiang) | Hsu Hsiao-ming |
| FIPRESCI Special Mention | London Brief | Jon Jost |
| We Love Cinema Award | Out of Phoenix Bridge (Hui dao feng huang qiao) Neon Goddesses | Li Hong Yu Lik-wai |

### 1999 YIDFF

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 |
| Robert and Frances Flaherty Prize (The Grand Prize) | Images of the Absence (Buenos Aires, meine Geschichte) | Germán Kral |
| Mayor's Prize (Award of Excellence) | Belfast, Maine | Frederick Wiseman |
| Runner-up Prize | Sweep It Up, Swig It Down (Kehrein, kehraus) Happy Birthday, Mr. Mograbi (Yom Huledet Same'ach Mar Mograbi) | Gerd Kroske [de] Avi Mograbi |
| Special Jury Prize | The Underground Orchestra (Het Ondergrondse orkest) | Heddy Honigmann |
| Shinsuke Ogawa Award | Swimming on the Highway (Hui dao feng huang qiao) | Wu Yao-tung |
| Citizens' Prize | Living Amongst Lions (Leve blant løver) | Sigve Endresen |
| FIPRESCI Award | Divorce Iranian Style | Kim Longinotto Ziba Mir-Hosseini |
| FIPRESCI Special Mention | The New God (Atarashii kamisama) | Yutaka Tsuchiya |
| NETPAC Award | Shiro the White | Katsuyuki Hirano |
| NETPAC Special Mention | Annyong-Kimchi I Love (080) | Tetsuaki Matsue Yang Li-chou |

### 2001 YIDFF

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 |
| Robert and Frances Flaherty Prize (The Grand Prize) | The Land of the Wandering Souls (La Terre des âmes errantes) | Rithy Panh |
| Mayor's Prize (Award of Excellence) | In Vanda’s Room (No Quarto da Vanda) | Pedro Costa |
| Runner-up Prize | Mysterious Object at Noon (Dokfa nai meuman) 6 Easy Pieces | Apichatpong Weerasethakul Jon Jost |
| Special Jury Prize | A2 | Tatsuya Mori |
| Shinsuke Ogawa Award | Soshin: In Your Dreams | Melissa Kyu-Jung Lee |
| Citizens' Prize | A2 | Tatsuya Mori |
| FIPRESCI Award | In Vanda’s Room (No Quarto da Vanda) My Friend Su | Pedro Costa Neeraj Bhasin |
| NETPAC Award | My Migrant Soul | Yasmine Kabir |
| NETPAC Special Mention | Pansy & Ivy Mysterious Object at Noon (Dokfa nai meuman) | Kye Un-kyoung Apichatpong Weerasethakul |

### 2003 YIDFF

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 |
| Robert and Frances Flaherty Prize (The Grand Prize) | Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks | Wang Bing |
| Mayor's Prize (Award of Excellence) | Stevie | Steve James |
| Runner-up Prize | Gift of Life S-21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine (S-21, la machine de mort Khmère rouge) | Wu Yii-feng Rithy Panh |
| Special Jury Prize | Purity (Tehora) | Anat Zuria |
| Shinsuke Ogawa Award | Wellspring | Qing Sha |
| Citizens' Prize | Purity (Tehora) | Anat Zuria |
| FIPRESCI Award | Three-Five People | Li Lin |
| FIPRESCI Award Special Mention | A Short Journey | Tanon Sattarujawong |

### 2005 YIDFF

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 |
| Robert and Frances Flaherty Prize (The Grand Prize) | Before the Flood (Yan mo) | Yifan Li Yu Yan |
| Mayor's Prize (Award of Excellence) | Route 181: Fragments of a Journey in Palestine-Israel | Michel Khleifi Eyal Sivan |
| Runner-up Prize | Foreland (Voorland) About a Farm (Hiljainen tila) | Albert Elings, Eugenie Jansen Mervi Junkkonen [fi] |
| Special Jury Prize | Darwin's Nightmare | Hubert Sauper |
| Shinsuke Ogawa Award | The Cheese and the Worms (Chīzu to ujimushi) | Haruyo Kato |
| Citizens' Prize | In the Shadow of the Palms | Wayne Coles-Janess |
| FIPRESCI Award | The Cheese and the Worms (Chīzu to ujimushi) | Haruyo Kato |
| Community Cinema Award | Darwin's Nightmare | Hubert Sauper |

### 2007 YIDFF

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 |
| Robert and Frances Flaherty Prize (The Grand Prize) | Fengming, a Chinese Memoir (He Fengming) | Wang Bing |
| Mayor's Prize (Award of Excellence) | Encounters (Encontros) | Pierre-Marie Goulet |
| Runner-up Prize | Potosi: The Journey (Potosi, le temps du voyage) M | Ron Havilio Nicolás Prividera |
| Special Jury Prize | Tarachime birth/mother (Tarachime) | Naomi Kawase |
| Shinsuke Ogawa Award | Bingai | Feng Yan |
| Citizens' Prize | Mr. Pilipenko and His Submarine (Herr Pilipenko und sein U-Boot) Back Drop Kurdistan | René Harder [de], & Jan Hinrik Drevs Masaru Nomoto |
| Community Cinema Award | Bingai | Feng Yan |

### 2009 YIDFF

October 8–15, 2009
| Award | Film | Director |
| 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) |
| Citizens' Prize | 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) |

### 2011 YIDFF

October 6–13, 2011
| Award | Film | Director |
| 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 (Nostalgia de la luz) | Patricio Guzmán (France/Germany/Chile) |
| Awards of Excellence | Apuda | He Yuan (China) |
| Awards of Excellence | The Woman with the 5 Elephants (Die Frau mit den 5 Elefanten) | 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 (Die Frau mit den 5 Elefanten) | Vadim Jendreyko (Switzerland/Germany) |
| Citizens' Prize | Iranian Cookbook | Mohammad Shirvani (Iran) |
| Community Cinema Award | Iranian Cookbook | Mohammad Shirvani (Iran) |
| Directors' Guild of Japan Award | Prison and Paradise | Daniel Rudi Haryanto [id] (Indonesia) |

### 2013 YIDFF

October 10–17, 2013
| Award | Film | Director |
| Prizes for the International Competition |||
| Robert and Frances Flaherty Prize (The Grand Prize) | A World Not Ours | Mahdi Fleifel (Denmark) |
| Mayor's Prize | The Act of Killing | Joshua Oppenheimer (Denmark) |
| Awards of Excellence | Revision | Philip Scheffner [de] (Germany) |
| Awards of Excellence | The Other Day (El otro día) | Ignacio Agüero (Chile) |
| Special Jury Prize | Tour of Duty | Kim Dong-ryung, Park Kyoung-tae (Korea) |
| New Asian Currents Awards |||
| Shinsuke Ogawa Award | Mrs. Bua’s Carpet | Dương Mộng Thu (Vietnam) |
| Awards of Excellence | Raging Land 3: Three Valleys | Chan Yin Kai, Choi Yuen Villagers (Hong Kong) |
| Awards of Excellence | Mohtarama | Malek Shafi’i, Diana Saqeb (Afghanistan) |
| Special Mentions | War Is a Tender Thing | Adjani Arumpac (Philippines) |
| Citizens' Prize | The Punk Syndrome (Kovasikajuttu) | Jukka Kärkkäinen [fi], J-P Passi [fi] (Finland) |
| Citizens' Prize | The Targeted Village | Mikami Chie (Japan) |
| Community Cinema Award | We Want (U) to Know | Ella Pugliese, Nou Va, The people of Thnol Lok (Germany/Cambodia) |
| Directors' Guild of Japan Award | The Targeted Village | Mikami Chie (Japan) |

### 2015 YIDFF

October 8–15, 2015
| Award | Film | Director |
| Prizes for the International Competition |||
| Robert and Frances Flaherty Prize (The Grand Prize) | Horse Money (Cavalo dinheiro) | Pedro Costa (Portugal) |
| Mayor's Prize | The Pearl Button (El botón de nácar) | Patricio Guzmán (Chile) |
| Awards of Excellence | Homeland: Iraq Year Zero | Abbas Fahdel (Iraq) |
| Awards of Excellence | Silvered Water, Syria Self-Portrait | Ossama Mohammed, Wiam Simav Bedirxan (Syria) |
| Special Jury Prize | Us Women/Them Women (Nosotras/ellas) | Julia Pesce (Argentina) |
| New Asian Currents Awards |||
| Shinsuke Ogawa Award | Standing Men (Des hommes debout) | Maya Abdul-Malak (Lebanon) |
| Awards of Excellence | Snakeskin | Daniel Hui (Singapore) |
| Awards of Excellence | Each Story | Okuma Katsuya (Japan) |
| Citizens' Prize | Homeland: Iraq Year Zero | Abbas Fahdel (Iraq) |
| Directors' Guild of Japan Award | My No-Mercy Home | Aori (Korea) |

### 2017 YIDFF

October 5–12, 2017
| Award | Film | Director |
| Prizes for the International Competition |||
| Robert and Frances Flaherty Prize (The Grand Prize) | Communion (Komunia) | Anna Zamecka [pl] (Poland) |
| Mayor's Prize | A Memory in Khaki | Alfoz Tanjour (Syria) |
| Awards of Excellence | Lone Existence | Sha Qing (China) |
| Awards of Excellence | I Am Not Your Negro | Raoul Peck (USA) |
| Special Jury Prize | In the Intense Now (No intenso agora) | João Moreira Salles (Brazil) |
| New Asian Currents Awards |||
| Shinsuke Ogawa Award | Yellowing | Chan Tze-Woon (Hong Kong) |
| Awards of Excellence | The Slice Room | Song Yun-hyeok (Korea) |
| Awards of Excellence | Up Down & Sideways | Anushka Meenakshi, Iswar Srikumar (India) |
| Special Mentions | Bamseom Pirates, Seoul Inferno | Jung Yoon-suk (Korea) |
| Special Mentions | City of Jade (Fei cui zhi cheng) | Midi Z (Taiwan) |
| Citizens' Prize | Sennan Asbestos Disaster | Hara Kazuo (Japan) |
| Directors' Guild of Japan Award | Up Down & Sideways | Anushka Meenakshi, Iswar Srikumar (India) |

### 2019 YIDFF

October 10-17, 2019 "YIDFF: Past Festivals: 2019". www.yidff.jp.</ref>
| Award | Film | Director |
| Prizes for the International Competition |||
| Robert and Frances Flaherty Prize (The Grand Prize) | Dead Souls | Wang Bing (China) |
| Mayor's Prize | The Crosses (Las cruces) | Teresa Arredondo, Carlos Vásquez Méndez (Chile) |
| Awards of Excellence | Midnight Traveler | Hassan Fazili (USA) |
| Awards of Excellence | Your Turn (Espero tua (re)volta) | Eliza Capai (Brazil) |
| Special Jury Prize | Monrovia, Indiana | Frederick Wiseman (USA) |
| New Asian Currents Awards |||
| Shinsuke Ogawa Award | Erased,___Ascent of the Invisible | Ghassan Halwani (Lebanon) |
| Awards of Excellence | Xalko | Sami Mermer, Hind Benchekroun (Canada) |
| Awards of Excellence | Exodus | Bahman Kiarostami (Iran) |
| Citizens' Prize | Dead Souls | Wang Bing (China) |
| Directors' Guild of Japan Award | Gracefully | Arash Eshaghi (Iran) |