DocPoint’s National and International Competitions

Finland’s premiere documentary film festival DocPoint launched two annual competitions at the 2021 festival.

The DocPoint Yle Award for Best International Documentary Film and the DocPoint Yle Award for Best Finnish Documentary Film, each worth 5000 Euros, are funded by the national broadcaster Yle.

10-12 feature-length films from DocPoint’s International Selection are nominated each year for the DocPoint Yle Award for Best International Documentary Film. DocPoint’s National Competition consists of new Finnish titles over 40 minutes in length. Titles in the International Selection must have their Finnish premieres at DocPoint.

Two juries consisting of international and Finnish experts select the winners in both competitions. The winners are announced at the end of the festival.

In addition, the festival has awarded the Audience Award  to the best-scoring long or medium-length film in the Finnish Selection series. This year, the Audience Award vote has been cancelled.

National Competition: winners 

  • Monica in the South Seas (dir. Mika Taanila & Sami van Ingen), 2023
  • Ruthless Times – Songs of Care (dir. Susanna Helke), 2022
  • Donner – Private (dir. John Webster), 2021

National Competition: special mentions

  • Golden Land (dir. Inka Achté), 2022
  • School of Hope (dir. Mohamed El Aboudi), 2021

International Competition: winners

  • While We Watched (dir. Vinay Shukla), 2023
  • Where Are We Headed (dir. Ruslan Fedotov), 2022
  • Makongo (dir. Elvis Sabin Ngaïbino), 2021

International Competition: special mentions

  • All of Our Heartbeats Are Connected Through Exploding Stars (dir. Jennifer Rainsford), 2023
  • Faya Dayi (dir. Jessica Beshir), 2022
  • Purple Sea (dir. Amel Alzakout and Khaled Abdulwahed), 2021

The Aho & Soldan Award

The Aho & Soldan Lifetime Achievement Award was first given out at the first DocPoint festival in 2002. The winner is selected based on the following criteria: significant efforts in creatively developing Finnish documentary filmmaking, as well as a long and outstanding career as a documentary filmmaker.

Aho & Soldan Award winners:

  • 2023: John Webster
  • 2021: Tuuli Kuittinen
  • 2018: Mika Kaurismäki
  • 2014: Kanerva Cederström
  • 2011: Pekka Lehto
  • 2010: Kiti Luostarinen
  • 2005: Peter von Bagh
  • 2004: Pirjo Honkasalo
  • 2003: Lasse Naukkarinen
  • 2002: Markku Lehmuskallio

The Apollo Award

The Apollo Award is granted to a person or organization whose work has significantly advanced the Finnish documentary film industry.

Apollo Award winners:

  • 2022: Erkki Astala
  • 2020: Juha Samola
  • 2019: Marita Hällfors
  • 2017: Eila Ranta (Werning)
  • 2016: Illume Oy
  • 2015: Reijo Nikkilä
  • 2013: Tuula Mehtonen
  • 2012: Iikka Vehkalahti
  • 2009: Epidem Oy
  • 2008: Jörn Donner
  • 2007: Ilkka Kippola
  • 2006: Jarmo Jääskeläinen