ONE WORD wins at LIDF20 in London

Our documentary ONE WORD won the jury’s “Best Film / Special Mention” today as a German-Marshallese contribution to the British LIDF # 20.

The LIDF (The London International Documentary Festival) is one of the most important and prestigious documentary film festivals in the world (BAFTA: Category A), which regularly provides relevant impulses for the international film industry. The LIDF is also London’s oldest and largest film festival. The 2020 edition was postponed to the beginning of 2021 due to corona and was just taking place.

The jury awarded only four prizes among the 34 films that were approved and in competition. In the category of best feature film, ONE WORD received “Special Mention, Best Film, LIDF20” as a film “much of the moment and important because it demonstrated the effectiveness of participatory filmmaking (while) the story was vividly and beautifully told.”

ONE WORD reports on the devastating effects of global warming on the Republic of the Marshall Islands and was produced as a long-term project on site with the active participation of those affected behind the camera.

Maria Kling (production) and director Viviana Uriona explain on the occasion of the award ceremony:

“We feel honored that such an important festival as the LIDF honors our production to such a high degree and that it especially mentiones the participatory approach. This prize also belongs to the many Marshallese who took part in nine-month film workshops on site in developing the concept, filming and editing. We would also like to thank the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany, which sponsored these film workshops to enable media empowerment in a region threatened by climate change. ”

Until the German cinemas can reopen, ONE WORD can be viewed as VoD on the film website at any time in Germany, Switzerland and Austria . After that, ONE WORD will continue its cinema time in arthouse cinemas.