Competition winners will be announced at the closing ceremony Thursday, March 28, 2024, in the presence of the jury, followed by a screening of the final film, The Gullspång Miracle. The DOCVILLE jury is giving away the following prizes:

• Jury Award for Best International Documentary.
  Purchase prize by CANVAS. This award is Academy Award (TM) qualifying.
  
• Jury Award forBest National Documentary.
  Prize donated by SABAM for Culture worth 2.000€
• TOPICS Award.
  1.500€ prize, awarded by DOCVILLE.
  
• Award forBest Scientific Documentary.
  1.000€ prize, awarded by the festival
• Nationale Loterij Audience Award DOCVILLE
  Nominated are: all except Belgian feature film, of all programmes (excepted retrospectives)
  1.000€ prize awarded by the Nationale Loterij.

Jury International Competition

Barbara Orlicz-Szczypuła (PL) is a film event organizer specializing in film promotion and a university lecturer. She is president of the Krakow Film Foundation and chief programmer at the Krakow Film Festival. She also heads the agency KFF Sales&Promotion, which she founded in 2005 to strengthen the international promotion of Polish documentary, animation and short films. Barbara has served as a juror at several festivals and lectures at the University of Krakow.

Ben Bernhard (DE) graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Camera) before beginning his Masters in Cinematography at the Deutsche Film-und Fernsehakademie Berlin (dffb). Since then he realized several fiction and documentary films as Director of Photograph. He is the regular DOP of Victor Kossakovsky (Aquarela, ¡Vivan las antípodas!) and was DOP of DOCVILLE titles such as All that Breathes, Solutions and Hunting for Hedonia.

Jacques Servaes (BE) is a graduate of the RITCS and has had a varied career as a freelance journalist and assistant director in both feature films and theater productions. With a focus on TV drama, he has contributed to numerous documentaries on music, history and science. His passion for fiction and documentary is reflected in his work, with a special focus on contemporary music, from opera to music videos.

Jury National Selection

Shane Smith (CA) is a documentary consultant and festival strategist who served as Program Director at Hot Docs, North America's largest documentary festival, from 2015-2023. Previously, he served as director of special projects at the Toronto International Film Festival and as Executive Producer at Spafax. He also has experience as director of programming at Channel Zero Inc and has contributed to several film festivals worldwide.

Chris Craps (BE) studied biology and audiovisual communication at KU Leuven, and journalism in Brussels. He wrote scenarios for films such as "De Bal" and "Kruistocht in Spijkerbroek," and worked as a journalist-interviewer for various media. Since 1994, he has been providing film pages for GVA and HBVL and following major festivals. Although he rarely appeared on screen himself, Craps has interviewed many Hollywood stars and extensive knowledge about the film world, which led to his book "The Secrets of Cinema.

David Deprez (NL), originally from Belgium, studied cultural studies at Maastricht University. He has been with Lumière Cinema in the same city for 24 years, first as an educator and programmer, since 2006 as artistic director. Deprez has co-produced Limburg short film productions, including the internationally successful "De Smet" (2014), and advises various film funds and in the realization of new screening venues.

Award for best Scientific Documentary

Olivier Semonnay (FR) after 15 years working in sales and marketing in the media and music industry in England and Spain, he moved to Paris in 2013. He is now responsible for marketing and promoting Java's feature-length documentaries to festivals, educational and institutional platforms, V.O.D platforms and cinema distributors. Olivier is a French native and is fluent in English and Spanish.

Dr. Annelies Van Dyck (BE) is a neurobiologist with a passion for science communication. She received her master's degree in Biology in 2017 and her PhD in Neuroscience and Biology from KU Leuven, Belgium, in 2023. As project manager of the SciComm Academy at SciMingo, a Flemish nonprofit organization, she helps researchers reach a wider audience with their work. In addition to her professional pursuits, she is interested in science, nature, environmental sustainability and gender equality.

Cees van Kempen (NL) is the founder of Ispida Wildlife Productions. After graduating as Master of Science from Delft University of Technology, he worked in Nigeria, Ethiopia and Indonesia. In 2004 he started his own management consulting firm, but in 2014 he founded Ispida Wildlife Productions to devote himself to nature documentaries, having developed a passion for photography and filmmaking.

TOPICS Competition

Jurgen Buedts (BE) is a writer, director and producer. With his company Las Belgas, founded in 2013, he creates international award-winning projects with both high-quality films and artistic, low-budget arthouse projects. His work is screened on large and small screens worldwide and he collaborates with renowned international filmmakers, broadcasters, platforms, producers and networks.

Ernesto Rodríguez Amari (BE) - Latin America expert, journalist at De Morgen

Ingrid Schildermans (BE) is a documentary filmmaker and editor at Canvas. Together with director Ibbe Daniëls, she made the documentary series 'Godvergeten' about sexual abuse in the church. Previously, she worked on several projects such as 'Kinderen van De Kolonie', 'Wij Vrouwen', 'Belpop', 'LUX', 'In De Ban Van Tsjernobyl', 'Alleen Elvis blijft bestaan' and 'Blanco'. She lives in Brussels.