AWARD WINNERS!

Lunenburg Doc Fest is pleased to announce the LDF 2023 awards recipients!

Awards are based on overall merit of the entries and are chosen by a jury, with the exception of the Audience Award, which is chosen by our loyal audience!  

BEST ATLANTIC FILMMAKER AWARD

All eligible feature-length Canadian documentaries screening during Lunenburg Doc Fest are in competition for the $1000 Best Canadian Feature Documentary Award.

“Thank you so much! I love Lunenburg Doc Fest, and I was so excited when Unsyncable got in. Screening at the Opera House was a dream, and this award is such an honour. I owe a huge thanks to my incredibly talented team, the amazing swimmers who shared their passion with us, and Tell Tale Films for trusting me with this project.”

Megan Wennberg, Director
Unsyncable

BEST CANADIAN FEATURE DOCUMENTARY  

All eligible feature Canadian documentaries screening during Lunenburg Doc Fest are in competition for the $1000 Best Canadian Feature Documentary Award.

"Bryan Porter and I and everyone over at Seeing Red 6Nations have always felt an acute sense of the lack of awareness around water issues in indigenous communities.  It's not that people don't care--they just don't know about the situation. Thank you Lunenburg Doc Fest for giving us a platform to share this film and its terrible truths. Awareness is a precondition for change."

James Burns and Stevie Salas, Director
Boil Alert

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE DOCUMENTARY  

All eligible feature international documentaries screening during Lunenburg Doc Fest are in competition for the $1000 Best International Feature Documentary Award.

“I am so honored by the jury's decision. Making this film was a long and winding process and often full of doubt, which makes this outcome even more sweet. I hope this award will help to raise public awareness around the idea of Good Samaritan kidney donation, and more generally to ask each of us who is our neighbor, and what can we do for them?”

Penny Lane, Director
Confessions of a Good Samaritan

AUDIENCE AWARD  

All eligible feature international documentaries screening during Lunenburg Doc Fest are in competition for the $1000 Best International Feature Documentary Award.

Mystlav Chernov has been reached for comment, but due to his location on the front lines we have not yet been able to receive a quote.

20 Days in Mariupol

BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY

All short films screening during the festival are in competition for the Short Film Award

The Launch Winner!

Congratulations to Brandon Boyd, the winner of Lunenburg Doc Fest’s 2023
The Launch $10,000 Pitch Contest!

“In Wave Theory I am hoping to work and mentor with many new faces in the local filmmaking industry. To my fellow contest finalists, I encourage them to continue to make their films. Their voices need to be heard. I can hardly wait to share Leona’s story to everyone when the film premieres at Lunenburg Doc Fest 2024,” says 2023 The Launch winner, emerging filmmaker Brandon Boyd

LDF’s The Launch: Documentary Development and Pitch Contest selected 5 underrepresented Nova Scotian media artists to develop their short documentary pitches in preparation for the $10,000 live-pitch event during the 10th Lunenburg Doc Fest!

Many thanks to the esteemed jury:  

•  Rohan Fernando, Executive Producer of Quebec & Atlantic Studio, NFB
•  Sylvia D. Hamilton, Independent Filmmaker, Author, Artist
•  Shane Smith, Documentary Consultant & Festival Strategist