The Colombian film Alis by Clare Weiskopf and Nicolás Van Hemelryck was awarded the Gold Hugo Award for Best International Documentary at the 58th edition of the Chicago Film Festival, which took place October 12-23. The documentary also received a Special Mention in the Out-Look Competition, dedicated to LGBTQ+-themed films.
Winner of the Youth Jury Prize and the Teddy Award for Best Documentary at the Berlin Film Festival, where it had its world premiere, Alis has played at numerous film festivals including IDFA, Hot Docs, Guadalajara, and Sheffield.
Inside a state-run shelter for teenage girls in Bogotá, Colombia, filmmakers Weiskopf and van Hemelryck invited ten subjects to imagine a 15-year-old classmate named “Alis.” As they describe this fictitious person, some recount her troubled past and indominable nature; others, her sexual experiences, or their own romantic relationships with her. In time, “Alis” begins to take shape as a complex projection of their own identities, revealing intimate truths about the traumas, loves, and lives of the interviewed adolescents.
Two other Latin American films were awarded at this year’s edition of the Chicago Film Festival: the Colombian film The Kings of the World / Los reyes del mundo by Laura Mora won the Silver Hugo for Best Production Design; and the Brazilian film Paloma by Marcelo Gomes won the Silver Q-Hugo Award in the Out-Look Competition.
