Sansón and Me, the fifth feature film by Mexican-American director Rodrigo Reyes (Lupe Under the Sun, 499) was the winner of the Best Film Award at the 2022 edition of the Sheffield DocFest, the UK’s leading documentary festival. The film had its world premiere at the Tribeca Festival few days ago and had its international premiere at Sheffield.
Director Reyes reconnects with Sansón, a Mexican migrant sentenced to life in prison, who he met when the director was a translator at his trial. Borders have defined Sansón’s life. There’s the physical and psychological border between Mexico and the US. And now, looking at a life behind bars, there’s the one that separates him from his loved ones. Since it is forbidden to film inside the jail, Reyes recreates Sansón’s life—with the help of his family – through letters and by casting an untrained actor to play his friend. The resulting film is a reflection on migration, the notion of family, what it means to see one’s life on film, and the harshness and injustice of the US prison system.
Additionally, the Colombian documentary film Alis by Nicolás van Hemelryck and Clare Weiskopf received the Youth Jury Award. Winner of the Crystal Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, the documentary is the result of a five-year workshop they ran at Arcadia boarding school in Bogota. Having created a safe space, they ask a group of teenage girls to create Alis, a fellow student, giving her whatever attributes they want. Addressing the camera directly, the girls’ discussion of their friend soon becomes an opportunity for them to contemplate their own feelings about – and experiences of – the world they live in. The result is a moving testament to their hope of a better world.
The Jury for the International Competition at Sheffield Doc Fest was composed of Emma Davie, an Edinburgh College of Art lecturer, and Academy member, whose feature documentaries include Becoming Animal, I am Breathing and The Oil Machine which has its world premiere at Sheffield DocFest; highly celebrated Nigerian filmmaker Ike Nnaebue, whose new film No U-Turn received a Special Mention at Berlinale 2022 and has it’s UK premiere at Sheffield DocFest; and producer Raymond Phathanavirangoon, who co-founded SEAFIC and has program consulted for Cannes Critics’ Week and the Hong Kong and Toronto international film festivals.
