2024 LANE DOC FEST
Finalists and Winners

Congratulations to all the filmmakers....

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Shaquille “Shaq” O’Neal
2024 Lifetime Achievement Award
Winner...
Shaquille “Shaq” O’Neal, one of the most influential figures in NBA history, was born on March 6, 1972, in Newark, New Jersey. He attended Louisiana State University, where he played as a center on the basketball team. Standing at 7’1” and weighing over 300 pounds, O’Neal was a formidable and commanding presence on the court. During his college career, he was named the College Player of the Year in 1991. By 1992, Shaq left college after his junior year to pursue a professional career in the NBA.
After retiring from professional basketball, Shaq was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016. He remained active in the basketball world as an analyst for TNT’s “Inside the NBA,” while also branching out into acting and music as a rapper. In addition to his entertainment pursuits, Shaq earned a Master of Business Administration and explored a career in law enforcement. His diverse accomplishments underscore his significant impact on the sports industry and beyond.
Shaquille O’Neal is also well-known for his extensive philanthropic work. Beyond his impressive NBA career and accolades, he has made substantial contributions to various charitable causes. One of his major initiatives is the “Shaquille O’Neal Foundation,” which aims to create opportunities for underserved youth, focusing on education, sports, and community development.
O’Neal’s legacy extends far beyond his athletic achievements, reflecting a deep commitment to giving back and serving others. His philanthropic efforts have made a meaningful difference in many lives, illustrating the positive impact that compassion and generosity can have.
Additionally, the Lane Doc Fest is honoring Coach Ron Abernathy, who discovered Shaq as a ninth-grader in Germany and played a pivotal role in bringing him to LSU.

FESTIVAL SPECIAL AWARD

WINNER:

“James ‘Super Chikan’ Johnson – A Life in Blues” – Mark Rankin, Brian Wilson (United States)

A Life in Blues both celebrates and explores the personal and musical life of one of Mississippi’s most treasured sons.  Having travelled the world sharing his own unique brand of blues music, James ‘Super Chikan’ Johnson, at the age of 73, still strives to balance a musical career while providing for his family.  This film endeavours to not only lay bare Chikan’s own story, but also examines how the culture and setting of the south has ultimately influenced his journey .

BLACK HISTORY FEATURE

WINNER:

“OurMovement Starts Here” – John Rash, Melanie Dang Ho
(United States)

The story of a rural community in the American South that inspired the environmental justice movement and articulated the concept of environmental racism in 1982 by fighting the state of North Carolina’s toxic landfill.
FINALIST:
• “Our Movement Starts Here“ – John Rash, Melanie Dang Ho (United States)
• “Rosinha and Other Wild Animals“ – Marta Pessoa (Portugal)
• “Tales of Oblivion” – Dulce Fernandes (Portugal)
• “Togoland Projections” – Jürgen Ellinghaus (France)

BLACK HISTORY SHORT

WINNER:

“Outside Line” – Jake Gordon (United States)

As one of the only Black drivers and having no connections in the sport, Rajah Caruth is a relative outsider in NASCAR. Nevertheless, he has forged an unlikely path from virtual racing to the sport’s penultimate series, building stardom on the way.
FINALIST:

 

• “The Last Philadelphia“ – John Carstarphen (United States)
• “Cornelius” – Ken Gregory – (United States)

HUMANITY FEATURE

WINNER:

“Intercepted” – Oksana Karpovych (Canada)

Sound and image stare each other in the face as INTERCEPTED contrasts quiet compositions of everyday life of Ukrainians since the full-scale invasion with intercepted phone conversations between Russian soldiers and their families. Juxtaposed with images of the destruction caused by the invasion and the day-to-day life of the Ukrainian people who resist and rebuild, the voices of the Russian soldiers – ranging from being filled with heroic illusions to complete disappointment and loss of reason, from looting to committing more horrible war crimes, from propaganda to doubt and disillusionment – expose the whole scope of the dehumanizing power of war and imperialist nature of the Russian aggression.
FINALIST:
 
• “1489” – Shoghakat Vardanyan (Armenia)
• “40 Below: The Toughest Race in the World” – Marius Anderson (United States)
• “A House Made of Splinters” – Shoshi Korman (Denmark)
• “After the Snowmelt” – Yi-Shan Lo (Taiwan)
• “American Pot Story: Oaksterdam” – Ravit Markus, Dan Katzir (United States)
• “Anagama” – Guillermo Asensio (United Kingdom)
• “Bye Bye Tiberias” – Lina Soualem (France)
• “Curl Power” – Josephine Anderson (Canada)
• “Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano” – Cyril Aris (Germany)
• “Dearest Fiona” – Fiona Tan (Netherlands)
• “Diagnonsense” – Ane-Martha Tamnes Hansgård (Norway)
• “Exergue – On Documenta 14” – Dimitris Athiridis (Greece)
• “Fuku Nashi” – Julie Sando (Japan)
• “Hotel Metalurg” – George Varsimashvili, Jeanne Nouchi (Georgia)
• “I’m Not Everything I Want to Be” – Klára Tasovská (Czech Republic)
• “Incompatible With Life” – Eliza Capai (Brazil)
• “Landshaft” – Daniel Kötter (Germany)
• “No Winter Holidays” – Rajan Kathet, Sunir Pandey (Nepal)
• “Out of Sight, By the Forest” – Nadina Dobrowolska (Poland)
• “Republic” – Jiang Jin (China)
• “The Architects of Hope: The First Steps in Rebuilding Ukraine” – Paul Thomas (United Kingdom)
• “The Border Crossed Us” – Loretta van der Horst (Honduras)
• “The Burden” – Elvis Sabin Ngaïbino (Central African Republic)
• “The Click Trap” – Peter Porta (Spain)
• “The Many Lives of Édouard Louis (France)
• “The Movie Man” – Matt Finlin (Canada)
• “The Natural History of Destruction” – Sergei Loznitsa (Germany)
• “Tiger Run: The Untold Story” – Dee Brown, Omarosa Manigault Newman (United States)
“Ultimate Citizens – Francine Strickwerda (United States)

HUMANITY SHORT

WINNER:

“The Art of Loss” – Kathy Bruner (United States)

Laura Stevenson, an artist and professor, processes the grief of miscarriage by making art. She and her husband Eric unpack the pain that is rarely discussed publicly.

In The Art of Loss, my main subject, Laura, processed the loss of miscarriage through the mediums of printmaking, sculpture, and porcelain, even as I found the filmmaking process a source of healing for myself. I’m grateful to my collaborators Hannah Johnson for editing and Josh Taylor for sound design and mixing.
FINALIST:
 
• “Equine Echos” – Lucas Pimenta (Brazil)
• “Joy of Art” – Takaya Onishi (Japan)
• “A House Made of Splinters” – Shoshi Korman (Denmark)
• “K-Saram: Tale of the Pig Hhead” – Alisa Berger (Cambodia)
• “Newsreel 242” – Nika Autor (Slovenia)
• “Supporting Mental Health in Rural Communities” – Tyler Brklacich (United States)
• “Valerija” – Sara Jurinčić (Croatia)
• “You Can’t Shrink Love” – Veena Rao (United States)

EQUALITY FEATURE

WINNER:

“Daughter of Genghis” – Kristoffer Poulsen, Christian Als (Denmark)

She’s on a mission to save Mongolia, but can she save herself? Gerel leads a violent feminist gang in Ulaanbaatar fighting against foreign exploitation. On an epic journey spanning seven years, Gerel will lose everything in her fight for her motherland. But will she learn to embrace motherhood and find redemption in it?
FINALIST:
 
• “AMOR” – Virginia Eleuteri Serpieri (Italy)
• “Avant-Drag!” – Fil Leropoulos (Greece)
• “Daughter of Genghis” – Kristoffer Poulsen, Christian Als (Denmark)
• “Kim Carnie Out Loud” – Maureen MacLeod (United Kingdom)
• “Married to Comics” – John Kinhart (United States)
• “Light Falls Vertical” – Efthymia Zymvragaki (Spain)
• “Queendom” – Agniia Galdanova (United States)
• “Rebelled” – Andrea Gautier, Tabatta Salinas (Spain)
• “The Night of the Factory Girls” – Geonhee Kim (South Korea)

EQUALITY FEATURE

WINNER:

“Getty Abortions” – Franzis Kabisch (Germany)

What do abortions look like? What kind of images shape our view on them? And where do these images come from? The desktop video essay “getty abortions” examines how German and Austrian media illustrate the topic of abortion, browsing through stock photo databases, teen magazines and personal documents of a real abortion experience. It jumps from the early 2000s to the late 19th century, seeks out feminist knowledge and chats with fictional characters. However, one question remains: Why does no one look into the camera?
FINALIST:
 
• “Return to Kawthoolei: A Refugee Rapper’s Journey to His Homeland in Burma” – Chico Bennett, Star Htoo (United States)

SOCIAL JUSTICE FEATURE

WINNER:

“Twice Colonized” –  Lin Alluna (Canada)

Aaju Peter is a force of nature. She is a renowned Greenlandic Inuit lawyer and activist who defends the human rights of Indigenous peoples of the Arctic, and a fierce protector of her ancestral lands. She works to bring her colonizers in both Canada and Denmark to justice, and deploys her effusive spirit and illuminating wit to provoke self-examination and personal responsibility among Westerners for imposing their colonial ways. As Aaju launches an effort to establish an Indigenous forum at the European Union, she also embarks upon a complex and deeply personal journey to mend her own wounds, including the unexpected passing of her youngest son.
In this inspiring, emotionally powerful documentary, the beautiful lens of director Lin Alluna journeys alongside an extraordinary human being as she plumbs through the social and personal wreckage of sanctioned white dominance to find the strength — within her abilities, her community, and her own vulnerabilities — to transform her hardships and painful experiences into something amazing that can inspire others who also struggle with the poisonous effects of colonialism.
FINALIST:
 
• “Alias” – Tatiana Botovelo (France)
• “Behind Closed Doors” – Joao Pedro Bim (Brazil)
• “Behind the Glass Wall” – Gloria Kurnik (Poland)
• “Bila Burba” – Duiren Wagua (Panama)
• “Casablanca” – Adriano Valerio (Italy)
• “Dreamers” – Stéphanie Barbey, Luc Peter (Switzerland)
• “La Guardia Blanca” – Julien Elie (Canada)
• “Malqueridas” – Tana Gilbert (Chile)
• “Rather Be Ashes Than Dust” – Alan Lau (Hong Kong)
• “Rising Up At Night” – Nelson Makengo (Congo)
• “Under a Blue Sun” – Daniel Eliyahu Mann (France)
• “Who’s Afraid Of Nathan Law?” – Joe Piscatella (United States)
• “Yintah” – Michael Toledano, Jennifer Wickham, Brenda Michell (Canada)

SOCIAL JUSTICE SHORT

WINNER:

“Condemned to be Free” –  Rin Jung, Richard Rivera (United States)

“Why do we live?” “What is freedom?” The filmmaker follows a formerly-incarcerated scholar, educator, and activist telling his story to seek answers to the philosophical questions on human being that are brought upon by the encounter with carceral system. This short personal documentary creates a filmic dialogue on the experiential and existential, yet poetic narratives of carcerality, becoming free, and desire for life.
FINALIST:
 
• “Act as if…” – Noah Berlow (United States)
• “Comrades” – Ulyssee Sorabella (France)
• “Suitcase” – Casha Brian (Poland)
• “The HoodTrophy Bino Story” – Sam “Gebar” Gebremiche (United States)
• “The Socialists of Shoe City” – E. Philip Brown (United States)

ENVIRONMENT FEATURE

WINNER:

“The Battle for Laikipia” –  Daphne Matziaraki, Pete Murimi (United States)

For millennia, the Samburu and other indigenous tribes of Northern Kenya have migrated through the Laikipia plateau supporting their cattle and sheep on the region’s fertile grasslands. Today, Laikipia is also home to fourth and fifth generation descendants of European settlers who have, since Kenya’s independence from Britain in 1963, maintained ownership of vast private ranches. Many of these landholdings are operated as wildlife conservancies and luxury safari lodges, and the region has become regarded as a critical conservation area and an international destination.
The communities that share this homeland all rely Laikipia’s grasslands to sustain livestock and wildlife. But as climate warming brings resource scarcity, conflict erupts from unresolved historical injustices. Filmed over six years with intimate access to both sides of the fence, our film explores identity and the complicated intersection of colonialism and climate change.
FINALIST:
 
• “All That Breathes” – Shaunak Sen (India)
• “Among The Wolves” – Tanguy Dumortier, Olivier Larrey (France)
• “As the Tide Comes In” – Juan Palacios, Sofie Husum Johannesen (Denmark)
• “Fauna” – Irene Taskovski (United Kingdom)
• “Grasshopper Republic” – Daniel McCabe (United States)
• “Mighty Afrin: In the Time of Flood” – Angelos Rallis (Greece)
• “The Battle for Laikipia” – Daphne Matziaraki, Pete Murimi (United States)
• “The Grand Salmon” – Jess Wiegandt (United States)
• “The Wolf in the Chute” – Barry Tolli (United States)

ENVIRONMENT SHORT

WINNER:

“The Water Flows Always (Tuhaymani’chi Pal Waniqa)” –  Nils Cowan, Gina Milanovich (United States)

Tuhaymani’chi Pal Waniqa (The Water Flows Always) follows a Cahuilla, Cupeño father and daughter attempting to reconnect in a journey through their Indigenous roots in the ancient springs of the Mojave Desert, just as a new water-mining project threatens their very existence. The film addresses the efforts of protecting water resources and the sacred places of Indigenous nations, permeating the relationship between father and daughter seeking to strengthen their bonds and ancestral roots within their ancestral territory.
FINALIST:
 
• “4 Cave – 4 Seasons: Journey into the Vein of the Earth” – Nikolas Margaritis (Greece)
• “Journey of Transformation” – Jaap Perenboom (Netherlands)

STUDENT FILM

FINALIST:
 
• “Heritage” – Aidan Serik (Russian Federation)
• “Forever the Land” – Martin Per Åhlin (Germany)
• “Over the Years” – Subah Bhatia, Faith Cabalum (Kazakhstan)
• “Retrodreaming” – Alisa Berger (Germany)
• “Swing 46: The Last Swingin Supper Club” – Jay Kay (United States)
• “The Black Code” – Sharice K Lane (United States)
• “Where Can We Meet?” – Abby Porter, Toby Forehand (United States)
  • LANE DOC FEST is an annual award and theatrical screening event, highlighting independent documentary films that emphasize social issues, cultural awareness, democracy, peace, and freedom.

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