Harrowing documentary examining fate of refugees takes top award
A documentary film “For Our Children”, produced by Dominika Kulczyk, has won best documentary feature at the AFIN International Film Festival, held in Queensland, Australia.
The film sees Dominika Kulczyk, head of the Kulczyk Foundation, go to the Colombian border town of Cúcuta to follow the fate of refugees – mostly women – from neighbouring Venezuela.
Kulczyk said: “My film is a tribute to their heroism and a collective portrait of people fighting for survival and a dignified life.”
The city is close to the Simon Bolivar bridge, known as being one of the most frequented border crossings in South America, and is commonly known as the “bridge of desperation”.
Most of the traffic is one-way: from Venezuela into Colombia.
The city is close to the Simon Bolivar bridge, known as being one of the most frequented border crossings in South America, and is commonly known as the “bridge of desperation”.
“For Our Children is a film about the power of women,” explains Kulczyk, who heads the Kulczyk Foundation, adding that “my conversations with Venezualan women, who had to flee their country from poverty and danger, made me aware of their great courage and determination.
“They left behind the achievements of their lives and ran away for many tens or even hundreds of kilometers.
“They had to find in themselves inexhaustible layers of love and hope - hope for a better life for their children.
“My film is a tribute to their heroism and a collective portrait of people fighting for survival and a dignified life.”
The film won best documentary feature at the AFIN International Film Festival, held in Queensland, Australia.
The award makes a hat-trick for the production, which earlier received accolades from the American Golden Picture International Film Festival in Jacksonville and from the 11th Awareness Film Festival in Los Angeles.
The AFIN (All-Inclusive Film Industry Network) festival presents the works of both beginners and recognized filmmakers and screenwriters from various countries.
The films are distinguished by high artistic value and originality, as well as the quality of production and narrative content that provokes thought and supports the exchange of views on an intercultural level.
