Norway Collects Two Awards At HotDocs 2016

On Friday, two Norwegian entries were presented with awards at Toronto’s prestigious HotDocs documentary film festival. Brothers won Best International Feature, while Dugma: The Button collected Best Mid-Length Documentary.

Best International Feature Documentary Award
Brothers (D: Aslaug Holm; P: Tore Buvarp; Norway)
Few laments are as great as those of parents who wish time didn’t pass so quickly, that they could somehow enjoy their children just a little while longer. Not wanting to miss a moment, director Aslaug Holm begins filming her two young sons, capturing their milestones and emerging personalities, as well as her own maturing as a mother.

Best Mid-Length Documentary Award
Dugma: The Button (D: Paul S. Refsdal; P: Ingvil Giske; Norway)
Embedded in an al-Qaeda unit on the front lines of the Syrian Civil War, director Paul S. Refsdal captures the stories of two martyrdom seekers about to embark on a suicide bombing. We meet Abu Qusawara, a well-fed Saudi with a passion for fried chicken, and Abu Basir, a bookish Brit whose yearning for a martyr’s death is called into question when he becomes a husband and a father.