2023 WINNERS OF THE 11TH ANNUAL SOCIAL IMPACT MEDIA AWARDS (SIMA 2023) ANNOUNCED

LOS ANGELES (February 9, 2023) – To meet some of the visionaries behind the global fight for equality and social justice, and to witness the pressing issues they represent first-hand, look no further than the official winners of the 11th Annual International Social Impact Media Awards (SIMA 2023).

SIMA, the non-profit impact media agency that celebrates, curates and distributes documentaries and creative media projects that advance positive social change, announced their 2023 festival winners this morning. Chosen from 40 finalists spanning 31 countries, the SIMA 2023 winners capture a revolution born of radical solidarity and community.

In Best Feature Documentary Winner, DELIKADO, we follow three magnetic leaders as they risk their lives in David versus Goliath-style struggles trying to stop politicians and businessmen from destroying the Philippines’ “last ecological frontier”. Together—in community—does their story of courage and resilience inspire others into action. In Best Sound Editing Winner, SIRENS, we meet an all-female band made up of five young metalheads whose burgeoning fame is set against the backdrop of the Lebanese revolution; offering refuge to Beirut’s youth culture in a time of unprecedented instability and change.

The story of three survivors of domestic abuse who are fighting for their lives and spending years behind bars in AND SO I STAYED is the winner of SIMA’s Systemic Change Award, a $2,500 cash prize Sponsored by The Foundation For Systemic Change. Through their stories at the intersection of empathy, solidarity and injustice, we witness what it takes to rise against deep rooted systems, confronting and challenging the dominant and oppressive narratives of domestic abuse.

From the intimate 19-year journey into the life of an Australian transgender teen whose fight for her rights and loving family standing strong behind her offers an undeniable case for the agency of transgender children and teenagers in Best Short Documentary, THE DREAMLIFE OF GEORGIE STONE; to the story of the young Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) organizers who fought not just for black voting rights, but for black power everywhere, in Transparency Jury Prize Winner LOWNDES COUNTY AND THE ROAD TO BLACK POWER—one thing is for certain, revolution does not happen in isolation. It is the support of a caring family; the power of collective grassroots organizing; the votes of the marginalized; the culmination of art and activism, and the solidarity in all the spaces between. It is the ecosystem working together, above and below ground like vast networks of mycelium. In such communion will we overcome and bring light to the systemic and oppressive forces working to rewrite history and suppress our freedoms, our personal and shared evolution.

“Thank you to all the filmmakers and activists for your unwavering dedication and courage to transform and enlighten our world. We could not be more proud to champion your work.”

— Daniela Kon Lieberberg, SIMA Founder & CEO

With heart-pounding sequences and mesmerizing cinematography, the SIMA 2023 winners take viewers on a visual journey around the world; bringing audiences face-to-face with some of the world’s most eye-opening, unique and urgent perspectives. Inequality, race, climate change, identity, agency, war, human rights, art, power, and the pursuit of a more just and equitable future, portrait a world banding together on the brink of transformation.

The SIMA 2023 Winners are now eligible for entry into SIMA’s global community screening series and online education platform, SIMA Academy, which reaches over 86,500 students around the globe.

SPONSORS

SIMA’s Sponsors are committed to the collaborative effort of honoring the most thought-provoking documentary films of our time. The 11th Annual SIMA Awards are powered by The Foundation for Systemic Change (FSC), Milatido, The Documentary Organization of Canada (DOC), The International Documentary Association (IDA), Double Exposure, WITNESS, Firelight Media, and NONOT