A Syrian Love Story wins Sheffield Doc/Fest’s Grand Jury award

A documentary about refugee revolutionaries has won the Grand Jury award at this year’s Sheffield Doc/Fest. Sean McAllister’s A Syrian Love Story was filmed over five years in Syria, Lebanon and France and received its premiere at the festival where McAllister previously successfully bid for backing from the BFI Film Fund.

Another alumna of the Fund’s documentary pitching sessions, Jerry Rothwell’s How to Change the World, the story of the whaling protest that launched Greenpeace in the 1970s, has won the festival’s Environmental Award.

Other prizes included the Interactive Award for Gabo Arora and Barry Pousman’s Clouds over Sidra; the Youth Jury Award for 3½ Minutes, 10 Bullets by Marc Silver; the In the Dark Audio Award for The Woman on the Ice; the Student Documentary Award for The Archipelago by Benjamin Huguet; and the Short Doc Award for Starting Point by Michal Szczesniak.