R31 is honoured to announce that its film Volendam: A Refugee Story has been awarded a Manitoba Day Award for outstanding film or theatre production by the Association for Manitoba Archives. The film examines the story of Mennonite refugees fleeing the Soviet Union during the Second World War and uses extensive archival materials, including never before seen 16mm film footage.
This is R31’s third Manitoba Day Award which includes The Paper Nazis in 2012 (prior to official creation of the production company) and The Last Objectors in 2017.
Each year, the AMA presents Manitoba Day Awards to books, exhibitions, and productions that have made exemplary and illuminating use of archival research to contribute to the understanding of Manitoba’s history. – Association for Manitoba Archives
Volendam premiered in February 2020 (before Covid 19) to a ‘staggering’ attendance at the Winnipeg Real to Reel Festival where it took home the Best Feature Documentary prize. Following Real to Reel it was both screened virtually and nominated for best documentary at the Canadian International Faith & Family Friendly Film Festival in September and then went on to have its European premiere in Berlin at the Refugee’s Welcome Film Festival in October 2020. It was recently nominated for a Crown Award – Best Foreign Production at the International Christian Visual Media Storytellers conference. (Due to Covid the final awards announcements have been pushed back into 2021.)
R31 is humbled by the recognition that the film has received and looking forward to a time when Volendam can continue being screened for actual audiences in person. Stay tuned for more upcoming Volendam news…
Some further reading on the film..
Winnipeg Free Press “Film revisits ‘miracle’ voyage to freedom” Article
CHVN “Winnipeg Film Festival Sees Staggering Attendance Records” Article
