The documentary film "Outside" by Ukrainian director Olha Zhurba won the Willy Brandt Documentary Film Prize at Germany's Human Rights Film Festival on Friday.
The film tells the story of the turbulent youth of a 13-year-old boy who lives on the streets. The protagonist becomes caught up in the front lines of the Maidan uprising in Ukraine in 2014. Years later, he finds himself slipping into crime.
The festival's audience award went to the opening film "Ithaka," by director Ben Lawrence. It is a portrait of the family of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
Earlier, the festival presented Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi with the Honorary Award for Democracy and Freedom on behalf of "the countless brave and courageous women who are taking to the streets in Iran to fight for freedom and justice."
Iran has been roiled by mass protests since mid September, triggered by the death of 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in police custody.
Ebadi, who lives in exile, had to give up her judgeship after the Islamic Revolution in 1979. As a lawyer, she then defended dissidents, among others. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003.
The Human Rights Film Festival is run by the organizations Action against Hunger, Save the Children and Greenpeace.
