The closing night of the Amsterdam Independent Film Festival 2022, now in its fifth year, took place this past Saturday evening. As is tradition, the festival took place at Amsterdam’s LAB111 — the cult cinema located in a former anatomical pathology hospital — where it screened an eclectic selection of 33 independent films from local and international filmmakers. Festival Director Kris De Meester looks back: "It's been a great privilege to screen so many amazing gems. Amsterdam Independent Film Festival proved once again that there's a demand for independent voices in the cinema industry. With practically all full houses during the whole festival. Film connects people, that's for sure. But sometimes films can divide an audience. During the screening of 'Scenery other end' by Tseng Yu Chin some people couldn't handle the provocative style and started making their objections clear while others shushed them and loved every bit of it. Cinema is emotion."

The Amsterdam Independent Film Festival is excited to share with you today the 2022 award winners. The jury panel has chosen the following films as this year's finest:

Best Narrative Feature Film: Humanization (Sweden) by Giulio Musi

Best Documentary Feature Film: The Tears of Bea Smit (Netherlands) by Orly Nurany

Best Narrative Short Film: Ousmane (Canada) by Jorge Camarotti

Best Documentary Short Film: Scars (Canada) by Alex Anna

Best Director: Idol (Australia) by Alex Wu

Best Acting: Kyle Chen in Idol (Australia) by Alex Wu

Best Animated Film: Dragon (USA) by Dane Cree, Lisa Poppe

Best Experimental Film: Upsodown (Australia) by Nathan Ceddia

Best Music Video: Once There Was III (USA) by Nina Mcneely

Best Dance Film: The Lamb (Canada) by Hélène Matte, Marco Dubé

Best Dutch Film: After A Room (Netherlands) by Naomi Pacifique

The Amsterdam Independent Film Festival would like to thank LAB111 and Tarkovski Agency for their continued support, and all guests for coming out to enjoy another week full of independent cinema. See you all next year!