Oh, Boy! wins the top award at Sofia IFF
- The top prize stays in Europe, but other important awards go to other continents
The 17th edition of the most important Bulgarian film festival, Sofia International Film Festival, came to an end on Saturday night, when the jury lead by Turkish director Yesim Ustaoglu decided that the festival’s top award, the Grand Prix for a film in the international competition, should go to Jan Ole Gerster’s Oh, Boy! [+see also:
trailer
interview: Jan Ole Gerster
film profile] (Germany). The Special Jury Award went to The Last Elvis, directed by Armando Bo (Argentina) and the award for Best Director to Adam Leon for the US production Gimme the Loot.
The festival also organized a Balkan competition and the jury lead by Hungarian producer Guorgy Durst decided in favour of Turkey-Greece production Beyond the Hill [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Emin Alper
film profile], directed by Emir Alper. In the same competition Yesim Ustaoglu’s Araf - Somewhere in Between [+see also:
trailer
film profile] received the Award of the Bulgarian Guild of Film Critics. It was the first time in the festival’s history when a member of the main jury had a film in the Balkan competition.
The Millennium Award for Best Documentary went to The Machine Which Makes Everything Disappear, a Georgia-Germany production directed by Tinatin Gurchiani. A Special Mention was received by Youlian Tabakov’s Tzvetanka [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Sweden-Bulgaria). The Award for Best Bulgarian Feature Film went to Alienation, a film directed by Milko Lazarov and produced by the Bulgarian National Film Television. The FIPRESCI award for a film in the main competition went to Romania’s A Month in Thailand [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Paul Negoescu
film profile], directed by Paul Negoescu.
The Audience Award, which is meant for a film from both international and Balkan competitions, was won by Serbian director Srdan Golubovic’s Circles [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nikola Rakocevic
interview: Srdan Golubovic
film profile].
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