Western triumphs at the 20th Motovun Film Festival

by Vladan Petković

31/07/2017 - Valeska Grisebach's Un Certain Regard title won both the main award, the Propeller of Motovun, and the FIPRESCI Prize

Western triumphs at the 20th Motovun Film Festival

Director Valeska Grisebach accepts her awards by video link

The 20th Motovun Film Festival, which took place from 25-29 July, saw German director Valeska Grisebach's third feature, Western [+see also:
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trailer
interview: Jonas Dornbach
interview: Valeska Grisebach
interview: Valeska Grisebach
film profile], win both of its main awards: the Propeller of Motovun and the FIPRESCI Prize. The German-Bulgarian-Austrian co-production world-premiered in Cannes' Un Certain Regard section and just two weeks ago received a Special Mention at the Yerevan Golden Apricot Film Festival.

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The competition included films such as Claire Denis’ Bright Sunshine In [+see also:
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film profile], Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson’s Heartstone [+see also:
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interview: Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson
film profile], Darren Thornton’s A Date for Mad Mary [+see also:
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film profile], Iulia Rugină’s Breaking News [+see also:
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trailer
interview: Iulia Rugină
film profile], Shady Srour’s Holy Air [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Raúl Arévalo’s The Fury of a Patient Man [+see also:
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trailer
interview: Raúl Arévalo
film profile], Boris Khlebnikov’s Arrhythmia [+see also:
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interview: Boris Khlebnikov
film profile] and Igor Bezinović’s A Brief Excursion [+see also:
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film profile].

In the Motovun Shorts competition, the Best Film Award went to Romanian filmmaker Adrian Silisteanu's festival hit Written/Unwritten, winner of the Grand Prix at Tampere.

The Motovun Maverick Award, established in 2008 to celebrate filmmakers who, with their individualistic approach, free spirit and innovations, push the boundaries of film, was presented to Agnieszka Holland, making her the first woman to receive the honorary prize. “While I am very glad to receive this award, I am not glad to be the first female laureate. I hope there will be more of us in the years to come because the Motovun Film Festival is one of my favourites – thanks to its films, this town, the people and the Croatian language,” said Holland.

The 50 Years Award, given out to Croatian filmmakers in honour of a professional career lasting half a century, this time went to Bogdan Žižić, one of the greatest and most productive Croatian documentary filmmakers.

This year, Motovun's partner country was Iceland, and the festival screened nine films from the nation, ranging from Friðrik Þór Friðriksson's 1982 documentary Rock in Reykjavik to recent hits such as Rúnar Rúnarsson’s Sparrows [+see also:
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trailer
interview: Atli Óskar Fjalarsson
interview: Rúnar Rúnarsson
film profile] and Grímur Hákonarson’s Rams [+see also:
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interview: Grimur Hakonarson
film profile].