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KARLOVY VARY 2017 Awards

Little Crusader wins Karlovy Vary

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- KARLOVY VARY 2017: Václav Kadrnka's film collects the Crystal Globe (the first time it's been taken home by a local director in 15 years), while Men Don’t Cry receives the Special Jury Prize

Little Crusader wins Karlovy Vary
Václav Kadrnka (left) with his Crystal Globe for Little Crusader (© Jan Handrejch/KVIFF)

Ever since the triumph of Petr Zelenka’s Year of the Devil in 2002, a Czech film hadn’t managed to take home the Crystal Globe from the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. But on Saturday, the 52nd edition of the festival changed all that by bestowing its main award upon the latest oeuvre by Czech director Václav KadrnkaLittle Crusader [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Václav Kadrnka
film profile
]
.

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The film, which could be best described as an abstract medieval road movie, is based on an epic poem by Jaroslav Vrchlický about the mythological Children’s Crusade. The jury, comprising Anna BrüggemannSarah FlackCiro GuerraMichel Merkt and Štefan Uhrík, awarded Kadrnka the first major prize of his career.

Besides this, another filmmaker from the region received the Award for Best Director: Slovakia’s Peter Bebjak, for The Line [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Andrey Yermak
interview: Peter Bebjak
film profile
]
, a gangster thriller set on the Slovak-Ukrainian border. Men Don’t Cry [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alen Drljević
film profile
]
, Bosnian director Alen Drljevič’s take on the rivalries in the former Yugoslavian countries, was awarded the Special Jury Prize.

The acting prizes were shared by Jowita Budnik and Eliane Umuhire, the lead actresses in Birds Are Singing in Kigali [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Joanna Kos-Krauze
film profile
]
, the stark but enchanting film by Joanna Kos-Krauze and Krzysztof Krauze (who passed away recently) about the consequences of the Rwandan genocide, and Alexander Yatsenko, for his role in Russian filmmaker Boris Khlebnikov’s Arrhythmia [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Boris Khlebnikov
film profile
]
.

Surprisingly, one of the most warmly received films in competition, The Cakemaker [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ofir Raul Graizer
film profile
]
 by Israeli filmmaker Ofir Raul Graizer, left the festival empty-handed, while the US title Keep the Change and young Romanian actress Voica Oltean (from Iulia Rugină’s Breaking News [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Iulia Rugină
film profile
]
) got two Special Mentions.

In the meantime, the parallel East of the West section celebrated the success of the Russian title How Viktor "the Garlic" Took Alexey "the Stud" to the Nursing Home [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
 by Alexander Hant, with a Special Mention for Dede [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 by Georgian filmmaker Mariam Khatchvani, and the parallel Documentary Competition section crowned the hilarious family diary by Spanish filmmaker Gustavo SalmerónLots of Kids, a Monkey and a Castle [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Gustavo Salmerón
film profile
]
, with a Special Mention going to Atelier de conversation [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 by Austrian filmmaker Bernhard Braunstein.

The festival’s closing ceremony also included tributes to US actor Jeremy Renner and Czech director Václav Vorlíček, who both received a Festival President’s Award from KVIFF president Jiří Bartoška. This edition also saw the handing out of Festival President’s Awards to US actors Casey Affleck and Uma Thurman, as well as a Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema to Ken Loach and Paul Laverty.

Next year’s edition will be held from 29 June-7 July.

Here is the full list of winners of the 52nd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival:

Competition

Crystal Globe for Best Film
Little Crusader [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Václav Kadrnka
film profile
]
 – Václav Kadrnka (Czech Republic/Slovak Republic/Italy)

Special Jury Prize
Men Don’t Cry [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alen Drljević
film profile
]
 – Alen Drljevič (Bosnia and Herzegovina/Slovenia/Croatia/Germany)

Best Director
Peter Bebjak - The Line [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Andrey Yermak
interview: Peter Bebjak
film profile
]
 (Slovak Republic/Ukraine)

Best Actress
Jowita Budnik, Eliane Umuhire - Birds Are Singing in Kigali [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Joanna Kos-Krauze
film profile
]
 (Poland)

Best Actor
Alexander Yatsenko - Arrhythmia [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Boris Khlebnikov
film profile
]
 (Russia/Finland/Germany)

Special Jury Prize for Best First Feature
Keep The Change - Rachel Israel (USA)

Special Jury Prize for Best Actress
Voica Oltean - Breaking News [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Iulia Rugină
film profile
]
 (Romania)

East of the West

Best Film
How Viktor "the Garlic" Took Alexey "the Stud" to the Nursing Home [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
 - Alexander Hant (Russia)

Special Jury Prize
Dede [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 – Mariam Khatchvani (Georgia/United Kingdom)

Documentary Competition

Best Film
Lots of Kids, a Monkey and a Castle [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Gustavo Salmerón
film profile
]
 – Gustavo Salmerón (Spain)

Special Jury Prize
Atelier de conversation [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 – Bernhard Braunstein (Austria/France/Lichtenstein)

Other awards

Audience Award
Wind River - Taylor Sheridan (USA)

FIPRESCI Prize
Keep The Change - Rachel Israel

Ecumenical Jury Award
The Cakemaker [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ofir Raul Graizer
film profile
]
 – Ofir Raul Graizer (Israel/Germany)

FEDEORA Award
Mariţa [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Cristi Iftime
film profile
]
 – Cristi Iftime (Romania)
Special Mention
Blue Silence [+see also:
trailer
interview: Bülent Öztürk
film profile
]
 - Bülent Öztürk (Turkey/Belgium)

Europa Cinemas Label
Men Don't Cry - Alen Drljević

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