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FESTIVALS Latvia

November wins big at Riga

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- The Riga IFF has announced the winners of its fourth edition, with three trophies going to Rainer Sarnet’s movie, including the festival’s main award

November wins big at Riga
November by Rainer Sarnet

Baltic films seemed to dominate the Riga International Film Festival at the weekend. The main award was taken home by Estonia’s November [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rea Lest
film profile
]
 by Rainer Sarnet – a mysterious, black-and-white, folklore-infused story. The winner was handed a prize depicting the symbol of the city of Riga, a rooster, together with a €2,000 monetary award. In a video message, Sarnet expressed his happiness that Estonian folklore is understandable internationally: “The biggest challenge is to find out what connects us, not what disconnects us, especially today,” he said.

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In addition to the main prize, November walked away with the #Youth_Matters Award, presented by the Youth Jury, and the Splendid Palace People’s Choice Award. In a surprise twist, the Youth Jury decided to give out a Special Mention as well, which was bestowed upon the Latvian documentary Fairytale About the Empty Space [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Krista Burāne, for being “a film that opened our eyes and turned a new page in Latvian cinema”, as per the jury explanation. 

In the ArtDocFest section, curated by renowned Russian documentary maker Vitaly Mansky, the main award was picked up by Audrius Stonys for his quietly poetic Woman and the Glacier [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, about a Lithuanian scientist who has been living in the mountains in complete solitude for more than 30 years.

Here is the full list of award winners:

Feature Film Competition

Riga IFF Award
November [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rea Lest
film profile
]
– Rainer Sarnet (Estonia/Netherlands/Poland)
Special Mention
From the Balcony [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ole Giæver
film profile
]
 – Ole Giæver (Norway)

Youth Jury Competition

#Youth_Matters Award
November [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rea Lest
film profile
]
 – Rainer Sarnet

Special Mention
Fairy Tale About the Empty Space [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
 – Krista Burāne (Latvia)

Splendid Palace People’s Choice Award
November [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rea Lest
film profile
]
 – Rainer Sarnet

Short Film Competition

Short Riga Award
Retract - Itonje Søimer Guttormsen (Norway)
Special Mention 
MAN – Maja Borg (Sweden) 

Music Video Competition

Short Film Riga #BMV Award
Oh No (Elephants from Neptune) – Maria Reinup (Estonia)
Special Mention
No Regrets (Deeper Upper) – Saulius Baradinskas (Lithuania)

ArtDocFest/Riga Audience Award
Woman and the Glacier [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 – Audrius Stonys (Lithuania/Estonia)

Honourable Mention for the Best Producer’s Work
Stanislav Ershov – producer of The Last Waltz (Russia)

Riga IFF Kids’ Jury Award 
Room 213 – Emelie Lindblom (Sweden)

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