07/12/2009

Philippe Van Leeuw's film The Day God Went Away [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] was named Best Film at the closing ceremony of the 11th Bratislava International Film Festival on Dec 4. An international jury singled out the film from among TK contenders, praising it “for the way it takes the tragic, horrific events of the Rwandan massacre and transforms them into a powerful, primordial story of a woman suspended between life and death.“ The Belgian-French co-production also earned Ruth Nirere the award for Best Actress.

Kamen Kalev was named Best Director for his film Eastern Plays [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kamen Kalev
film profile] (LUX Prize 2009 competition) "for rendering a tough and complex social situation in very naked emotional terms, via an original, contemporary film language," according to the jury. The Bulgarian-Swedish co-production also picked up the Ecumenical Jury Award.

Best Actor was awarded ex aequo to the late actor Christo Christov for Eastern Plays and to Harold Torres for his performance in Northless.

Northless, a co-production between Mexico and Spain directed by Rigoberto Pérezcano, received the FIPRESCI Jury Award and an additional Special Mention "for the skill and grace with which it weaves a delicate universal tragicomedy out of potentially clichéd border-crossing story."

Best Documentary went to Zhao Liang's Chinese-French co-production Petition while Italian directors Fabio Grassadonia and Antonio Piazza collected the honor for Best Short with their film Rita.

The festival presented Slovak director Juraj Herz with its Award for Artistic Excellence in World Cinematography.

A Dec 4 panel discussion on the international perception of Slovak film touched on Slovakia's successes in recent years at Venice and Cannes and looked forward to the creation of a Slovak film commission and the possible implemenation of incentives like those in neighboring countries to stimulate film production.