12/11/2018 - Other winners at the 16th edition of the gathering included WE, The Delegation, Breathing into Marble, Secret Ingredient and Holy Boom

Stefan Kitanov, producer of Irina, receiving the Golden Owl for Best Feature Film

The 16th Tirana International Film Festival (2-9 November) wrapped on Saturday night with Bulgarian filmmaker Nadejda Koseva's debut film, Irina [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Martina Apostolova
film profile], winning the festival’s main prize, the Golden Owl for Best Feature Film. 

The Dutch movie WE [+see also:
trailer
film profile] won Best Director for Rene Eller and the "Luc Barnier" Award for Best Editing for Wouter van Luijn.

Albanian filmmaker Bujar Alimani's The Delegation [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] picked up Best Screenplay for Artan Minarolli, the Media Award, the Audience Choice Award, as well as a Special Mention for its ensemble cast, consisting of Viktor Zhusti, Ndriçim Xhepa and Xhevdet Ferri. 

Best Cinematography went to Lithuania's Audrius Kemezys for Breathing into Marble [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Giedrė Beinoriūtė
film profile] by Giedrė Beinoriūtė, while Secret Ingredient [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Blagoj Veselinov
interview: Gjorce Stavreski
film profile] by Macedonia's Gjorče Stavreski triumphed in the EYE on TIFF – Debut Feature Film Competition. 

The Best Balkan Film Award went to Maria Lafi's Holy Boom [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Albania/Cyprus/Greece), and Hani Domazet's Tina & Sendi (Croatia) pocketed a Special Mention. 

Kosovar filmmaker Zgjim Terziqi's short film A Month won Best Film in the Albanian Language, with Atila by Benart Laze going home with a Special Mention.

Finally, in the Short Film Competition, which is Oscar-qualifying from this year onwards, Romania's Emanuel Parvu triumphed with Everything Is Far Away. 

Here is the full list of award winners:

International Feature Competition

Golden Owl - Best Feature Film
Irina [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Martina Apostolova
film profile] - Nadejda Koseva (Bulgaria)

Best Director
Rene Eller - WE [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Netherlands) 

Best Screenplay
Artan Minarolli - The Delegation [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (Albania/France/Greece/Kosovo)

Best Editing 
Wouter van Luijn - WE

Special Mention 
Viktor Zhusti, Ndriçim Xhepa, Xhevdet Ferri - The Delegation

Media Award
The Delegation - Bujar Alimani

Audience Choice Award
The Delegation - Bujar Alimani

EYE on TIFF – Debut Feature Film Competition

Winner
Secret Ingredient [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Blagoj Veselinov
interview: Gjorce Stavreski
film profile] - Gjorče Stavreski (Macedonia/Greece) 

International Short Film Competition

Best Short Film 
Everything Is Far Away - Emanuel Parvu (Romania)

Best Fiction
All These Creatures - Charles Williams (Australia)

Best Animation
Bendito Machine VI - Carry On - Jossie Malis (Spain/France)

Special Mention
Forgive Me - Besim Ugzmajli (Kosovo)

International Documentary Competition

Best Documentary
The Greenaway Alphabet [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - Saskia Boddeke (Netherlands)

Best Feature-length Documentary
The Greenaway Alphabet - Saskia Boddeke

Best Mid-Short Documentary
Mountain - Grégoire Verbeke (Belgium) 

Balkan Competition

Best Balkan Film
Holy Boom [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - Maria Lafi (Albania/Cyprus/Greece)

Special Mention
Tina & Sendy - Hani Domazet (Croatia) 

Best Film in the Albanian Language
A Month - Zgjim Terziqi (Kosovo) 

Special Mention
Atila - Benart Laze (Albania)

Best Student Film
A Worthy Man - Kristian Håskjold (Denmark)

Best Video Art and Experimental Film
The End of Time - Milcho Manchevski (USA)