email print share on Facebook share on Twitter share on LinkedIn share on reddit pin on Pinterest

BATUMI 2019 Awards

Let There Be Light wins at Batumi

by 

- Other winners include A Tale of Three Sisters, End of Season, Shooting the Mafia, Lovemobil, Forman vs. Forman and Reza Mirkarimi's Castle of Dreams

Let There Be Light wins at Batumi
Editor Soso Bliadze picking up the Jury’s Special Prize for End of Season

The 14th Batumi International Arthouse Film Festival (15-22 September) wrapped last night with a ceremony in the Black Sea city's State Musical Centre. Marko Škop's Karlovy Vary title Let There Be Light [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Marko Škop
interview: Milan Ondrík
film profile
]
picked up the Grand Prix, just two days after winning the same, main award at the Almaty Film Festival.

Iran's Reza Mirkarimi received the Best Director gong for Castle of Dreams, as well as the Award of the Georgian Film Critics’ Jury. Emin Alper's A Tale of Three Sisters [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Emin Alper
interview: Emin Alper
film profile
]
won both accolades in the acting categories: Best Actress for Ece Yüksel and Best Actor for Kayhan Açikgöz. Finally, the Jury's Special Prize went to Elmar Imanov's Rotterdam title End of Season [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
(Germany/Azerbaijan/Georgia).

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

In the Documentary Competition, Kim Longinotto's Shooting the Mafia [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
won the Best Film Award, and Special Mentions were given to Helena Treštikova and Jakub Hejna's Forman vs. Forman [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
and Elke Margarete Lehrenkrauss' Lovemobil [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
.

Georgian filmmaker Amiran Dolidze's Locarno hit Animal won the Best Short Film Award, while Hope by Belarus' Aleksandra Markova and Watermelon Juice by Spain's Irene Moray received Special Mentions.

Earlier in the festival, the Lifetime Achievement Awards for Contribution to Cinema were bestowed upon Paul Schrader, Denis Lavant, Krzysztof Zanussi and veteran Georgian actor Manuchar Shervashidze, while on the closing night, the president of the jury, Russian director Alexander Mindadze, received the same honour.

Here is the full list of award winners:

Feature Competition

Grand Prix
Let There Be Light [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Marko Škop
interview: Milan Ondrík
film profile
]
- Marko Škop (Slovakia/Czech Republic)

Best Director
Reza Mirkarimi - Castle of Dreams (Iran)

Best Actress
Ece Yüksel - A Tale of Three Sisters [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Emin Alper
interview: Emin Alper
film profile
]
(Turkey/Germany/Netherlands/Greece)

Best Actor
Kayhan Açikgöz - A Tale of Three Sisters

Jury’s Special Prize
End of Season [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Elmar Imamov (Germany/Azerbaijan/Georgia)

Georgian Film Critics’ Jury Prize
Castle of Dreams - Reza Mirkarimi

Documentary Competition

Best Film
Shooting the Mafia [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Kim Longinotto (Ireland)

Special Mentions
Forman vs. Forman [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Helena Treštikova, Jakub Hejna (Czech Republic/France)
Lovemobil [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Elke Margarete Lehrenkrauss (Germany)

Short Film Competition

Best Film
Animal - Amiran Dolidze (Georgia)

Special Mentions
Hope - Aleksandra Markova (Belarus)
Watermelon Juice - Irene Moray (Spain)

Lifetime Achievement Award for Contribution to Cinema
Paul Schrader (USA)
Denis Lavant (France)
Krzysztof Zanussi (Poland)
Alexander Mindadze (Russia)
Manuchar Shervashidze (Georgia)

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.

Privacy Policy