27/03/2023 - The Cannes hit The Eight Mountains has scooped the Audience Award, whilst the late Mantas Kvedaravičius’ Mariupolis 2 won the gong for Best Lithuanian Film

r-l: Jury members Laurynas Bareiša, Jakub Duszynskis, Miguel Valverde and Dounia Sichov and festival CEO Algirdas Ramaskas during the awards ceremony (© Vilnius International Film Festival)

This year’s Vilnius International Film Festival (VIFF, 16-26 March) returned as a fully in-person edition, with local audiences attending in record numbers and the Lithuanian capital celebrating its 700^th anniversary.

The 2023 edition of the gathering saw the triumph of Philip Sotnychenko’s La Palisiada [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Philip Sotnychenko
film profile] (Ukraine), crowned Best Film and in receipt of an €8,000 cash prize offered by the Municipality of Vilnius. The jury – made up of Polish distributor Jakub Duszynskis, of Gutek Film; IndieLisboa festival director Miguel Valverde; editor Dounia Sichov; and director-cinematographer Laurynas Bareiša – stated that their “strong emotional response was connected with an innovative technique and playfulness, which provoked curiosity and a desire to return to cinema”.

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On 26 March, the festival was brought to a close by the traditional awards gala and a special screening of the observational documentary A Letter to Ukraine, a collective effort made by the Lithuanian film community, zooming in on the Baltic country’s response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and its support for Ukrainian refugees.

Among the other big victors were Charlotte Vandermeersch and Felix van Groeningen’s Cannes hit The Eight Mountains [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Felix van Groeningen & Char…
film profile] (Italy/Belgium/France/UK), which scooped the Audience Award, and the documentary Mariupolis 2 [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (Lithuania/France/Germany), directed by the late Mantas Kvedaravičius and co-directed by Hanna Bilobrova, which received the Award for Best Lithuanian Film. Kvedaravičius was killed in Mariupol a few days prior to the closing ceremony of last year’s festival, where his previous film Mariupolis [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mantas Kvedaravicius
film profile] had been screened.

The festival’s CEO, Algirdas Ramaška, said that 80,000 visitors attended the screenings this year. “It was great to see the hustle and bustle in the cinemas: film fans waiting for their screening and already choosing their next film, people trying to jump from one event to another, extensive feedback and the sharing of experiences on films. This year, we had an absolute feeling of togetherness. The dominant theme in almost all of our films was relationships. After such hard, pandemic-riddled years and the war, we feel the need to be better versions of ourselves and to be together,” he commented.

Meanwhile, VIFF’s Meeting Point Vilnius industry programme wrapped its Coming Soon competition with three winners, including the Lithuanian documentary Požerkis: In Focus, directed by Joris Skudra. Head of Industry Alessandra Pastore commented: “Together with curator Edvinas Pukšta, we offered sales agents, buyers and programmers a wide range of projects in terms of countries and genres – from Lithuania to Armenia, from fiction to animation. […] One of this year’s highlights was our on-site Talents Nest programme, which saw the participation of 25 emerging professionals coming from the Baltic countries and the Eastern Partnership countries – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova and Ukraine. This was shaped as a five-day B2B study visit, which was made possible with support coming from the EU4Business: Connecting Companies project. Their presence made Meeting Point Vilnius a real ‘meeting point’ for many talents who are facing the post-COVID era and the consequences of the war.”

The festival was supported by the Lithuanian Film Centre, and was co-funded by the Lithuanian Council for Culture, the European Union’s Creative Europe – MEDIA programme, Vilnius City Municipality and Go Vilnius. Meeting Point Vilnius was organised in co-operation with the Vilnius Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Crafts together with the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Georgian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Armenia.

Here is the full list of this year’s award winners:

Best Film
La Palisiada [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Philip Sotnychenko
film profile] – Philip Sotnychenko (Ukraine)

Best Lithuanian Film
Mariupolis 2 [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Mantas Kvedaravičius, Hanna Bilobrova (Lithuania/France/Germany)

Best Short Film
Neighbour Abdi – Douwe Dijkstra (Netherlands)
Special Mention
Shadows of the Butterflies – Sofia El Khyari (Qatar/Portugal/Morocco/France)

Best Lithuanian Short Film
Cherries – Vytautas Katkus (Lithuania)

Audience Award
The Eight Mountains [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Felix van Groeningen & Char…
film profile] – Charlotte Vandermeersch, Felix van Groeningen (Italy/Belgium/France/UK)

Meeting Point Vilnius winners

Avaka Best Lithuanian Pitch Award
Požerkis: In Focus – Joris Skudra (Lithuania)

The Lithuanian Film Center Award
Nobody Likes Me – Tomas Weinreb, Petr Kazda (Czech Republic)

Marché du Film – Producers Network Awards
Požerkis: In Focus – Juste Michailinaite (producer)
Isthmus – Mina Dreki (producer)