16/10/2023 - The Venezuelan-Mexican co-production by Jorge Hernandez Aldana has scooped the Polish festival’s top prize, while Katalin Moldovai’s Without Air emerged as a triple winner

Without Air director Katalin Moldovai, producer Béla Attila Kovács, DoP András Táborosi and actress Ágnes Krasznahorkai with their prizes (© Julia Dacka)

In the wake of the much-anticipated Polish elections, the Warsaw International Film Festival has handed out its awards. The gathering concluded with the traditional closing gala and awards ceremony, during which the respective juries shared the winning names with the audience and the guests present. The Grand Prix, which consists of a 100,000 PLN (over €22,000) cash award funded by the Mayor of Warsaw, was given to the Latin American film The Shadow of Catire by Jorge Hernandez Aldana, hailed by the jury as a “universal and personal cinematographic journey into the depths of the human soul”.

David Oelhoffen, of The Last Men, was named Best Director, and Zdeněk Jiráský won the Special Jury Award for I Don’t Love You Anymore [+see also:
film review
film profile]. The Hungarian flick Without Air [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Katalin Moldovai
film profile] by Katalin Moldovai emerged victorious with not one, not two, but three awards. It not only took home the top prize in the 1-2 Competition, but was also voted Best Eastern European Debut by both the FIPRESCI and the young FIPRESCI juries. A Special Mention was bestowed upon Ukraine’s Denys Tarasov in the 1-2 Competition for his film Diagnosis: Dissent. Likewise, Jerzy Skolimowski’s EO [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] received a Special Mention in the Crème de la Crème Competition, where the main award was given to The Settlers [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Felipe Gálvez
film profile] by Felipe Gálvez. Other winning titles included Pavol Pekarcik and Ivan Ostrochovsky’s Photophobia [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ivan Ostrochovský, Pavol Pe…
film profile] (Best Documentary) and Ani Choying Drolma: Mission Impossible by F Jennifer Lin and Shan Bai (NETPAC Jury Award for Best Asian/Pacific Film).

As every year, the shorts that win at Warsaw become eligible for the Oscars, and this time, the winning names included Coral by Sonia Oleniak (Short Grand Prix), Kelly Pike’s Picture Day (Best Live-action Short), Canard by Elie Chapuis (Best Animated Short) and Judith Longuet-Marx’s Empty Hours (Best Documentary Short).

Here is the full list of award winners:

Warsaw Grand Prix
The Shadow of Catire – Jorge Hernandez Aldana (Venezuela/Mexico)

Best Director
The Last Men – David Oelhoffen (France)

Special Jury Award
Zdeněk Jiráský – I Don’t Love You Anymore [+see also:
film review
film profile] (Czech Republic/Romania/Slovakia)

1-2 Competition

Best Film
Without Air [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Katalin Moldovai
film profile] – Katalin Moldovai (Hungary)
Special Mention
Diagnosis: Dissent – Denys Tarasov (Ukraine)

Crème de la Crème Competition

Best Film
The Settlers [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Felipe Gálvez
film profile] – Felipe Gálvez (Chile/Argentina/UK/Taiwan/France/Denmark/Sweden/Germany)
Special Mention
EO [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Jerzy Skolimowski (Poland/Italy)

Free Spirit Competition

Best Film
Riddle of Fire [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Weston Razooli (USA/France)

Documentary Competition

Best Film
Photophobia [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ivan Ostrochovský, Pavol Pe…
film profile] – Pavol Pekarcik, Ivan Ostrochovsky (Slovakia/Czech Republic/Ukraine)

Short Film Competition

Short Grand Prix
Coral – Sonia Oleniak (USA/Poland)

Best Live-action Short
Picture Day – Kelly Pike (USA)
Special Mention for Live-action Short
Hedgehog’s Dilemma – Mateusz Rybiński (Poland)

Best Animated Short
Canard – Elie Chapuis (Switzerland)

Best Documentary Short
Empty Hours – Judith Longuet-Marx (Belgium)
Special Mention for Documentary Short
Echo – Emi Buchwald (Poland)

Other awards

FIPRESCI Award
Without Air – Katalin Moldovai

Young FIPRESCI Award
Without Air – Katalin Moldovai

Ecumenical Jury Award
Not a Word [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hanna Slak
film profile] – Hanna Slak (Germany/France/Slovenia)

NETPAC Award
Ani Choying Drolma: Mission Impossible – F Jennifer Lin, Shan Bai (Hong Kong)

Audience Award
TBA