Women win big at Sofia, with Honeymoon scooping the Sofia City of Film Award and Cat’s Cry the Special Jury Award
- Productions and co-productions from Ukraine, Serbia, Croatia, France and Bulgaria have emerged as the victors of this year’s Bulgarian festival
The 29th Sofia International Film Festival handed out its awards on Saturday evening. The event took place in the capital’s National Palace of Culture, where Croatian director Rajko Grlic was presented with a special prize for his contributions to the art of film. The international jury, composed of directors Patricia Mazuy (jury chair), Pia Marais, Veit Helmer, Andrey M Paounov and actress Jaana Saarinen, handed the most prestigious Sofia City of Film Award to Honeymoon [+see also:
film review
interview: Zhanna Ozirna
film profile] (Ukraine) by Zhanna Ozirna, stating that the film, “despite the state of the world, builds real faith in cinema and in its metaphysical strength”. Honeymoon also received the Young Jury Award.
The Special Jury Award went to Cat’s Cry [+see also:
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film profile] (Serbia/Canada/Croatia) by Sanja Zivkovic, while Koya Kamura was crowned Best Director for his film Winter in Sokcho [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Koya Kamura
film profile] (France/South Korea). For her role in the same film, actress Bella Kim received a Special Mention.
The festival’s Balkan jury, composed of director Roman Bondarchuk, Bulgarian critic Petia Alexandrova and producer Oliver Neumann, plumped for Teodora Ana Mihai’s Traffic [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (Romania/Belgium/Netherlands), while Bulgaria’s Triumph [+see also:
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interview: Kristina Grozeva and Petar …
film profile] by Petar Valchanov and Kristina Grozeva, starring Maria Bakalova, received a Special Mention.
In the International Documentary Competition, the big winner was Dear Beautiful Beloved [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Juri Rechinsky, rewarded by a jury composed of producer Miha Cernec, Valentina Ganeva and Boris Despodov for its “deeply emotional and heart-wrenching take on humanity and suffering during a time of war”. The Documentary jury also awarded a Special Mention to Silent Observers [+see also:
film review
interview: Eliza Petkova
film profile] by Eliza Petkova.
A jury of festival programmers – Mihai Chililov (programmer, Transilvania IFF), Dimitris Kerkinos (programmer, Thessaloniki IFF) and Bernd Buder (artistic director of the FilmFestival Cottbus) – crowned Pavel G Vesnakov’s film Windless [+see also:
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interview: Pavel G Vesnakov
film profile] (Bulgaria/Italy) as Best Bulgarian Feature. Windless also took home the FIPRESCI Jury Prize, as decided by members Tommaso Tocci (Italy), Hamed Soleimanzadeh (Iran) and Katerina Lambrinova (Bulgaria), “for its captivating cinematography” and “striking cinematic achievement”.
A total of 171 films from 58 countries were screened at the 29th Sofia International Film Festival. Repeat screenings of some titles will be available to Sofia audiences until the end of the month, and an online platform will make movies available nationwide until April. The full list of award winners is as follows:
Sofia City of Film Award
Honeymoon [+see also:
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interview: Zhanna Ozirna
film profile] - Zhanna Ozirna (Ukraine)
Special Jury Award
Cat’s Cry [+see also:
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film profile] - Sanja Zivkovic (Serbia/Canada/Croatia)
Best Director
Koya Kamura - Winter in Sokcho [+see also:
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trailer
interview: Koya Kamura
film profile] (France/South Korea)
Special Mention
Bella Kim - Winter in Sokcho
Best Bulgarian Short Film
Nicole - Elena Toncheva (Bulgaria)
Best Balkan Film
Traffic [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Teodora Ana Mihai (Romania/Belgium/Netherlands)
Special Mention
Triumph [+see also:
film review
interview: Kristina Grozeva and Petar …
film profile] - Kristina Grozeva, Petar Valchanov (Bulgaria/Greece)
Best Documentary
Dear Beautiful Beloved [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Juri Rechinsky (Austria)
Special Mention
Silent Observers [+see also:
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interview: Eliza Petkova
film profile] - Eliza Petkova (Bulgaria/Germany)
Best Bulgarian Feature Film
Windless [+see also:
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trailer
interview: Pavel G Vesnakov
film profile] - Pavel G Vesnakov (Bulgaria/Italy)
FIPRESCI Award
Windless - Pavel G Vesnakov
Award of the Bulgarian Guild of Film Critics
Triumph - Kristina Grozeva, Petar Valchanov
Audience Award
Flesh - Dimitar Stoyanovich (Bulgaria)
Young Jury Award
Honeymoon - Zhanna Ozirna
Youth Audience Award
The Story of Frank and Nina [+see also:
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trailer
film profile] - Paola Randi (Italy/Switzerland)
Sofia Award for Contribution to the Art of Film
Iossif Sarchadzhiev, director and actor (Bulgaria)
Rajko Grlic, director (Croatia)
Special Award of Sofia International Film Festival
Kosta Bikov, director (Bulgaria)
Bohdan Sláma, director (Czech Republic)
Szabolcs Hajdu, director (Hungary)
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