12/12/2005

The German production The Cave of the Yellow Dog (Die Höhle des gelben Hundes) by debut Mongolian director Davaa Byambasuren won the Grand Prix at the Bratislava International Film Festival, which ended Saturday.
Byambasuren, who lives in Germany, beat strong competition, especially from Europe in the festival’s official competition section, but her film about a young Mongolian girl who befriends a dog convinced the jury for “capturing the magic of life”.

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At the end of the day none of the favorites among the 19 films competing seem to have left the Slovak capital without some kind of award. Czech Bohdan Slama, winner at San Sebastian this year, continued to pack in international recognition with his film Something Like Happiness [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bohdan Slama
interview: Pavel Strnad
film profile] (Stesti). In Bratislava he won the Ecumenical Jury prize while Pavel Liska took Best Actor.
Another of this year’s much acclaimed films in the festival circle, Romanian Cristi Puiu’s The Death of Mr. Lazarescu [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Moartea domnului Lazarescu) also did not go unnoticed in Bratislava. It claimed the Special Mentions of both the jury and the ecumenical jury.

The Americans also had a field day, with George Clooney taking best director for his second directorial effort, Good Night, and Good Luck. And Liev Schreiber came in person to receive the audience award as well as the FIPRESCI prize for his feature Everything Is Illuminated.
This year’s 7th edition of the Bratislava International Film Festival had an audience turnout of just over 23,000 – an increase of almost 5 percent compared to last year. It offered 179 films from 49 countries in 11 thematic sections. All screenings took place in the Palace Cinemas multiplex.