The Riga International Film Festival, which ran from 13-23 October in the Latvian capital as well as online, concluded with an announcement of the winners across its six competition sections during an awards ceremony held on Saturday night.

Godland [+lee también:
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entrevista: Elliott Crosset Hove
entrevista: Hlynur Pálmason
ficha de la película] by Icelandic director Hlynur Pálmason was chosen as the laureate of the festival’s main prize, the Golden Rooster, which came with €4,000 in cash. The prize adds to the plaudits for the film, which has already been lauded across the festival circuit after premiering in this year’s Un Certain Regard. The jury – made up of Ollie Charles, a representative of film streaming platform MUBI; Barbara Wurm, a film curator and researcher at the Humboldt University of Berlin; Uldis Cekulis, a director and the founder of Latvian film studio VFS Films; Karolis Kaupinis, whose Nova Lituania [+lee también:
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entrevista: Karolis Kaupinis
ficha de la película] won the main award at the 2019 Riga IFF; and Marcin Pieńkowski, director of the New Horizons International Film Festival in Wrocław – described the film as “a multi-layered cinematic experience that constantly evolves and interacts with the audience’s expectations”.

The jury gave a Special Mention to Signe Baumane’s animated feature My Love Affair with Marriage [+lee también:
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entrevista: Signe Baumane
ficha de la película], which had its national premiere at the festival. They described it as “a creative work full of detail, sincerity and self-deprecation”.

The festival’s family section, Kids’ Reel, saw the award go to Comedy Queen [+lee también:
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entrevista: Sanna Lenken
ficha de la película] by Swedish director Sanna Lenken. The jury said it was “a story that offers a strong message of resilience and finding oneself”. The film is no stranger to awards after winning the Crystal Bear at this year’s edition of Berlin and the ECFA jury’s award, which guarantees that the movie will receive a nomination for the ECFA Best European Children’s Film Award. The jury also selected Piret Sigus and Silja Saarepuu’s animation The Turnip as the winner of the Kids’ Reel Short-film Competition.

The Riga IFF children’s jury named the animated feature Yuku and the Himalayan Flower [+lee también:
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entrevista: Rémi Durin y Arnaud Demuynck
ficha de la película] by French filmmakers Arnaud Demuynck and Rémi Durin as their favourite film. The movie will be screened on Latvian television after the festival in cooperation with LTV.

The main prize in the International Short-film Competition went to director Francesco Montagner for his Czech-Slovak co-produced short Asterión, which received a €2,000 cash prize. The jury – consisting of Anne Gaschütz, director of Filmfest Dresden and member of the selection committee for shorts at the Locarno Film Festival; Sander Joon, an Estonian animation director; and Inja Korać, a short-film curator at the Motovun and Beldocs festivals, and director of Industry at the Zagreb Film Festival – said that this work “breaks preconceived ideas about modern cinema, while at the same time acquiring a timeless quality through its beautiful visuals, substance and innovative editing”. The film has now become a candidate to be shortlisted for the European Film Academy’s 2023 European Short Film Award.

The winner of the Riga IFF National Short-film Competition was Anna Ansone’s Can’t Help Myself, “a hypnotic tale told from the female gaze, in which we want to highlight the subtle sense of humour and unexpected plot twists”. The filmmaker will receive a cash prize of €1,000.

The winner of the Test Screenings – which saw Baltic and Ukrainian filmmakers show their almost-completed short films to an audience of industry experts – was the documentary The Sun Shines, But Doesn’t Heat by Ukrainian director Oleksandr Kosiak. It thus received the BB Posthouse Award, comprising post-production services worth €3,000.

The award in the Baltic Music-video Competition went to the video for the song “Ne Daiktai” by Jonas Šarkus and Džiugas Babenskas. Riga also presented a Lifetime Achievement Award, which this year went to Juris Zviedris and Aīda Zviedre for running the Riga-based arthouse cinema K Suns for the last 30 years. The award was presented by Mārtiņš Staķis, the Mayor of Riga.

Here is the full list of award winners:

Golden Rooster
Godland [+lee también:
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entrevista: Elliott Crosset Hove
entrevista: Hlynur Pálmason
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Special Mention
My Love Affair with Marriage [+lee también:
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entrevista: Signe Baumane
ficha de la película] - Signe Baumane (Latvia/USA/Lithuania)

International Short-film Competition Winner
Asterión - Francesco Montagner (Czech Republic/Slovakia)
Special Mention
Sardine - Johanna Caraire (France)

Short-film Candidate for the European Film Awards
Asterión - Francesco Montagner

Kids’ Reel Children’s Jury Award
Yuku and the Himalayan Flower [+lee también:
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entrevista: Rémi Durin y Arnaud Demuynck
ficha de la película] - Arnaud Demuynck, Rémi Durin (France)

Kids’ Reel Feature-film Competition Winner
Comedy Queen [+lee también:
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entrevista: Sanna Lenken
ficha de la película] - Sanna Lenken (Sweden)

Kids’ Reel Short-film Competition Winner
The Turnip - Piret Sigus, Silja Saarepuu (Estonia)

Baltic Music-video Competition Winner
“Ne Daiktai” - Jonas Šarkus, Džiugas Babenskas (Lithuania)
Special Mention
“Sunshine Cake” - Kristijonas Dirsė (Latvia)

Short Riga Test Screenings Winner
The Sun Shines, But Doesn’t Heat - Oleksandr Kosiak (Ukraine)

Lifetime Achievement Award
Aīda Zviedre, Juris Zviedris