The 19th edition of the Bucharest International Film Festival (BIFF, 15-22 September) has concluded with a gala that took place in the cinema in the Peasant Museum (one of the very few arthouse cinema venues left in Bucharest, now boasting a new projector and a new screen installed just weeks ago). During the event, Celine Song’s Past Lives (USA/South Korea) was crowned with the Grand Prix.

The Best Director Award went to Pham Thien An for Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell [+lee también:
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entrevista: Lila Avilés
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The jury of the 19th edition of the BIFF was presided over by Swedish film critic and former director of the Göteborg Film Festival Gunnar Bergdahl, and also comprised Romanian film directors Iulia Rugină and Catrinel Dănăiaţă, Elle Driver festivals manager Shaïma Issaa and Serbian film critic Dejan Petrović.

Besides its official competition, the gathering boasted a variety of sidebars – for example, Panorama, Romanian Authors, History and Cinema, and Youth Voice. The Romanian Authors sidebar played host to the first Bucharest screenings of Iulia Rugină’s Playback [+lee también:
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ficha de la película], which was met with an aggressive reaction from some local Christians after its release in early September, leading to the cancellation of some of its screenings by the local authorities for fear of protests, was also shown (without incident) in the Romanian Authors sidebar (listen to our podcast episode about the film).

The Bucharest International Film Festival is organised by the Charta Foundation and the Grigore Vasiliu Birlic Cultural Association, under the high patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Radu of Romania. It is supported by the Ministry of Culture and is organised in partnership with Bucharest City Hall through ARCUB - the Cultural Center of Bucharest.

Here is the full list of award winners:

Grand Prix
Past Lives - Celine Song (USA/South Korea)

Best Director
Pham Thien An - Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell [+lee también:
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Best Screenplay
Nick Pinkerton - The Sweet East (USA)

Jury's Special Mention
Tótem [+lee también:
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tráiler
entrevista: Lila Avilés
ficha de la película] - Lila Avilés (Mexico/Denmark/France)