The 32nd edition of the European Film Festival Palić came to a close with an awards ceremony which took place on the northern Serbian resort town’s iconic summer stage, in the middle of the town park, on Wednesday 23 July, followed by screenings of the festival’s closing films: Maja Uzelac’s mid-length documentary Echoes of the Plains, which was screened out of competition, and the final competitive title, Anne Le Ny’s Out of Control [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
ficha de la película]. The award-winners were first revealed to the public during the last press conference which was held at noon that same day. This year’s edition (running 19-23 July) was two days shorter than usual, but it nonetheless managed to showcase films across eleven sections, while other side programmes connected to the festival ran either before or will run after the official core of the event.

The Official Selection jury was composed of Berlinale Talents project manager Nikola Joetze, the director of the Red Sea Souk Market at the Red Sea International Film Festival Holy Daniel, and Serbian filmmaker Zoran Amar, who awarded the Golden Tower for Best Film to Sergei Loznitsa’s Two Prosecutors [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
entrevista: Sergei Loznitsa
ficha de la película]. In their statement, the jury described the film as “a tragic story showing how hope for greater justice is futile”, and commended Loznitsa for emphasising that “honesty is noble, but it does not/could not/did not work.” The same jury awarded Paulo Marinou-Blanco the Best Director trophy for his work on Dreaming of Lions [+lee también:
crítica
entrevista: Paolo Marinou-Blanco
ficha de la película] and gave a special mention to Out of Control.

Sergei Loznitsa also won this year’s Aleksandar Lifka Honorary Award for his contribution to European cinema. Serbian actor Svetozar Cvetković triumphed for his contribution to Serbian cinema, while Austrian experimental cinema auteur Peter Tscherkassky is this year’s recipient of the Underground Spirit award.

The Parallels and Encounters section jury was composed of Peter Webber (a filmmaker and editor in the UK), Tomi Salkovski (a producer in North Macedonia) and Bernd Buder (a festival director in Germany), who crowned Honeymoon [+lee también:
crítica
entrevista: Zhanna Ozirna
ficha de la película], the debut feature by Zhanna Ozirna, their champion. They also singled out The Black Hole [+lee también:
entrevista: Moonika Siimets
ficha de la película] by Moonika Siimets for a Special Mention.

Last but not least, the FIPRESCI jury (Kata Gyürke, Davide Magnisi and Leigh Singer) decided to reward Alexandros Avranas’ Quiet Life [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
entrevista: Alexandros Avranas
ficha de la película], while the Gorki List Audience Award winner will be announced later.

The full list of awards is as follows:

Official Selection

Golden Tower for Best Film
Two Prosecutors [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
entrevista: Sergei Loznitsa
ficha de la película] – Sergei Loznitsa (France/Germany/Netherlands/Latvia/Romania/Lithuania)

Palić Tower for Best Director
Paolo Marinou-Blanco – Dreaming of Lions [+lee también:
crítica
entrevista: Paolo Marinou-Blanco
ficha de la película] (Portugal/Spain/Brazil)

Special Mention
Out of Control [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
ficha de la película] – Anne Le Ny (France)

Parallels and Encounters

Best Film
Honeymoon [+lee también:
crítica
entrevista: Zhanna Ozirna
ficha de la película] – Zhanna Ozirna (Ukraine)

Special Mention
The Black Hole [+lee también:
entrevista: Moonika Siimets
ficha de la película] – Moonika Siimets (Estonia/Finland)

Other Awards

FIPRESCI Jury Award for Best Film
Quiet Life [+lee también:
crítica
tráiler
entrevista: Alexandros Avranas
ficha de la película] – Alexandros Avranas (France/Germany/Sweden/Estonia/Greece/Finland)

Gorki List Audience Award
TBA

Honorary Awards

Aleksandar Lifka Award
Sergei Loznitsa, Svetozar Cvetković

Underground Spirit Award
Peter Tscherkassky