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 [+lire aussi :
critique
interview : Zhanna Ozirna
fiche film] (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 [+lire aussi :
critique
fiche film] (Serbia/Canada/Croatia) by Sanja Zivkovic, while Koya Kamura was crowned Best Director for his film Winter in Sokcho [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Koya Kamura
fiche film] (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 [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
fiche film] (Romania/Belgium/Netherlands), while Bulgaria’s Triumph [+lire aussi :
critique
interview : Kristina Grozeva et Petar …
fiche film] 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 [+lire aussi :
critique
fiche film] 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 [+lire aussi :
critique
interview : Eliza Petkova
fiche film] 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 [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Pavel G. Vesnakov
fiche film] (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 [+lire aussi :
critique
interview : Zhanna Ozirna
fiche film] - Zhanna Ozirna (Ukraine)

Special Jury Award
Cat’s Cry [+lire aussi :
critique
fiche film] - Sanja Zivkovic (Serbia/Canada/Croatia)

Best Director
Koya Kamura - Winter in Sokcho [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Koya Kamura
fiche film] (France/South Korea)

Special Mention
Bella Kim - Winter in Sokcho

Best Bulgarian Short Film
Nicole - Elena Toncheva (Bulgaria)

Best Balkan Film
Traffic [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
fiche film] - Teodora Ana Mihai (Romania/Belgium/Netherlands)
Special Mention
Triumph [+lire aussi :
critique
interview : Kristina Grozeva et Petar …
fiche film] - Kristina Grozeva, Petar Valchanov (Bulgaria/Greece)

Best Documentary
Dear Beautiful Beloved [+lire aussi :
critique
fiche film] - Juri Rechinsky (Austria)
Special Mention
Silent Observers [+lire aussi :
critique
interview : Eliza Petkova
fiche film] - Eliza Petkova (Bulgaria/Germany)

Best Bulgarian Feature Film
Windless [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Pavel G. Vesnakov
fiche film] - 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 [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
fiche film] - 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)