In the wake of the much-anticipated Polish elections, the Warsaw International Film Festival has handed out its awards. The gathering concluded with the traditional closing gala and awards ceremony, during which the respective juries shared the winning names with the audience and the guests present. The Grand Prix, which consists of a 100,000 PLN (over €22,000) cash award funded by the Mayor of Warsaw, was given to the Latin American film The Shadow of Catire by Jorge Hernandez Aldana, hailed by the jury as a “universal and personal cinematographic journey into the depths of the human soul”.

David Oelhoffen, of The Last Men, was named Best Director, and Zdeněk Jiráský won the Special Jury Award for I Don’t Love You Anymore [+leggi anche:
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scheda film]. The Hungarian flick Without Air [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Katalin Moldovai
scheda film] by Katalin Moldovai emerged victorious with not one, not two, but three awards. It not only took home the top prize in the 1-2 Competition, but was also voted Best Eastern European Debut by both the FIPRESCI and the young FIPRESCI juries. A Special Mention was bestowed upon Ukraine’s Denys Tarasov in the 1-2 Competition for his film Diagnosis: Dissent. Likewise, Jerzy Skolimowski’s EO [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] received a Special Mention in the Crème de la Crème Competition, where the main award was given to The Settlers [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Felipe Gálvez
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intervista: Ivan Ostrochovský, Pavol P…
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As every year, the shorts that win at Warsaw become eligible for the Oscars, and this time, the winning names included Coral by Sonia Oleniak (Short Grand Prix), Kelly Pike’s Picture Day (Best Live-action Short), Canard by Elie Chapuis (Best Animated Short) and Judith Longuet-Marx’s Empty Hours (Best Documentary Short).

Here is the full list of award winners:

Warsaw Grand Prix
The Shadow of Catire – Jorge Hernandez Aldana (Venezuela/Mexico)

Best Director
The Last Men – David Oelhoffen (France)

Special Jury Award
Zdeněk Jiráský – I Don’t Love You Anymore [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] (Czech Republic/Romania/Slovakia)

1-2 Competition

Best Film
Without Air [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Katalin Moldovai
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Special Mention
Diagnosis: Dissent – Denys Tarasov (Ukraine)

Crème de la Crème Competition

Best Film
The Settlers [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Felipe Gálvez
scheda film] – Felipe Gálvez (Chile/Argentina/UK/Taiwan/France/Denmark/Sweden/Germany)
Special Mention
EO [+leggi anche:
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Free Spirit Competition

Best Film
Riddle of Fire [+leggi anche:
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Documentary Competition

Best Film
Photophobia [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Ivan Ostrochovský, Pavol P…
scheda film] – Pavol Pekarcik, Ivan Ostrochovsky (Slovakia/Czech Republic/Ukraine)

Short Film Competition

Short Grand Prix
Coral – Sonia Oleniak (USA/Poland)

Best Live-action Short
Picture Day – Kelly Pike (USA)
Special Mention for Live-action Short
Hedgehog’s Dilemma – Mateusz Rybiński (Poland)

Best Animated Short
Canard – Elie Chapuis (Switzerland)

Best Documentary Short
Empty Hours – Judith Longuet-Marx (Belgium)
Special Mention for Documentary Short
Echo – Emi Buchwald (Poland)

Other awards

FIPRESCI Award
Without Air – Katalin Moldovai

Young FIPRESCI Award
Without Air – Katalin Moldovai

Ecumenical Jury Award
Not a Word [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Hanna Slak
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NETPAC Award
Ani Choying Drolma: Mission Impossible – F Jennifer Lin, Shan Bai (Hong Kong)

Audience Award
TBA