Georgi M Unkovski’s DJ Ahmet [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Georgi M. Unkovski
scheda film], a co-production between North Macedonia, the Czech Republic, Serbia and Croatia, has won the Grand Prix at the 38th Herceg Novi Film Festival (23-29 August). The jury presided over by playwright and screenwriter Predrag Perišić, and consisting of Serbian actress Nataša Ninković, Montenegrin film critic Maja Bogojević, Turkish film professional Esra Demirkiran and Bosnian director Gorčin Stojanović, praised the film for “its prowess in bringing new vitality and emotion to the coming-of-age narrative”.

Slovenian director Urška Djukić’s debut feature, Little Trouble Girls [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Urška Djukić
scheda film] (Slovenia/Italy/Croatia/Serbia), won the FEDEORA Award. The jury, consisting of Czech-British film scholar and cultural historian Natascha Drubek-Meyer, Montenegrin film critic Stojan Stamenić and Cineuropa's own Ştefan Dobroiu, hailed the film as “a tender, deeply human coming-of-age story that reminds us that nothing in life is ever definitive, and that we remain works in progress at every age. We were moved by the performances, the exquisite economy of the screenplay and, indeed, by everything else – above all, the film’s most powerful message: that no one has the right to silence one’s voice.”

Nikola Ležaić's How Come It's All Green Out Here? [+leggi anche:
recensione
intervista: Nikola Ležaić
scheda film] (Serbia/Croatia/Bulgaria) won the Best Directing Award, while Stefan Bošković received the Best Screenplay Award for Srđan Vuletić's Otter [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Srđan Vuletić
scheda film] (Montenegro/Italy/Croatia/Bosnia and Herzegovina/Kosovo). The acting awards went to Serbian thesp Andrija Kuzmanović for Vladimir Tagić's Yugo Florida [+leggi anche:
recensione
intervista: Vladimir Tagić
scheda film] (Serbia/Bulgaria/France/Croatia/Montenegro) and to Slovenian actresses Anica Dobra and Lea Cok from Marko Naberšnik's Whites Wash at Ninety [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] (Slovenia/Serbia/Croatia/Italy/Montenegro/North Macedonia).

An emotional moment at the gala occurred after the announcement of the Best Documentary Award, which went to Rehab Nazzal’s short doc Vibrations from Gaza. Both the director, in a recorded message, and the Palestinian ambassador in Montenegro, Rabii Al Hantouli, who came to pick up the award in person, urged the global audience to react against the Israeli genocide in Gaza.

The complete list of award winners is below:

Best Film
DJ Ahmet [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Georgi M. Unkovski
scheda film] - Georgi M Unkovski (North Macedonia/Czech Republic/Serbia/Croatia)

Best Director
Nikola Ležaić - How Come It's All Green Out Here? [+leggi anche:
recensione
intervista: Nikola Ležaić
scheda film] (Serbia/Croatia/Bulgaria)

Best Screenplay
Stefan Bošković - Otter [+leggi anche:
recensione
intervista: Srđan Vuletić
scheda film] (Montenegro/Bosnia and Herzegovina/Italy/Croatia/Kosovo)

Best Actor
Andrija Kuzmanović - Yugo Florida [+leggi anche:
recensione
intervista: Vladimir Tagić
scheda film] (Serbia/Montenegro/Bulgaria/Croatia)

Best Actress (ex aequo)
Anica Dobra, Lea Cok - Whites Wash at Ninety [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
scheda film] (Slovenia/Serbia/Croatia/Italy/Montenegro/North Macedonia)

Special Jury Award
15 and a Half - Mišo Obradović (Montenegro)

Živko Nikolić Award for Special Contribution to Filmmaking
Wondrous Is the Silence of My Master [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Ivan Salatić
scheda film] - Ivan Salatić (Montenegro/Italy/France/Croatia/Serbia)

Zoran Živković Award for Best Production
Tower of Strength [+leggi anche:
recensione
scheda film] - Nikola Vukčević (Montenegro/Serbia/Croatia/Germany)

FEDEORA Award
Little Trouble Girls [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Urška Djukić
scheda film] - Urška Djukić (Slovenia/Italy/Croatia/Serbia)

Best Documentary
Vibrations from Gaza – Rehab Nazzal (Palestine, short film)

Special Documentary Award
Autobiography of My Diabetes – Matthew Lancit (France/Canada, short film)
Lovely Duet – Azar Mehrabi (Iran, short film)

Best Student Film
Good Luck, Sara! – Isidora Ratković (Bosnia and Herzegovina, short film)