On Saturday evening, the 30th Sofia International Film Festival handed out its anniversary-edition awards, as is customary, in the National Palace of Culture. The festival’s international jury, composed of directors György Pálfi (jury chair), Matteo Zoppis, Yana Titova, Pavel G Vesnakov and Ukrainian writer-director Zhanna Ozirna, whose film Honeymoon won last year’s award, handed the most prestigious Sofia City of Film Award to Ondřej Provazník’s Broken Voices (Czech Republic/Slovakia). The jury statement praises the film “for its powerful and truthful depiction of concealed realities, its exceptionally precise and sensitive direction of actors, its carefully assembled cast, the subtle yet deeply compelling performances, and its richly evocative and authentic recreation of time and atmosphere”. The film also received the FIPRESCI Award.

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The Special Jury Award went to The Condor Daughter (Bolivia/Peru/Uruguay) by Álvaro Olmos Torrico. Bulgarian filmmaker Ralitza Petrova was named Best Director for her movie Lust (Bulgaria/Denmark/Sweden). A Special Mention was given to actress Maria Petrova for her role in Myrsini Aristidou’s Hold Onto Me (Cyprus/Denmark/Greece).

The festival’s Balkan jury, composed of director John Paul Davidson, film critic Andrei Plakhov and producer Vanya Rainova, rewarded Teona Strugar Mitevska’s Mother (North Macedonia/Sweden/Belgium/Denmark/Bosnia and Herzegovina) and gave a Special Mention to God Will Not Help (Croatia/Italy/Romania/Greece/France/Slovenia) by Croatian helmer Hana Jušić.

In the International Documentary Competition, the big winner was Trillion by Viktor Kossakovsky, rewarded by a jury composed of director Vitaly Mansky, festival selector Stefan Uhrik and director Eldora Traykova for being a “highly conceptual film with powerful images and outstanding cinematography”. The Documentary Competition jury also awarded a Special Mention to A Fox Under a Pink Moon (Iran/France/UK/USA/Denmark) by Mehrdad Oskouei.

For the second year in a row, a jury of festival programmers – Mihai Chililov (programmer, Transilvania IFF), Dimitris Kerkinos (programmer, Thessaloniki IFF) and Bernd Buder (artistic director of FilmFestival Cottbus) – handed out an accolade, this time crowning Alexander Kossev’s Women Out of Order (Bulgaria) as Best Bulgarian Feature. Another feature set in Bulgaria, Nina Roza (Canada/Italy/Bulgaria/Belgium) by Geneviève Dulude-De Celles, won the Audience Award.

The full list of award winners is as follows:

Sofia City of Film Award
Broken Voices - Ondřej Provazník (Czech Republic/Slovakia)

Special Jury Award
The Condor Daughter - Álvaro Olmos Torrico (Bolivia/Uruguay/Peru)

Best Director
Ralitza Petrova - Lust (Bulgaria/Sweden/Denmark)

Special Mention
Maria Petrova - Hold on to Me (Cyprus/Denmark/Greece)

Best Bulgarian Short Film
Balconada - Iva Tokmakchieva (Bulgaria/France)

Best Balkan Film
Mother - Teona Strugar Mitevska (North Macedonia/Sweden/Belgium/Denmark/Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Special Mention
God Will Not Help - Hana Jušić (Croatia/Italy/Romania/Greece/France/Slovenia)

Best Documentary
Trillion - Viktor Kossakovsky (USA/Norway)
Special Mention
A Fox Under a Pink Moon - Mehrdad Oskouei (Iran/France/UK/USA/Denmark)

Best Bulgarian Feature Film
Women Out of Order - Alexander Kossev (Bulgaria)

FIPRESCI Award
Broken Voices - Ondřej Provazník

Award of the Bulgarian Guild of Film Critics
Made in EU - Stephan Komandarev (Bulgaria/Germany/Czech Republic)

Audience Award
Nina Roza - Geneviève Dulude-De Celles (Canada/Italy/Bulgaria/Belgium)

Young Jury Award
The Condor Daughter - Álvaro Olmos Torrico

Best Teen Film
Atlas of the Universe - Paul Negoescu (Romania/Bulgaria)

FIPRESCI Platinum Award
Jafar Panahi, director (Iran)

Sofia Award for Contribution to the Art of Film
Emil Christov, cinematographer and director (Bulgaria)
Ivaylo Hristov, actor and director (Bulgaria)
Jan Englert, actor and director (Poland)

Special Award of the Sofia International Film Festival
Arnaud Desplechin, director (France)
György Pálfi, director (Hungary)
David Mackenzie, director (UK)