Festival director Stefan Laudyn, who once again wowed fest-goers with a high-energy performance by the Festival Band (co-founded with Sofia fest director Stefan Kitanov and FebioFest programmer Stefan Uhrik), told FNE that the festival continues to grow and attract financial sponsors, in spite of the recession. The festival guest list also reflected its new prominence as a FIAPF "A" category festival, with leading fest programmers and international sales agents and distributors in attendance.
A complete list of the festival's awards follows:
WINNERS OF THE 25th WARSAW FILM FESTIVAL
1. INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
The jury: Chairman - Jan A.P. Kaczmarek, composer (Poland), Anne Lai, producer (USA), Ulrich Felsberg, producer (Germany), Christian Gaines, representing Withoutabox (USA), Albert Wiederspiel, director of the Hamburg Film Festival (Germany)
awarded the following prizes:
Warsaw Grand Prix, prize funded by the City of Warsaw
LOURDES directed by Jessica Hausner (Austria/France/Germany)
Her effortless storytelling brings a beautiful simplicity to a complex subject.
The prize was presented by Mayor of Warsaw Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz.
Special Jury Prize, funded by RWE
LA PASIÓN DE GABRIEL / THE PASSION OF GABRIEL / PASJA GABRIELA
directed by Luis Alberto Restrepo (Colombia)
for the depiction of human courage in the face of the complex socio-political conflict in Columbia.
2. 1-2 COMPETITION, prize funded by Alior Bank
The jury: Kasia Rosłaniec, director (Polska), Stephan Komandarev, director (Bulgaria), Ilmar Raag, director (Estonia)
awarded the following joint first prizes:
Winners of the 1-2 Competition
SHEVA DAKOT BE'GAN EDEN / SEVEN MINUTES IN HEAVEN / SIEDEM MINUT W NIEBIE directed by Omri Givon (Israel)
EASTERN PLAYS / WSCHODNIE ZABAWY directed by Kamen Kalev (Bulgaria)
3. FREE SPIRIT COMPETITION, prize funded by Empik
The jury: Madeleine Elles-Hill, producer (UK), Renato Bautista, director (Philippines), Grzegorz Artur Brzozowicz, journalist/writer (Poland)
awarded the following joint first prizes:
Free Spirit Awards
PURGATORIO / PURGATORY / CZYŚCIEC directed by Roberto Rochin Naya (Mexico)
MAL DÍA PARA PESCAR / BAD DAY TO GO FISHING / ZŁY DZIEŃ NA WĘDKOWANIE directed by Alvaro Brechner (Uruguay)
4. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION, prize funded by BenQ
The jury: Krzysztof Gierat, director of the Krakow Film Festival (Poland), David Hausen, director/producer (USA), Stephan Nobbe, long-time director of the Goethe-Institut (Germany)
awarded the following prize:
Best Documentary Award
DISCO AND ATOMIC WAR / DISCO I WOJNA ATOMOWA directed by Jaak Kilmi and Kiur Aarma (Estonia)
5. SHORTS COMPETITION, prize funded by the Polish Filmmakers' Association
The jury: Katarzyna Klimkiewicz - director (Poland), Ana Felicia Scutelnicu - director (Moldova), Tito Molina - director (Ecuador)
awarded the following prize:
Best Short Film Award
APUNTES SOBRE EL OTRO / NOTES ON THE OTHER / BYĆ KIMŚ INNYM directed by Sergio Oksman (Spain)
6. FIPRESCI Prize
The FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics) jury: Galstyan Siranush (Armenia), Mehlis Behlil (Turkey), Annie Brodie (Canada)
awarded the prize for best Eastern European debut to:
REWERS / REVERSE directed by Borys Lankosz (Poland)
Audience Awards:
Feature Film: Dark House (dir. Wojciech Smarzowski)
Documentary: Defamation (dir. Yoav Shamir)
Short Film: The Pig (dir. Dorte W. Hogh)
