The annual festival of Central and Eastern European films held from 21-27 March 2017 in the Austrian capital also held its first Industry Days from 23 to 24 March 2017 backed by Creative Europe MEDIA.

Attending the film edition of Industry Days was head of Creative Europe MEDIA Harald Trettenbrein, who explained how the programme supports European filmmakers, and also Roland Teichmann, head of the Austrian Film Institute, and Anna Franklin, head of Film New Europe, who addressed the audience of film professionals with welcoming opening speeches kicking off two full days of presentations and panel discussions.

Anna Franklin also moderated a lively and well attended panel discussion on the present and future challenges of European cooproductions with panellists Anamaria Antoci of 4 Proof Film  (Romania), Petra Vidmar of Gustav Film (Slovenia) and Christoph Thoke head of Germany’s Mogador Film.

FNE AV Innovation Team leader Peeter Nieler created a buzz with a multi-media presentation about the role virtual reality will play in the future of the international film industry.  Nieler is a sought after speaker and innovator as well as an expert on virtual reality R&D.  He is head of the UK and Tallinn based company Criffin, focusing on hardware design and alsoof  the Virtual Neuroscience Lab, which is researching VR scientifically.

WINNERS:

Lifetime Achievement Award 2017
Béla Tarr

Feature Film Competition:

Best Film:
Kills on Wheels (Hungary)
Directed by Attila Till

Honourable Mention:
The Student (Russia)
Directed by Kirill Serebrennikov

Documentary Competition:

Best Film:
A Mere Breath (Romania)
Directed Monica Lãzurean-Gorgan
Produced by Manifest Fillm, HBO Europe

Honourable Mentions:
Communion (Poland)
Directed by Anna Zamecka
Produced by Otter Films
Coproduced by Wajda Studio, HBO Europe

The Good Postman (Bulgaria, Finland)
Directed by Tonislav Hristov
Produced by Soul Food
Coproduced by Making Movies Oy

Promising Debuts Competition:

Best Film:
Hristo (Bulgaria, Italy)
Directed by Grigor Lefterov and Todor Matsanov
Produced by Lema Film
Coproduced by IdeaCinema
Supported by the Bulgarian National Film Centre

Honourable Mentions:
Dogs (Romania, Germany, Bulgaria)
Directed by Bogdan Mirică
Produced by EZ Films,
Coproduced by 42 Km Film, Argo Film
Supported by the Romanian Film Centre (CNC), the Bulgarian National Film Centre

Together For Ever (Lithuania, Romania)
Directed by Lina Lužytė
Produced by Just a Moment
Coproduced by Alien Film
Supported by the Lithuanian Film Centre, the Romanian Film Centre (CNC)

Short Film Competition:

Best Film:
The Buzzing of a Bumblebee (Russia)
Directed by Vladimir Beldian

Honourable Mentions:
A New Home (Slovenia)
Directed by Žiga Virc

Masterpiece (Russia)
Directed by Irina Storozhenko

Shanghai, Baku (Azerbaijan)
Directed by Teymur Hajiyev

Audience Award: Long Film in the Competition:
Train Driver's Diary (Serbia, Croatia)
Directed by Miloš Radović
Produced by Zillion Film
Coproduced by Interfilm
Supported by the Serbian Film Centre, the Croatian Film Centre

Audience Award: Best submitted Short Film:
Undercooling (Germany, Austria)
Directed by Olga Kosanovic

Best Acting Performance in a Competition Film:
The Croatian actress Ksenija Marinković for her performance in The Constitution (Croatia, Czech Republic, Macedonia, UK)
Directed by Rajko Grlic
Produced by Interfilm
Coproduced by In-Film, Sever&Sever, the Croatian Radio Television HRT (hrt.hr) and NP7, Revolution Production and Film and Music Entertainment.
Supported by the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, the Croatian Radio Television, the Czech Film Foundation, Macedonian Film Agency, the Slovenian Film Centre, Eurimages and MEDIA Programme

Award for the best short film within the LET'S CEE Talent Academy:
LET'S CEE by Vladimir Beldian, Berin Češkić, Achmed Abdel-Salam & Martina Netíková