The festival presented a total of 165 films from 56 countries in the first full on site festival after two years of COVID cancellations and programme alterations. The festival also welcomed over 70 international guests from 19 countries at the event which took place from 10-19 March in Sofia continuing until 31 March with screenings at other towns in Bulgaria.
A total of 75 of the films will be available online in Bulgaria until 30 April at online.siff.bg. The annual Sofia Meetings industry part of the event has been postponed until later in the year as part of the ongoing COVID recovery plan.
In a moving gesture to the ongoing war in Ukraine the Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov was included as a member of the main competition jury in absentia. His latest film Rhino originally participated in the Sofia Meetings at the development stage.
The Awards Ceremony took place at Hall 1 of the National Palace of Culture on 19 March 2022 with every award announcement being accompanied by the music from “Give Peace A Chance” by the Beatles.
Prizes:
International Competition Best First and Second Films
City of Sofia Award for Best Film:
Sonata (Poland)
Directed by Bartosz Blaschke
Produced by Mediabrigade
Supported by Polish Film Institute
Special Jury Award:
Humble (Bulgaria, Romania)
Directed by Svetoslav Draganov
Produced by Cineaste Maudit Production
Coproduced by Contrast Films, Parada Film, Digital Cube and Romanian National Television
Best Director:
Andrey M Paounov for January (Bulgaria, Portugal, Luxembourg)
Produced by Portokal
Coproduced by Terratreme Filmes, Tarantula
Supported by Bulgarian National Film Center, Creative Europe MEDIA Programme
Special Mention:
The Absent Director (Iran)
Directed by Arvand Dashtaray
Best Bulgarian Short Film:
Game (Bulgaria)
Directed by Orlin Menkadzhiev
Best Balkan Film:
Murina (Croatia, Brazil, USА, Slovenia)
Directed by Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović
Produced by Antitalent (Croatia), RT Features (Brazil)
Coproduced by Spiritus Movens (Croatia), Sikelia Prods (USA), SPOK Films (Slovenia), Staragara (Slovenia)
Supported by the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, the Slovenian Film Centre, Viba Film, Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT) and RTV Slovenia.
Special Mention:
Blue Moon / Crai Nou (Romania)
Directed by Alina Grigore
Produced by InLight Center, Atelier de Film, Forest Film, Unfortunate Thespians, Smart Sound Studios, Avanpost
Best Documentary:
Zo Reken (Canada)
Directed by Emanuel Lich
Special Mention:
Our Quiet Place (France, Bulgaria) (Documentary)
Directed by Elitza Gueorguieva
Beset Bulgarian Feature Film:
In The Heart of the Machine (Bulgaria)
Directed by director Martin Makariev
Produced by Forward Pictures Entertainment
Supported by the Bulgarian National Film Center
FIPRESCI Critics Award:
The Windseeker (Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia)
Directed by director Mihai Sofronea
Produced by Libra Film Productions
Coproduced by Chouchkov Brothers, Living Pictures (Serbia), Romanian Film Centre
Supported by the Bulgarian National Film Center, Film Center Serbia, Creative Europe MEDIA Programme
Bulgarian Guild of Film Critics Award:
Best Film in the Balkan Competition:
Fishbone (Bulgaria, Romania)
Directed by Dragomir Sholev
Produced by Klas Film
Coproduced by the Bulgarian National Television, Hi Film Productions, the Romanian Television.
Audience Award:
Best Film in the International Competition for First and Second Films and Balkan competition Sonata (Poland)
Directed by Bartosz Blaschke
Young Jury Award:
Best Film in the International Competition:
A Love Song (USA)
Directed by Max Walker-Silverman
Sofia Award of the Sofia Municipality for contribution to the art of film was presented to:
Angel Wagenstein, Screenwriter and writer (Bulgaria)
Iglika Trifonova, Director (Bulgaria)
