The Best Film prize in the Between the Seas competition for films from the CEE region went Latvian Coyote by the Latvian director Ivars Zviedris.
Bosnia and Herzegovina's director Farah Hasanbegović took the Short Joy award for best short film with First Birthday after the Apocalypse, a prize which is selected by online viewers via the DAfilms online platform.
Festival director Marek Hovorka gave the Contribution to World Cinema Award to the Chinese artist/activist Ai Weiwei, stating, “When searching for the language to address people, Ai Weiwei discovered documentary cinema. He was able to step out of the shadow of his art projects, and using his experience with the world of visual arts he transformed his films into an instrument of social-political communication that is still a part of the art medium. Films by Ai Weiwei are a powerful testimony about his personal courage, both in his role of an actor and an ‘observer’. His works are surprisingly visceral and have a deeply humanistic appeal.”
The Audience Award will be announced at the close of the festival.
Award winners:
Opus Bonum
Best Film
White on White (Czech Republic, Slovakia)
Directed by Viera Čákanyová
Special Mention
A Man Leaning (France)
Directed by Olivier Dury, Marie-Violaine Brincard
Between the Seas
Best Film
Latvian Coyote (Latvia)
Directed by Ivars Zviedris
Produced by Dokumentālists
Supported by the National Film Centre of Latvia
Special Mention
The Last Image (Austria)
Directed by Judith Zdesar
Best Student Film
Time Is (Belgium, Russia)
Directed by Zaur Kourazov
Czech Joy
Best Film
A New Shift (Czech Republic)
Directed by Jindřich Andrš
Special Mention
Wolves at the Borders (Czech Republic)
Directed by Martin Páv
Student Jury Award
Traces of a Landscape (Czech Republic, Italy)
Directed by Petr Záruba
First Lights
Best Debut Film
Ghosts: A Long Way Home (Portugal)
Directed by Tiago Siopa
Special Mention
A House (France, Switzerland)
Directed by Judith Auffray
Student Jury Award
A House (France, Switzerland)
Directed by Judith Auffray
Fascinations
Best Experimental Film
We Are Without (Austria, New Zealand)
Directed by SJ. Ramir
Special Mention
Baroque Femina (Nr. 7-11) (Hungary)
Directed by Péter Lichter
Best Czech Experimental Film
Catastrophe (Czech Republic)
Directed by Zbyněk Baladrán
Special Mention
Sparkly shiny brightly see, kaleidoscope grows from ears (Czech Republic)
Directed by Tereza Chudáčková, Klára Ondračková
Special Mention
Nobody needs to know about this, he said (Czech Republic)
Directed by Ester Grohová
Short Joy
Best Short Film
First Birthday After the Apocalypse (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary)
Directed by Farah Hasanbegović
Testimonies
Best Film Testimony
Oeconomia (Germany)
Directed by Carmen Losmann
Special Mention
Vivos (Germany, Mexico)
Directed by Ai Weiwei
Contribution to World Cinema Award
Ai Weiwei
Silver Eye Awards
Best Film
A New Shift (Czech Republic)
Directed by Jindřich Andrš
Best Short Film
Son of the Streets (Poland, Lebanon)
Directed by Mohammed Almughanni
Special Mention
To Feather, to Wither (Hungary)
Directed by Hanna Hovitie
Audience Award
TBA