Fest director Stefan Laudyn told FNE, "Our Polish films were very carefully selected." l. He added, "I'm very pleased that so many of the filmmakers who won prizes were able to be here," along with the general attendance of filmmakers at the festival. Over 150 filmmakers from nearly 40 countries attended the 2011 edition of the festival.

The Grand Prix was seen as something of a vindication for Rose, a powerful historical drama of the rape of the province of Masovia, which was overlooked at the Gdynia national Polish film festival in June.

Polish morality tales were the festival's strong suit. Courage (www.opusfilm.com)directed by Greg Zgliński picked up two prizes: the Ecumenical Jury Award and a special Best Actor prize forRobert Więckiewicz. The Romanian-Polish coproduction Crulic - The Path to Beyond (www.apartefilm.net) also took two awards: a special mention in the main international competition and a special mention from the Ecumenical Jury.

Bulgaria nabbed the FIPRESCI Prize for Ave directed by Konstantin Bojanov (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

Warsaw added a new award this year, the NETPAC award for Asian Cinema, which went to No. 89 Shimen Road directed Haolun Shu.

The partner industry event, CentEast, continues to build its reputation as a pitching forum and market for films from Central Europe and Russia. Magdelena Banasik, the head of CentEast Warwas, told VNE, "We were very happy that we had more sales agents and more meetings. People found the projects very versatile." A clear hit of the forum was Blind Watching from director Andrzej Jakimowski, a Polish/French/Portugese coproduction with UK participation that combines improvised documentary-style episodes within a fiction film format.

A CentEast sponsored panel on TV distribution offered little comfort for Central European filmmakers. Alexander Bohr of ZDF/Arte told the audience, "Central European films, except for children's films, have always been difficult for German TV," noting that Romania was the exception in recent years. TVP offered a spot of hope, with the addition of a new short film slot on its programme schedule.

A complete list of Warsaw FF winners follows:

Warsaw Grand Prix, funded by the City of Warsaw:

ROSE / RÓŻA (Poland), directed by Wojciech Smarzowski, producer Włodzimierz Niderhaus

Best Director Award:

ANOTHER SILENCE / OTROS SILENCIOS (Argentina / Canada / Brazil / France), directed by Santiago Amigorena

Special Jury Award for Best Actor:

Robert Więckiewicz in COURAGE / WYMYK (Poland), directed by Greg Zgliński

Special mention:

CRULIC - THE PATH TO BEYOND / CRULIC - DRUMUL SPRE DINCOLO (Romania / Poland), directed by Anca Damian

Competition 1-2 Winner:

TWILIGHT PORTRAIT / PORTRET V SUMERKAKH (Russia), directed by Angelina Nikonova
For the original approach and courage in showing the true situation of women in a world in which they turn to be stronger than the strongest man.

Free Spirit Award to:

POMPEYA (Argentina), directed by Tamae Garateguy

The Free Spirit section was made to celebrate the artistry of films like the one we have chosen. Becouse of its unique structure, strong ideas, excellent performances, and riveting tension that builds up to an unexpected climax that breaks your expectations, the International Jury awards the Free Spirit prize to Pompeya rom Argentina.

Special Mentions:

FAT, BALD, SHORT MAN / GORDO, CALVO Y BAJITO (Colombia), directed by Carlos Osuna

Beautifully done 2D animation that expresses 3D emotions.

THE SOUL OF FLIES / EL ALMA DE LAS MOSCAS (Spain), directed by Jonathan Cenzual Burley
For its poetic imagery and elegnt minimalism that tells so much.

Best Documentary Feature Award to:

A BITTER TASTE OF FREEDOM (Sweden / Russia USA), directed by Marina Goldovskaya

Special Mention:

BUCK (USA), directed by Cindy Meehl

Short Grand Prix:

THE MAKING OF LONGBIRD (UK), directed by Will Anderson

Best Animated Short Film Award:

BRANDT RHAPSODIE (France), directed by Francois Avril

Best Live Action Short Film Award:

SILENT RIVER / APELE TAC, (Romania) directed by Anca Miruna Lazarescu

FIPRESCI Award:

AVE (Bulgaria), directed by Konstantin Bojanov

For its uncontrived, humorous, effortless and tender portrait of two young Bulgarians and their imaginative escapes.

Ecumenical Jury Award:

COURAGE / WYMYK (Poland), directed by Greg Zgliński

In an excellent and sophisticated cinematographic language Courage deals with the issue of moral courage and the sense of guilt. It appeals for more personal responsibility. The film is set in today's Poland and the drama can be perceived as a kind of Abel and Kain story. Two brothers, of different characters and sensibilities, are forced to take over the direction of an Internet distribution company when their father fell ill.

Two Special Mentions:

CRULIC - THE PATH TO BEYOND / CRULIC - DRUMUL SPRE DINCOLO (Romania / Poland), directed by Anca Damian

Crulic is based on a true story about the Romanian emigrant named Crulic in Poland who is accused of having robbed a Polish judge. This animated feature-length documentary, which uses mixed animation techniques, enounces the often discriminatory attitude of authorities towards foreign migrants. It gives a voice to a man who died in an inhuman way, without being heard and who was deprived of his most elementary human rights.

GREY MATTER / MATIERE GRISE (Australia / Rwanda), directed by Kivu Ruhorahoza

Matière Grise reflects on the suffering of those who as children survived the Rwandan genocide. It denounces the mechanisms in which hatred and intolerance are created by media and eventually dehumanize human beings. This feature film shows, how it is important for small countries and their filmmakers to tell their own stories and to reflect on issues that they value the most.

NETPAC Award:

NO. 89 SHIMEN ROAD (Hong Kong, China / Netherlands), directed Haolun Shu