The award was founded following a seminar organised by Andrei Plakhov and Konstantin Shavlovsky during last year’s St Petersburg Cultural Forum. The seminar that looked at the place of contemporary Russian cinema in today’s global cinema culture was attended by a group of leading international film critics and FIPRESCI members. The award was set up under the auspicies of the Cinematographers Unions Confederation.

Nominations for the awards were compiled of the vote results by 24 jury members, leading experts on cinema in Asia and Eastern Europe including Film New Europe’s Editor-in-chief Anna Franklin, who was one of the original St Petersburg FIPRESCI group attending the seminar that resulted in the establishing of the new award.

Anna Franklin said “This is the kind of culturally diverse initiative that FNE likes to support. The East West Golden Arch is already garnering attention from serious critics and is set to become one of the most prestigious and sought after awards for filmmakers in Europe and in Asia.”

The prize is open to films from Eurasia which spans 32 countries and gives a unique perspective on the region covering a wide range of people’s and cultures.

NOMINEES EAST WEST GOLDEN ARCH AWARD:

Best Fiction Feature Film:

Western (Bulgaria, Germany, Austria)
Directed by Valeska Grisebach
Produced by Komplizen Film Production
Coproduced by Chouchkov Brothers, Coop99, KNM, ZDF-Das Kleine Fernsehspiel, Arte

Loveless (Russia)
Directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev

On Body and Soul (Hungary)
Directed by Ildiko Enyedi

Closeness (Russia)
Directed by Kantemir Balagov

Foxtrot (Israel)
Directed by Samuel Maoz

Best Director:

Kantemir Balagov for Closeness (Russia)
Valeska Grisebach for Western (Bulgaria, Germany, Austria)
Andrey Zvyagintsev for Loveless (Russia)
Samuel Maoz for Foxtrot (Israel)

Best Screenplay:

Boris Khlebnikov, Natalia Meshchaninova for Arrhythmia (Russia)
Directed by Boris Khlebnikov

Valeska Grisebach for Western (Bulgaria, Germany, Austria)
Directed by Valeska Grisebach

Oleg Negin, Andrey Zvyagintsev for Loveless (Russia)
Directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev

Ildiko Enyedi for On Body and Soul (Hungary)
Directed by Ildikó Eneydi

Kantemir Balagov, Anton Yarush for Closeness (Russia)
Directed by Kantemir Balagov

Best Cinematography:

Pyotr Dukhovskoy, Timothy Lobov for The Bottomless Bag (Russia)
Directed by Rustam Khamdanov

Mikhail Krichman for Loveless (Russia)
Directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev

Mart Taniel for November (Estonia, Netherlands, Poland)
Directed by Rainer Sarnet
Produced by Homeless Bob Productions (Estonia) Opus Film (Poland) and the Dutch company PRPL

Best Actor:

Bogdan Dumitrache for his role in Pororoca (Romania, France)
Directed by Constantin Popescu
Produced by Scharf Film & Advertising
Coproduced by Irreverence Films
Supported by the Romanian Film Centre, Eurimages, the French CNC’s Aide aux Cinémas du Monde, l’Institut Français

Meinhard Neumann for his role in Western (Bulgaria, Germany, Austria)
Directed by Valeska Grisebach

Alexander Yatsenko for his role in Arrhythmia (Russia)
Directed by Boris Khlebnikov

Best Actress:

Alexandra Borbély for her role in On Body and Soul (Hungary)
Directed by Ildikó Eneydi

Daria Zhovner for her role in Closeness (Russia)
Directed by Kantemir Balagov

Mirjana Karanovic for her role in Requiem for Mrs. J (Serbia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, France, Russia)
Directed by Bojan Vuletic
Produced by SEE Film Pro, Geopoly Film, Skopje Film Studio
Supported by Film Center Serbia, the Bulgarian National Film Center, the Macedonian Film Fund and Eurimages

Laura Koroleva for her role in Sveta (Kazakhstan)
Directed by Zhanna Issabayeva

Best Supporting Actor:

Sakari Kuosmanen for his role in The Other Side of Hope (Finland, Germany)
Directed by Aki Kaurismäki

Alexey Serebryakov for his role in How Viktor “the Garlic” Took Alexey “the Stud” to the Nursing Home (Russia)
Directed by Aleksandr Khant

Sherwan Haji for his role in The Other Side of Hope (Finland, Germany)
Directed by Aki Kaurismäki

Best Supporting Actress:

Giovanna G. for her role in Requiem for Mrs. J (Serbia, Bulgaria, Republic Of Macedonia, Russia, France)
Directed by Bojan Vuletić

Olga Dragunova for her role in Closeness (Russia)
Directed by Kantemir Balagov

Sarah Adler for her role in Foxtrot (Israel)
Directed by Samuel Maoz

Best Music:

Evgeny Galperin for Loveless (Russia)
Directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev

Alexander Hunt, Konstantin Shevelev for How Viktor “the Garlic” Took Alexey “the Stud” to the Nursing Home (Russia)
Directed by Aleksandr Khant

Jacaszek for November (Estonia, Netherlands, Poland)
Directed by Rainer Sarnet

Best Production Design:

Irina Ochina for The Bottomless Bag (Russia)
Directed by Rustam Khamdanov

Jaagup Roomet, Mathis Maesalu for November (Estonia, Netherlands, Poland)
Directed by Rainer Sarnet

Arad Sawat for Foxtrot (Israel)
Directed by Samuel Maoz