The awards were established by the International Confederation of Filmmakers Unions and take place under the auspices of Rustam Ibragimbekov. Anna Franklin General Director of Film New Europe is one of the original group of cinema experts and historians that established the awards in 2018.
Participating countries include Azerbaijan, Albania, Armenia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Georgia, Hungary, Israel, Kazakhstan, Cyprus, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Russia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Croatia, Czech Republic
Prize Winners:
Best Feature Film:
Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn / Babardeală cu bucluc sau porno balamuc (Romania, Luxembourg, Czech Republic, Croatia)
Directed by Radu Jude
Produced by microFILM
Coproduced by Paul Thiltges Distributions, endorfilm, Kinorama
Supported by the Romanian Film Centre (CNC), Cinéworld - Film Fund Luxembourg, the Czech Film Fund, the Croatian Audiovisual Centre (HAVC)
Best Documentary:
collective / colectiv (Romania, Luxembourg)
Produced by Alexander Nanau Production
Coproduced by Samsa Film, HBO Europe
Supported by the Romanian Film Centre, the Luxemburg Film Fund and the Sundance Documentary Fund, and with the contribution of RTS Switzerland, RSI Switzerland, YES Docu and MDR Germany
Best Debut:
Beginning (Georgia, France)
Directed by Déa Kulumbegashvili
Produced by First Picture
Coproduced by Zagid Films, O.F.A
Supported by the Georgian National Film Centre, JSFL, the Netherlands Film Fonds, Hubert Bals Fund
Best Director:
Ex-aqueo
Jasmila Žbanić for Quo Vadis, Aida? (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria, Romania, Netherlands, Germany, Poland, France, Norway, Turkey)
Produced by Deblokada (BA)
Coproduced by coop99 filmproduktion (AT), Digital Cube (RO), N279 (HOL), Razor Film (DE), Extreme Emotions (PL), Indie Prod, Torden Film (NO), TRT, ZDF arte , ORF (Film/Television-Agreement), BHRT (BA)
Supported by Eurimages, Vlada FBiH – Ministarstvo obrazovanja, the Romanian Film Centre, Fondacija za kinematografiju Sarajevo, the Austrian Film Institute, the Netherlands Film Fund, the Netherlands Film Incentive, the Polish Film Institute, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, ACM, CNC, IF, Filmfonds Wien, Sørfond, Creative Europe, Ministarstvo kulture i sporta Kantona Sarajevo, the Foundation Open Society Institute
and
Andrey Konchalovsky for Dear Comrades! (Russia)
Best Screenplay:
Cristi Puiu for Malmkrog (Romania, Serbia, Switzerland, Sweden, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia)
Produced by Mandragora
Coproduced by iadasarecasa, SENSE Production, Cinnamon Films, Film i Väst, Doppelganger, Bord Cadre Films, Produkcija 2006 Sarajevo, Sisters and Brothers Mitevski
Supported by the Romanian Film Centre, the Romanian Television (TVR), Studioul de Creație Cinematografică al Ministerului Culturii, Republic of Serbia - Ministry of Culture and Information, Film Center Serbia, Canton Sarajevo - Ministry of Culture and Sports, the North Macedonia Film Agency
Best Cinematography:
Jurgen Jurges for Dau. Degeneration (Germany)
Directed by Ilya Khrzhanovsky and Ilya Permyakov
Best Art Director:
Nina Vasenina and Sergey Fevralev for The North Wind (Russia)
Directed by Renata Litvinova
Best Music:
Dmitri Shostakovich, Andrey Khrzhanovsky for The Nose or the Conspiracy of Mavericks (Russia)
Directed by Andrei Khrzhanovsky
Best Actor:
Nahuel Perez Biscayart for Persian Lessons (Russia, Belarus, Germany)
Directed by Vadim Perelman
Best Actress:
Jasna Djuricic for Quo Vadis, Aida? (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria, Romania, Netherlands, Germany, Poland, France, Norway, Turkey)
Directed by Jasmila Žbanić
Best Supporting Actor:
Lars Eidinger for Persian Lessons (Russia, Belarus, Germany)
Directed by Vadim Perelman
Best Supporting Actress:
Ex-aqueo
Agathe Bosch for Malmrog (Romania, Serbia, Switzerland, Sweden, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia)
Directed by Cristi Puiu
and
Olga Lapshina for The Conference (Russia, Estonia, UK, Italy)
Directed by Ivan I Tverdovsky
Co-produced by Nafta Films (Estonia)
