17-11-2014

FNE at IFF Bratislava 2014: Party Girl Celebrates Double Win

By
    15 Corners of the World by Zuzanna Solakiewicz 15 Corners of the World by Zuzanna Solakiewicz

    BRATISLAVA: Party Girl by the French writing/directing team of Marie Amachoukeli, Claire Burger and Samuel Theis, won the Grand Prix and the Student Award of the 16th IFF Bratislava which wrapped on 14 November 2014.

    The only two awards going to CEE films went to Polish films. Zuzanna Solakiewicz’s Polish/German coproduction 15 Corners of the World won the Best Documentary prize and Rollercoaster by Marek Marlikowski received a special recognition in the Short Film category.

    The festival, which faced a scaled-back budget and uncertainty over its 16th edition, nevertheless put together a full scale week-long event but without an industry section and fewer guests. Festival director Vladimir Krajniak forged a creative partnership with the Berlin Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office which presented a section of new Hong Kong cinema, one of a handful of such activities in the CEE region that the relatively new Berlin office is actively pursuing.

    The festival’s Slovak offerings, most of them in the Made in Slovakia section, represented a cross section of Slovakia’s directing talent working in multiple genres. Jaro Vojtek represented Slovakia in the feature film competition with his four-part omnibus film Children produced by MPhilms, and while it failed to win a festival award, it was a promising feature film debut from the noted documentary filmmaker. Vojtek told FNE he is working on the script for his second feature film. Despite Slovakia’s reputation as a documentary powerhouse, there were no Slovak films in the Documentary Competition section.

    Along with the prizes for the winning films, the festival also honoured the Oscar-winning Czech designer Theodor Pistek and screened the director’s cut of Amadeus.

    The complete list of awarded films follows:

    Grand Prix:
    Party Girl (France)
    Directed by Marie Amachoukeli, Claire Burger, Samuel Theis

    Best Actress:
    Angelique Litzenburger
    Party Girl

    Best Actor:
    Fabricio Boliveira
    Brazil Western (Brazil)
    Directed by René Sampaio

    Best Director:
    Nguyen Hoang Diep
    Flapping in the Middle of Nowhere (Vietnam, France, Norway, Germany)

    FIPRESCI Award:
    I Am Yours (Norway)
    Directed by Iram Haq

    Student Award:
    Party Girl

    Best Documentary:
    Not All is Vigil (Spain, Colomba)
    Directed by Hermes Paralluelo

    Special Mention:
    15 Corners of the World (Poland, Germany)
    Directed by Zuzanna Solakiewicz
    Produced by Endorfina Studio, Hupe Films (Germany)
    Supported by the Polish Film Institute, the Mazovia Film Fund

    Best Short Film:
    A Million Miles Away (USA)
    Directed by Jennifer Reeder

    Special Mention:
    Rollercoaster (Poland)
    Directed by Marek Marlikowski
    Produced at the Radio and Television Department of the University of Silesia in Katowice
    Supported by the Polish Film Institute