On Saturday, 18 November, the 28th Ljubljana International Film Festival wrapped up, culminating with its conventional awards ceremony. The evening’s host, legendary Slovenian actor Boris Cavazza, addressed the audience by suggesting, “Let’s see what surprises and disappointments the future has in store for our contestants.” The Best 360˚ Film Award, sponsored by Telekom Slovenije, went to Group 3, consisting of Matej Lozar, Anja Čotar, Rok Jagodnik, Uroš Kokol and Sašo Stojak. The jury, comprising Miha Mazzini, Katarina Morano and Zvezdana Lazar, stated that the film’s assets were the minimalist employment of technology, seamless blend of animation and fiction and a liberating message.
The Kinotrip Youth Jury Award, bestowed for the second time this year, went to Call Me by Your Name by Luca Guadagnino. Members of the Kinotrip Young Jury, Rostja Močnik, Mila Peršin, Jakob Rakovec, Martin Draksler and Esma Hajdarpašić, have seen a selection of five films that raise important questions and address relevant social issues without underestimating their young protagonists and audiences. “The film that we found most inspiring was a fervent love story, deeply affecting in its heartfelt sincerity. The director’s poetic and accomplished new spin on this well-trodden genre is refreshing, while at the same time retaining its engaged tone. Universal and timeless, the movie’s haunting themes stay in one’s head for days.”
Stefano Cerato, director of the Italian Cultural Institute in Slovenia, accepted the award of behalf of the filmmaker.
The Audience Award went to Heartstone. Director of British Council Slovenia, Aida Salamanca, presented the award to Icelandic director and screenwriter Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson.
The FIPRESCI Prize, presented by the jury of the International Federation of Film Critics, went to Men Don’t Cry by Alen Drljević.
The jury, consisting of Salvatore Marfella, Angelo Mitchievici and Ana Šturm, asked themselves whether it was “possible to recover from war trauma and resolve deeply rooted feelings of hate? Can we rebuild hope and trust in a broken society? These are the questions that echo through this powerful, magnificently scripted and performed film, immersed in a heavy atmosphere of toxic masculinity, discomfort and mistrust.
For its sensitiveness in exploration of the complexity of wounded identities, precision in describing physical and psychological damages of war on people, and its strength in promoting the understanding, compassion and acceptance, the International Critics Jury awards the FIPRESCI Prize to Alen Drljević's debut film Men Don't Cry.”
The FIPRESCI Prize was accepted by Sebastian Cavazza, one of the lead actors in the film, who revealed that Men Don't Cry had already won Best Film Awards at the Istanbul, Bratislava, Rome and Zagreb film festivals.
The international jury for the Best Short Film Award, Špela Čadež, Daniel Ebner and Hana Jušić, decided to award two Special Mentions. The first went to The Beast by Samantha Nell and Michael Wahrmann, a film that “presents a reflective, respectful and very refreshing take on post-colonial structures from the perspective of performance workers in a Zulu cultural village.”
The second Special Mention went to a long but strong postmodern cinema essay with a lot of humour and cleverness, “[...] CRAVING FOR NARRATIVE” by Max Grau.
The Best Short Film Award, presented by sponsor TSE, d. o. o., went to I’m Not from Here by Maite Alberdi and Giedre Žickyte, “a great film that touched and surprised us on many levels. It's a sensitive portrait of an alienated woman fighting for her independence and identity in a foreign country and at the same time a subtly political documentary about care and nurse service as one of the biggest challenges of an aging society.” Festival Director Simon Popek accepted the award on behalf of the Lithuanian-Chilean filmmakers.
The Kingfisher Award is an international jury award granted by the general sponsor, Telekom Slovenije, d.d., to the best film of the Perspectives section. The international jury Dragan Rubeša, Jessica Kiang and Damjan Kozole unanimously awarded “a beautifully performed, unapologetically intellectual, quietly profound tribute to the consoling and connecting power of art – in this case architecture –, Columbus by Kogonada.”
On behalf of Kogonada, the award was accepted by His Excellency, the United States Ambassador to Slovenia, Brent Robert Hartley.
The Special Mention went to Araby by João Dumans and Affonso Uchoa “for its slow, sensitive build to a final act of grave and moving power, and for its honest portrait of the dislocating effects of economic instability on Brazil's casual labourers – and indeed the workers of the world.”
The ceremony was followed by The Party, Sally Potter’s witty comedy that veers off into tragedy. The traditional after-party at the CD Club was lavish and lively, attended by famous names in the world of cinema; Demeter Bitenc, Brane Završan, Manca Dorrer and Aleksandra Balmazovič, directors Karpo Godina, Eric Valette, Ása Helga Hjörleifsdóttir Festival Director Simon Popek, journalists Miša Molk, Tina Bernik and Mateja Valentinčič, singer Vlado Kreslin, radio announcer Jure Longyka, literary historian and critic Matevž Kos, journalist Ženjo Lejler, and bloggers Marko Crnković and Natalija Pihler.
Andraž Jež
Photo Iztok Dimc