16-11-2012

FNE at Bratislava IFF 2012: Israel, Germany, Slovakia Celebrate Awards

By
    Made In Ash Made In Ash

    BRATISLAVA: A pair of films from Israel and Germany dominated the awards ceremony of the Bratislava IFF (www.iffbratislava.sk) on 15 November 2012, and Slovakia recognized its own film industry with Made in Ash winning the prize of a new Slovak Competition.

    The Grand Prix in the feature film competition went to La Sirga, a Colombian/French/Mexican coproduction directed by William Vega. But the clear favorites of the night were Epilogue by Israeli director Amir Manor, and Oh Boy by German director Jan Ole Gerster. Epilogue won four awards, including both the best actor and best actress awards. It shared the FEDORA award with Oh Boy which also picked up the FIPRESCI prize and the best director award.

    The FEDORA award was handed out by one of two new juries added by the festival this year. The Bratislava IFF also launched a Slovak competition of feature films, an expansion of its former section of Slovak films, with the best Slovak film award and a prize of 3,000 EUR going to Made in Ash (www.protos.sk) from debuting director Iveta Grofova. FEDORA gave its award for best Slovak film to In the Shadow, a Czech/Slovak/Polish/US/Israeli coproduction, which was accepted by Trigon Production’s (www.trigon-production.sk) Patrik Pass.

    Film Europe (www.filmeurope.eu) CEO Ivan Hronec presented the company’s annual award recognizing the international accomplishments of a promising young Slovak to 24-year old actress Gabriela Marcinkova, whose credits already include Neil Jordan’s Byzantium, the Danish film Move On, and the Jude Law/Anthony Hopkins drama 360. Speaking with FNE, Marcinkova said her next film is a Slovak thriller, Attonitas (www.attonitas.sk) which opens in Slovakia on 28 February 2013.

    Bulgaria won the Best Documentary award for Sofia’s Last Ambulance (www.sia.bg) directed by Ilian Metev. Metev was on hand to receive the prize but made a quick exit, explaining he had to catch a plane that was leaving in less than two hours.

    The festival management team Vladimir Krajniak and Vojtech Kabath told FNE that the festival was working on a reduced budget, and compensated by cutting the length to seven days and asking distributors to reduce their fees. The result was a festival that actually increased the number of international and industry guests, added a popular festival center site, and had two new juries. Artistic director Nenad Dukic also noted that cinemas were full for many of the screenings.

    Dukic told FNE, “Next year we’ll concentrate on the Slovak Competition and making more use of the new festival center.” Building on those two elements looks like the clearest way to integrate Slovakia’s domestic industry with its blossoming European identity.

     

    A complete list of awards follows:

    Grand Prix for the Best Film

    La Sirga directed by William Vega

     

    BEST DIRECTOR

    Jan Ole Gerster  OH BOY

     

    BEST ACTRESS

    Rivka Gur in the film HAYUTA VE BERL / EPILÓG

     

    BEST ACTOR

    Yosef Carmon in the film HAYUTA VE BERL/ EPILÓG

     

    STUDENT JURY AWARD

    Hayuta ve Berl / Epilóg directed by Amir Manor

     

    Documentary Jury

    PRIZE FOR THE BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM

    Poslednata lineika na Sofia / Posledná záchranka v Sofii directed by Ilian Metev

     

    Short Films Jury

    PRIZE FOR THE BEST SHORT FILM

    Malody directed by Philip Barker

     

    Short Films Jury

     

    SPECIAL MENTION

    Ovos de dinossauro na sala de estar / Dinosaurie vajcia v obývačke directed by Rafael Urban

     

    FIPRESCI JURY AWARD

    OH BOY!

     

    FEDEORA JURY AWARD

    OH BOY! and EPILOGUE

    IN THE SHADOW / V TIENI

     

    UNICREDIT BANK AWARD FOR THE BEST SLOVAK FEATURE FILM /

    CENA UNICREDIT BANK ZA NAJLEPŠÍ SLOVENSKÝ CELOVEČERNÝ FILM

    MADE IN ASH / AŽ DO MESTA AŠ

     

    FILM EUROPE AWARD

    Gabriela Marcinková

     

    SLOVAK CINEMA AWARD

    Štefan Kvietik

     

    AWARD FOR CONTRIBUTION TO WORLD CINEMA

    Goran Paskaljević
    Jiří Krejčík