El jurat està format per Cristiana Bini (president), Bilyana Raeva. Lorena Rojas. Giuseppe Cuscusa.
BEST FEATURE FILM goes to SURVIVING BRANDENBURG from Germany
A film that in a contemporary way follows in the footsteps of Frank Capra’s films, such as Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, in which the apparent lightness hides themes and complaints that are sometimes very harsh, and it does so with the ability to represent “normal” characters in which the audience can recognize themselves, treated with affectionate irony when they try to solve banal problems common to everyone, but also when they find themselves involved in problems bigger than them and in the end, thanks to the help of the community, they find the solutions… Solutions that under the fairytale air allow us to glimpse very well the real extent of the problem they denounce… An essential note goes to Zoltan Paul, the passionate creator of this film based on his personal experiences as an “over” director, of which he is also the screenwriter, actor and director together with Ben von Grafenstein who took over after Paul’s unexpected death to complete it in collaboration with the musician who is the author’s son… So, Surviving Brandenburg is the result of a collective work that Frank Capra would have liked very much…
BEST DIRECTOR goes to Alejandro Gerber Bicecci for DEAD MAN’S SWITCH from Mexico
The director’s choice not to use easy atmospheres of suspense, but to maintain a neo-realistic effect by telling the story of the protagonist’s search for her “disparecido” husband is definitely a winning one and takes us on the painful journey of the protagonist who sinks deeper and deeper into the swamp of useless institutional bureaucracy, finding herself fighting alone against an entire apparatus until an ending that obviously cannot be consoling and has a brilliant screenplay idea exceptionally rendered by the direction.
BEST SCREENPLAY goes to Zoltan Paul for SURVIVING BRANDENBURG from Germany
A light and funny comedy capable of face complex issues such as age discrimination and the post-midlife crisis without forgetting political commitment, thanks to a protagonist who reflects the experiences of the screenwriter and director and in fact is played by himself. But all the other characters that surround him are also very credible and valuable for the development of the plot that oscillates between irony and regret always maintaining a pressing and engaging pace until the unpredictable ending.
BEST DIALOGUE goes to Matías De Leis Correa -for LUCIA’S NEW BOYFRIEND from Argentina
The audience cannot help but recognize themselves in at least one of the many emotional situations played by the cast of magnificent actors supported by the absolutely credible dialogues of the complex interpersonal relationships between couples as well as between friends who always hide secrets that are sometimes too deep to be revealed, allowing the story to flow fast until the final revelation whose nuances fall like the petals of a poisoned flower…
BEST PRODUCTION goes to END OF TRIP – SAHARA from Spain
The award goes first and foremost to the producer who created this film with a great love for cinema, a film that should not be here and instead tells us about the resilience of cinema people and also the ability of cinema to always survive… But the award goes also to the other 18 brave members of the crew and cast who faced dangers and technical troubles to create in the middle of the Sahara desert these beautiful images, thanks also to the unprecedented participation of the Tuareg people and their un-known traditions in a road-movie that makes us dream…
BEST LEADING ACTOR the ex aequo goes to Caspar Philipsson and Dylan Turner for THE CONVERSATION from Croatia
A great challenge for the two actors of a film almost entirely set in the room where the conversation takes place, yet thanks to the direction that moves the scene but above all thanks to their acting ability, they keep the audience on their seats listening to the complex clash between religion and politics that has influenced the entire European history of the twentieth century.
BEST LEADING ACTRESS goes to Adriana Paz for DEAD MAN’S Switch from Mexico
The actress plays a very powerful female character with great strength and great attention to detail and throughout the film in which she is the absolute protagonist, she involves and excites the audience by dragging them into her painful journey.
BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE goes to LUCIA’S NEW BOYFRIEND from Argentina
The choral film deserves an award to all the actors who intersect the emotional stories of the characters with lightness and naturalness, even in the most dramatic moments, always maintaining an interesting realism.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR goes to Dietrich Hollinderbäumer for Surviving Brandenburg from Germany
The actor follows the narrative arc of the character who, from a calm and very serious elderly father-in-law, reveals his rebellion against the conformism that traps him but without ever becoming a caricature.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS goes to Sophie Moshofsky for Scarlet Winter from US
The actress, with her naive and sincere expression, manages to attract all the emotional involvement of the audience who absolutely wants to find out who is guilty of her death.
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY goes to Giovanni Mammolotti for Global Harmony from Italy
The cinematography enhances the sunny Mediterranean beauty of Lampedusa, contrasting it with the disturbing nocturnal atmospheres that conceal the political-economic intrigues intent on stopping the humanitarian denunciation.
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN goes to Allan Appelberg for Mo Mamma from Estonia
Taking advantage of the Estonian landscapes, the production designer chooses to set the story in a house with very interesting internal and external environments that are always deeply connected to nature, which becomes a real character in the film.
BEST MUSIC goes to Julian Adam Pajzs for Surviving Brandenburg from Germany
In this film the musician created an original soundtrack that is very emotional, engaging and ironic.
BEST EDITOR goes to Otwin Biernat for DeadEnd from Austria
The presence of two characters played by the same actor who is the director and the cameraman required complex editing work to avoid the film appearing mechanical, but also to maintain the rhythm dotted with short scenes made funny by the editing cuts.
BEST VFX goes to Emiliano Leone for Global Harmony from Italy
For the skill with which VFX are created to correct defects or add details, making them completely invisible.
BEST POSTPRODUCTION goes to End of Trip – Sahara from Spain
An incredible post-production work capable of resuscitating the film shot 40 years ago to give us back, also thanks to the unthinkable possibilities of AI, a completely new film that doesn’t show its age at all and indeed winks at contemporary road-movies.
BEST SOCIAL CRITICISM goes to Dead Man’s Switch from Mexico
The film tells us, with a chronicle without emphasis and without the temptation to fall into the thriller, one of the infinite stories of Mexican “disparecidos”, highlighting aspects that are usually overlooked while following the protagonist who damns herself trying in vain to escape from a network of squalid bureaucracy that meaningless seems to incriminate the disappeared.
BEST HUMANITARIAN MESSAGE goes to Global Harmony from Italy
An ambitious film that aims to bring to everyone’s attention a humanitarian issue that is perhaps too little known and instead shocking and painful: child labor trafficking, a denunciation carried forward with a great production effort to create a touching multicultural drama.
BEST NEO-NOIR goes to El Extraño Detrás de la Puerta from Mexico
An unsettling atmosphere, often with cuts in light and camera movements that are destabilizing for the spectators, accompanies the story of two antiheroes united and separated by a femme fatale and an unexpected event, a story in which all the stereotypes are overturned, revealing their fragility and inconsistency until the unexpected but inevitable ending.
BEST HORROR goes to The Ghost from Ireland
A reinterpretation of The Shining in a very unusual setting such as a mansion during the freezing Irish winter with many references to Celtic culture in a story of profound loneliness that inevitably leads to madness.
BEST THRILLER goes to Scarlet Winter from US
A non-trivial thriller, very well built with a deep study of the emotional stories of all the characters that stand out in a constantly snowy environment, until the unpredictable final twist.
BEST EXPERIMENTAL goes to DeadEnd from Austria
A one-man film, a seemingly impossible challenge, making a film completely alone, playing the protagonist and his alter ego, but also covering all the technical roles necessary to make the film, from the screenwriter to the post-production manager… But the real reason why the film deserves this award is because with these extreme difficulties, it managed to effectively and ironically deal with a delicate and current topic such as Mental health.
BEST WOMEN’S FICTION goes to Mo Mamma from Estonia
A painful family story all about women where the personal experience of the director and screenwriter has given strength to the two protagonists, a mother and a daughter separated by a deep conflict, not only generational, forced to face the imminent death of the grandmother which becomes the opportunity to rebuild their very fragile relationship thanks to many typically feminine delicate situations…
BEST DEBUT goes to Giant’s Kettle from Finland
A very ambitious first feature that, with an experimental use of modern expressionist images, tells an evocative and ironic love story.
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EL JURAT
CRISTIANA BINI | @robertoleonimoviereviews
És directora del Festival de Curtmetratges Donne in Corto de Roma i té més de 30 anys d’experiència com a guionista i cineasta. Ha treballat estretament amb Roberto Leoni com a assistent personal. En el Festival de cinema de Girona és president de les seccions largmetratge, curtmetratge i dibuixos animats.
BILYANA RAEVA | @braeva
Compartint la seva vida entre cultura i política, Bilyana és actualment coproductora del Festival Internacional de Cinema de la Creu Roja i la Salut i regidora municipal de la seva ciutat natal. Anteriorment, com a diputada al Parlament Europeu, va ser activa a la comissió de Cultura sobre el tema de l’art en perspectiva urbana. Com a presidenta de la Capital Europea de la Joventut de Varna l’any 2017, va iniciar diversos projectes significatius per a les polítiques de joventut i cultura: el districte creatiu Talyana, l’espai d’art contemporani ReBonkers, la campanya “Tickets for blood” i altres. Llicenciat en Relacions Internacionals per la Universitat Econòmica de Cracòvia i a la Universitat d’Amsterdam i va participar en coproduccions de pel·lícules i sèries de televisió, com La Piovra, 18% Grey, Gasoline (Benzin), Mr.X and the sea, L’Opera i altres.
LORENA ROJAS | @mariarrojas88 @entredosmundosfirenze
Nascuda a Mèxic, després de llicenciar-se en Administració i Direcció d’Empreses, es trasllada a Milà, Itàlia, on es diploma en Disseny de Moda. Per motius familiars s’especialitza en traducció literària i audiovisual, obtenint dos màsters, a la City University de Londres ia la Universitat de Gènova. El 2017 funda l’associació Vivarte, per promoure la cultura iberoamericana a través del cinema i la literatura, i el 2018 funda i des de llavors dirigeix el Festival de Cinema Iberoamericà de Florència Entre Dos Mundos.
GIUSEPPE CUSCUSA | @coliffetv
Llicenciat en Ciències Polítiques per la Universitat de Bolonya, té un màster en Afers Internacionals obtingut a Nova York. Spindoctor i enquestador, consolidat expert en màrqueting i comunicació, especialitzat en els sectors politicoinstitucional, esportiu i cinematogràfic. President de l´Associació MyROMA, és el creador i fundador de COLIFFE – COLiseum International Film Festival de Roma.