Editor

Palmarès of the first Romania International Film Festival RO-IFF held in Arad
Georgian director George Ovashvili wins the CineBlackSea competition with his film THE OTHER BANK.

Arad, Romania: The award ceremony marked the closure of the festival's first edition. For eight days, the festival in Arad allowed the discovery of new cinematic trends and unusual films - most of them as Romanian premieres. The CineBlackSea section focused exclusively on films produced in the Black Sea region – this year’s program featured films from Azerbaijan, Turkey, Armenia, Romania, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Greece, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Georgia and Russia. The Women in Cinema section was dedicated to female directors and producers and offered a variety of contemporary storytelling from around the globe.

All awards of the first Romania International Film Festival:

CineBlackSea Jury

Best director:
George Ovashvili for his film THE OTHER BANK
(Georgia, Kazakhstan 2009)
“For the accuracy of revealing the distorted world of war through the eyes of an innocent child using particularly strong images and characters.”

Best actor or actress:
Hilda Peter for her performance in KATALIN VARGA
(UK, Hungary, Romania 2009)
“The award for best actress goes to Hilda Peter for keeping the integrity and dignity of a strong character through a wide range of conflictive emotions.”

Best documentary:
ON THE WAY TO SCHOOL by Orhan Cskikoy & Ozgur Dogan
(Netherlands, Turkey 2008)
“The jury unanimously choose ON THE WAY TO SCHOOL for its cinematic approach to deal with reality in an nonexaggerated way.”

Best short:
OMELETTE by Nadejda Koseva
(Bulgaria, 2008)
“The award for best short goes to OMELETTE for telling an individual story representing the problems of transition and crisis in a condensed way with a lat of suspense and originality.”

Women in Cinema Jury

Best director:
Lucía Puenzo for her film EL NINO PEZ
(Argentina, France, Spain, 2009)
“For creating a riveting and intimate portrait of young love in an emotionally corrupt world. With confidence the director constructed a deeply layered film filled with complex characters and situations.”

Best documentary:
GAUCHOS: IF YOU DON’T GET ON, YOU DON’T GET OFF by Jana Richter
(Germany, 2009)
“Takes us into a universe where men and animals coexist in harmony. The filmmaker captured moments of magic humour and tenderness in a brutal world and displayed a strong passion for her subjects who teaches us if the body is in balance, the soul is in balance too.”

Best Short:
MUSEUM OF BROKEN RELATIONSHIPS by Iulia Rugina
(Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2009)
“The director helped us find humour in what is normally a difficult situation.”

Critics Jury

Best film Diploma: ROOM AND A HALF by Andrej Khrzanovski
(Russia, 2009)
“For an outstanding and unique cinematographic approach of addressing a semi-fictional portrait of Nobel Prize winner Josef Brodsky. Film is a masterful blend of emotionally gripping and widely imaginative mixture of documentary life-action and archival footage through the eyes of poet Josef Brodsky of the cultural world of the Sovjet Union.”

Special Mention:
BORDER by Harutyun Khachtatryan
(Armenia, 2009)
“For innovative and non-verbal way of depicting the tragedy of being a refugee.”