WINNERS of the 26th WARSAW FILM FESTIVAL

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
The Jury: Antonia Bird, director (UK) – Chairwoman, Francois DaSilva,
producer (France), Mike Downey, producer (UK), Andrzej Jakimowski,
director/producer (Poland), Wolfram Skowronnek-Schaer, consultant/sales
agent (Germany) gave the following awards:
Warsaw Grand Prix, funded by the City of Warsaw:
INCENDIES (Canada / France), dir. Denis Villeneuve;
A rich, complicated story about sectarian hatred and family bonds that
cannot be broken, a devastatingly beautiful and powerful film - it is
rare to encounter such quality of depth of ideas in cinema today.
Best Director:
ILLEGAL / ILLEGAL (Belgium / Luxembourg / France), dir. Olivier Masset-Depasse;
Based on actual events the direction of this film draws you in and creates a
mesmerising, shocking and profoundly moving experience.
Special Jury Award:
for the script of PERIFERIC / OUTBOUND (Romania / Austria) written by Bogdan George Apetri and Tudor Voican;
A truthful, honest film with great strength and integrity.
Special mentions:
By a complete coincidence our top three films have strong women at the
centre of their stories - women fleeing from repression, all three lose
and then find a son. We would like to honour the three fine actresses
who portrayed these extraordinary women: LUBNA AZABAL in INCENDIES, ANNE COESENS in ILLEGAL and ANA ULARU in PERIFERIC
The Jury also wish to give a special mention to the film LA VIDA UTIL directed by Federico Veiroj for it's CINEMATIC HUMOUR.

COMPETITION 1-2
The Jury: Lissy Bellaiche, Trust Nordisk/Zentropa (Denmark), Francine
Bruecher, Swiss Films (Switzerland), Kirsi Tykkylainen, Helsinki
Experience (Finland)
Winners of Competition 1-2, ex equo:
ERRATUM (Poland), dir. Marek Lechki
IMPERIALISTS ARE STILL ALIVE (USA), dir. Zeina Durra

FREE SPIRIT COMPETITION
The Jury: Mariana Secco, producer (Uruguay), Victoria Szymańska, director
(Poland / UK), Alejandro Díaz San Vicente, IMCINE (Mexico)
Free Spirit Award:
SOUND OF NOISE (Sweden), dir. Ola Simonsson, Johannes Stjarne Nilsson;
After
enjoying the variety of fresh visions, we decided to chose the film, in
which we found eccentric characters driven by hilarious and witty
circumstances. Unforgettable and strongly entertaining scenes. Unusual
performances and brave usage of narrative elements. All this
rhythmically orchestrated in one cinematic experience.
Special mention:
MISSING MAN (Russia), dir. Anna Fenchenko
For the film, in which we saw clearly drawn difference between inside world
of the character and the outside situation in the society. Film
breaking the boundaries and creating the world, where you feel
unbearable passiveness and you question a possibility of existence of
such reality. The film, which director maintained from the beginning to
the end her precise and consistent perception of this reality.

DOCUMENTARY FEATURES COMPETITION
The Jury: Maryna Ajaja, festival programmer (USA), Anita Juka, producer (Croatia), Richard Lowenstein, director (Australia)
Best Documentary Feature:
OKO NAD PRAHOU / EYE OVER PRAGUE (Czech Republic), dir. Olga Špátová
For catching the emotional resonence of a men who was before his time . The
filmmaker shows the compassionate and compelling documentation of the
life of an artist via the illuminating journey of their final work of
art.

SHORT FILMS COMPETITION
The Jury: Iza
Plucińska, director (Poland), Yann Jouette, director (France), Mateusz
Rakowicz, storyboard artist, director (Poland)
Best Short Film:
THE CAGE / COLIVIA (Romania / Netherlands), dir. Adrian Sitaru
For
an outstanding and unpretentious way of dealing with the subject. For
the simplicity of execution, but also for very complex performances of
the actors, which enabled the real persons to appear on screen.
Special mentions:
THE ORDER OF THINGS (Spain), dir. César Esteban Alenda, José Esteban Alenda
For his bold description from inside of a daily drama too often considered as trivial. '
AUTUMN MAN (Finland), dir. Jonas Selberg Augustsén
For his formal qualities at the service of a story full of poetry and humor.

FIPRESCI AWARD
FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics) Jury: Marilena Iliesiu, The
Stage & The Screeen (Romania), Aleksander Kwiatkowski, Nowa Gazeta
Polska (Sweden), Thomas Rothschild, Freitag, Stuttgarter Zeitung
(Germany) gave the award for the best Eastern European debut:
FIPRESCI Award:
PERIFERIC / OUTBOUND (Romania / Austria), dir. Bogdan George Apetri

ECUMENICAL JURY AWARD - SIGNIS PRIZE
The Jury: Denyse Muller (France), Jos Horemans (Belgium), father Marek Lis (Poland)
gave the award to a film presented in the International Competition
Ecumenical Jury Award - SIGNIS PRIZE:
DE LA INFANCIA / CHILDHOOD (Mexico), dir. Carlos Carrera
A touching dramatic story and universal challenge that deal with
difficult conditions of children deprived of security and stability due
to behaviour of adults, men in particular.
In this protest against
violence, only by acting responsibly, evil will not dominate and a
glimpse of hope could appear for families in distress.
Special mention:
PERIFERIC / OUTBOUND (Romania / Austria), dir. Bogdan George Apetri
Through an outstanding performance of the leading actress, the director
portrays the struggle of a courageous woman. In spite of rejection, she
is decided to give her existence a new start reunified
with her son.The deliberated structure of the screenplay leads the audience to believe in positive perspective for her life.