Karlovy Vary Reveals Award Winners: ‘Blaga’s Lessons’ Takes Key Prizes
The 57th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (June 30 – July 8) came to a close this evening with an awards ceremony that bestowed two key prizes to contemporary Bulgarian drama Blaga’s Lessons (Уроците на Блага) by director Stephan Komandarev.
The third film in the director’s trilogy about his country’s social ills focuses on an old woman duped by a telephone scam.
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Also among winners on the night were Vincent Perez’s The Edge of the Blade (Une Affaire D’honneur), which took home the audience award, and filmmaker Babak Jalali, who took home the best director prize for the film Fremont.
There were two prizes on the night for Ernst De Geer’s The Hypnosis (Hypnosen) while the top industry award of 90,000 euros went to Czech film I’m Not Everything I Want to Be (Ještě nejsem, kým chci být), which is currently in post.
As previously revealed, Russell Crowe receive a Crystal Globe for outstanding contribution to world cinema, and there were Festival President’s Awards for Alicia Vikander, Ewan McGregor and Robin Wright.
The full list of winners and juries are below:
CRYSTAL GLOBE COMPETITION
CRYSTAL GLOBE JURY
Dora Bouchoucha, Tunisia
Patricia Clarkson, USA
John Nein, USA
Olmo Omerzu, Czech Republic / Slovenia
Barry Ward, Ireland
GRAND PRIX – CRYSTAL GLOBE (25 000 USD)
The financial award is shared equally by the director and producer of the award-winning film.
Blaga’s Lessons / Urotcite na Blaga
Directed by: Stephan Komandarev
Bulgaria, Germany, 2023
SPECIAL JURY PRIZE (15 000 USD)
The financial award is shared equally by the director and producer of the award-winning film.
Empty Nets / Toorhaye khali
Directed by: Behrooz Karamizade
Germany, Iran, 2023
BEST DIRECTOR AWARD
Babak Jalali for the film Fremont
USA, 2023
BEST ACTRESS AWARD
Eli Skorcheva for her role in the film Blaga’s Lessons / Urotcite na Blaga
Bulgaria, Germany, 2023
BEST ACTOR AWARD
Herbert Nordrum for his role in the film The Hypnosis / Hypnosen
Sweden, Norway, France, 2023
SPECIAL JURY MENTION
Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano
Directed by: Cyril Aris
Germany, Lebanon, 2023
PRÁVO AUDIENCE AWARD
The Edge of the Blade / Une affaire d’honneur
Directed by: Vincent Perez
France, 2023
PROXIMA COMPETITION
PROXIMA JURY
Dana Linssen, Netherlands
Marija Razgutė, Lithuania
Šimon Šafránek, Czech Republic
Barbara Wurm, Austria
Meng Xie, People’s Republic of China
PROXIMA GRAND PRIX (15 000 USD)
The financial award is shared equally by the director and producer of the award-winning film.
Birth
Directed by: Yoo Ji-young
South Korea, 2022
PROXIMA SPECIAL JURY PRIZE (10 000 USD)
The financial award is shared equally by the director and producer of the award-winning film.
Guras
Directed by: Saurav Rai
India, Nepal, 2023
SPECIAL JURY MENTION
Brutal Heat / Brutální vedro
Directed by: Albert Hospodářský
Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, 2023
CRYSTAL GLOBE FOR OUTSTANDING ARTISTIC CONTRIBUTION
TO WORLD CINEMA
Russell Crowe, New Zealand
FESTIVAL PRESIDENT’S AWARD FOR CONTRIBUTION TO CZECH CINEMATOGRAPHY
Daniela Kolářová, Czech Republic
FESTIVAL PRESIDENT’S AWARD
Alicia Vikander, Sweden
Ewan McGregor, United Kingdom
Robin Wright, USA
NON-STATUTORY AWARDS
THE ECUMENICAL JURY AWARD
Since 1994 the Ecumenical Jury has awarded films from the Crystal Globe Competition that display high artistic quality while questioning social, political ethical, and spiritual values. It promotes directors who emphasize the search for truth, justice, and hope in accordance with Christian Gospels.
THE ECUMENICAL JURY
Hana Ducho, Czech Republic
Anna Grebe, Germany
Hermann Kocher, Switzerland
GRAND PRIZE OF THE ECUMENICAL JURY
Blaga’s Lessons / Urotcite na Blaga
Directed by: Stephan Komandarev
Bulgaria, Germany, 2023
COMMENDATION OF THE ECUMENICAL JURY
Citizen Saint / Mokalake Tsmindani
Directed by: Tinatin Kajrishvili
Georgia, France, Bulgaria, 2023
EUROPA CINEMAS LABEL AWARD
Since 2003, the Europa Cinemas Label has been awarded to a European film by a jury of Europa Cinemas exhibitors at five European festivals. It aims to increase the promotion, circulation and exhibition lifespan of winning films. The Europa Cinema Label awards the best European film from the Crystal Globe Competition and Proxima Competitions.
EUROPA CINEMAS LABEL JURY
Anna-Lena Arreborn, Sweden
Ilona van Heeckeren, Netherlands
Jörg Jacob, Germany
The Hypnosis / Hypnosen
Directed by: Ernst De Geer
Sweden, Norway, France, 2023
FIPRESCI AWARD
The International Federation of Film Critics Jury awards two FIPRESCI Prizes: to a film from the Crystal Globe Competition and a film from the Proxima Competition, for works that best promote film art and encourage new and young cinema.
FIPRESCI JURY
Jana Bébarová, Czech Republic
Max Oliver Borg, Switzerland
Engin Ertan, Turkey
Cerise Howard, Australia
Hamed Soleimanzadeh, Germany
Jan Storø, Norway
The FIPRESCI award for the best film in the Crystal Globe Competition
The Hypnosis / Hypnosen
Directed by: Ernst De Geer
Sweden, Norway, France, 2023
The FIPRESCI award for the best film in the Proxima Competition
Imago
Directed by: Olga Chajdas
Poland, Netherlands, Czech Republic, 2023
KVIFF EASTERN PROMISES WINNERS: WORKS IN PROGRESS, WORKS IN DEVELOPMENT – FEATURE LAUNCH AND FIRST CUT+ WORKS IN PROGRESS AT KARLOVY VARY IFF 2023
KVIFF Eastern Promises 2023, the festival’s film market, showcased a total of 27 film projects across 3 programs during the 57th Karlovy Vary IFF.
WORKS IN PROGRESS
JURY
Oscar Alonso, Spain
Nadia Ben Rachid, France
Agustina Chiarino, Uruguay
Petr Tichý, Czech Republic
Esra Demirkiran, Turkey
Works in Progress is a platform for feature and documentary films in the post-production or late-production stage from Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans, the former Soviet Union, the Middle East, and North Africa, which will premiere after the Karlovy Vary IFF. A total of 11 projects were pitched. The winner was awarded a prize consisting of post-production services from UPP and Soundsquare. Furthermore, two projects were awarded 5,000 EUR each for their further development, one sponsored by TRT Sinema and one by Barrandov Studio.
WORKS IN PROGRESS POST-PRODUCTION DEVELOPMENT AWARD (90,000 EUR)
I’m Not Everything I Want to Be / Ještě nejsem, kým chci být Directed by: Klára Tasovská Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria
WORKS IN PROGRESS TRT AWARD (5,000 EUR)
Tasty / Gardutė
Directed by: Egle Vertelyte
Lithuania, Estonia
WORKS IN PROGRESS KARLOVY VARY IFF AWARD (5,000 EUR)
Bikechess / Bikechess Directed by: Assel Aushakimova Kazakhstan, France, Norway
WORKS IN DEVELOPMENT – FEATURE LAUNCH
Danijel Hočevar, Slovenia
Joseph Fahim, Egypt
Simone Baumann, Germany
For this platform, KVIFF has partnered with the Midpoint Institute script and project development program as well as with the When East Meets West co-production market and Trieste Film Festival. Together they have showcased 8 projects that have gone through development and mentoring within the Feature Launch program. The jury has awarded a 10,000 EUR cash prize, jointly sponsored by MIDPOINT, Barrandov Studio and KVIFF, for further development of the project.
WORKS IN DEVELOPMENT AWARD (10,000 EUR)
Flight from Kabul / Let z Kábulu
Directed by: Sahraa Karimi
Slovakia
CONNECTING COTTBUS AWARD
JURY
Marjorie Bendeck, Republic of Honduras
Katharina Stumm, Germany
Excavators / Ekskafis Directed by: Argyro Nicolaou Cyprus
ROTTERDAM LAB AWARD
JURY
Facundo Lema, Netherlands / Argentina
The award goes to Tomáš Pertold, producer of the film God Break Down the Door / Bože, rozraz dveře
Czech Republic
FIRST CUT+ WORKS IN PROGRESS
JURY
Esra Demirkiran, Turkey
Francesca Tiberi, Italy
Marge Liiske, Estonia
First Cut+ is a programme created for boosting the competitiveness and marketability of feature films that previously participated in First Cut Lab. The programme was launched in 2020 through close cooperation with two dynamic and well-established film industry platforms: Trieste’s When East Meets West and Karlovy Vary IFF’s Eastern Promises Industry Days. Each year, it promotes a portfolio of 16 fiction feature films at the stage of post-production – eight of them were presented here in Karlovy Vary.
TRT FIRST CUT+ AWARD (5,000 EUR)
Allen Sunshine
Directed by: Harley Chamandy
Canada, USA
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