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Catane, nan communicative directorial debut of Romanian filmmaker Ioana Mischie, claimed nan Grand Jury Prize for Best Feature Film astatine SEEfest, nan South East European Film Festival successful Los Angeles.
Mischie’s drama takes spot successful a remote, mountainous colony successful Romania wherever each 1 of nan inhabitants has applied for authorities benefits, claiming disabilities of various kinds. Suspicious authorities officials are sent to investigate, resulting successful a series of humorous, often laugh-out-loud encounters.
“In a world overflowing pinch content, it’s uncommon to brushwood a communicative that feels new,” nan SEEfest assemblage wrote successful its statement. “From nan directing and cinematography, to nan lighting and costume design. The victor of this title invited america to acquisition cinema and storytelling successful a measurement that felt vibrant, alive, relatable, and profoundly human.”
The jury, comprised of Adriana Trautman, Moneer Yaqubi, and Christopher O’Conner, continued, “Catane reminds america why invention and productivity successful storytelling still matters. Catane is arsenic fascinating arsenic it is magical… It is refreshing and inspiring to spot productivity win, particularly erstwhile paired pinch what appeared to person been a talented squad of filmmakers.”
SEEfest’s Best Ensemble grant went to Fantasy, directed by Kukla. The assemblage wrote, “Kukla’s Fantasy is simply a sparkling breakthrough successful Slovenian cinema, expertly blending municipality grit pinch magical realism to transcend nan coming-of-age genre. This visionary activity captures a yearning for liberation done a sensory-rich acquisition that is some section and universally poetic. The film’s occurrence is rooted successful its bonzer ensemble cast. The earthy intimacy of nan halfway trio—Sina, Mihrije, and Jasna—is perfectly balanced by Alina Juhart’s magnetic capacity arsenic Fantasy, which serves arsenic a transformative catalyst for nan narrative.”
Fantasy besides was awarded an Honorable Mention successful nan Best Feature Film category, and it earned a abstracted Honorable Mention for its cinematography, recognizing nan activity of DOP Lazar Bogdanovic.
Taking nan festival’s prize for Best Cinematography successful a Feature Film was Father, directed by Tereza Nvotová, pinch cinematography by Adam Suzin.
“Father was nan astir awesome successful its scope of mastery of camera movement, lighting, and method cinematography accomplishment,” wrote nan cinematography jury, comprised of David Auner, David J. Frederick, and Michael Stampler. “The stitching of nan different shots connected a fewer occasions was really truthful impressive. The continuous 360 grade camera changeable efforts which supported nan story, emphasized nan hostility and provided breathtaking expository needs of nan book – each provided wrong fantabulous lighting and nan formed performance.”
Jurors added, “The cinematography successful Father was apical notch. Combining nan elements of compelling camera creation and activity successful continuous adjacent ups arsenic good arsenic beautifully accomplished technocrane activity afloat exploring nan film’s characters affectional travel done joyousness and situation was powerful. The lighting was transparent and natural, nan lens flares were due and beautiful. A complete thumbs up.”
Earning honorable mentions successful nan Best Cinematography successful a Feature Film class were Fantasy (as noted above) and Our Father, directed by Goran Stanković and changeable by Dragan Vildovic.
Our Father won SEEfest’s Audience Award successful nan Feature Film category.
Father and Our Father were separately recognized by nan publication Cinema Without Borders, which presents nan Bridging nan Borders Award. Jurors Ayat Najafi, Chale Nafus, Susan Morgan Cooper, Vladek Juszkiewicz, and Abbas Yari gave their apical prize to Father, noting nan movie “depicts nan calamity of a begetter accidentally causing nan decease of his ain child. The direction, nan acting and nan book authentically exemplify nan father’s gut -wrenching condolences and nan public’s condemnation.”
The Cinema Without Borders assemblage awarded an Honorable Mention to Our Father, penning that it tells “the communicative of a priest’s highly reliable attack to rehabilitating supplier addicts. The actors and nan head unit america done nan unbearably hellish struggle of nan addicts and those trying to prevention them.”
SEEfest, which is co-presented by ELMA (elma.org), instauration for European Languages and Movies successful America, wrapped its 21st version pinch nan awards ceremonial astatine nan Laemmle Royal Theatre successful Los Angeles. Following nan awards presentation, nan show hosted nan North American premiere of Jakub Kroner’s Černák, nan sequel to Slovak all-time container agency deed Miki, “chronicling nan emergence and autumn of nan section mafia leader who ruled nan turf successful post-socialist vacuum.”
Among different SEEfest awards, Best Documentary Film went to 9-Month Contract, directed by Ketevan Vashagashvili. Jurors Shiloh Strong, Sunil Sadarangani, and Juli Juteau saluted nan movie arsenic “a heartfelt in-depth dive into nan needs, desires and passionate beliefs of a mother who will do anything, including renting retired her womb arsenic a surrogate, to return attraction of her teenage daughter. This skilled cinema-verité style documentary invites nan spectator to profoundly empathize pinch nan hardship circumstances this mini family endures, while ending connected a statement of dream and anticipation for some mother and daughter.”
An Honorable Mention successful nan Best Documentary Film class was presented to Militantropos, a movie group successful Ukraine directed by Yelizaveta Smith, Alina Gorlova, and Simon Mozgovyi.
“Militantropos presents a awesome measurement to look astatine nan acquisition of life astatine war,” nan assemblage wrote. “The movie is simply a warfare documentary but successful a caller measurement that really stuck pinch us. There were immoderate existent moments that gave america a deeper knowing of nan effect of changeless warfare connected a civilization from caller angles.”
The Beauty of nan Donkey, directed by Dea Gjinovci, won nan Audience Award successful nan Documentary Feature category. That movie besides won for Best Cinematography successful a Documentary Film, recognizing nan activity of cinematographer Maxime Kathari.
Nonfiction cinematography jurors Claude Budin-Juteau and Shaley Brooks wrote of The Beauty of nan Donkey, “This lyrical hybrid documentary traces a daughter’s travel to reconnect pinch her father’s mislaid homeland, arsenic Asllan returns pinch his girl Dea to Makermal, nan Kosovar colony he near sixty years earlier,” jurors said. “What stood retired to america was nan spot of nan creation and lighting, which gave nan movie a striking ocular effect throughout. The nighttime footage is particularly beautiful and memorable, and nan observant handling of ray shapes an artistic that lingers good beyond nan last frame. Kathari’s cinematography doesn’t simply archive a homecoming — it becomes nan mean done which representation itself is recovered, mourned, and made sparkling again.”
The assemblage awarded 3 honorable mentions successful nan nonfiction cinematography category: Militantropos, Electing Ms. Santa (director Raisa Razmerita; cinematographer Ion Gnatiuc), and My Dear Theo, directed by Alisa Kovalenko, pinch cinematography by Kovalenko.
These are further awards presented by SEEfest Wednesday night:
SHORT FICTION
Jury: Gary Shapiro, Amanda Sweikow Smith, Katharina Nimmervoll
WINNER
PLACE UNDER THE SUN
Director: Vlad Bolgarin / Country: Moldova
Jury Statement: PLACE UNDER THE SUN is simply a softly powerful image of dignity, pride, and nan vulnerable enslaved betwixt a begetter and son. Set successful a bustling Moldovan marketplace, it finds profound humanity successful small, mundane moments of struggle and grace. With spare speech and delicate ocular storytelling, nan movie reveals a father’s shame, a child’s unwavering love, and nan unspoken knowing betwixt them. A elemental gesture, buying a peach to reconstruct his father’s consciousness of worth, becomes a moving look of empathy and hope. For its tender storytelling, lyrical imagery, and genuine affectional warmth, we are proud to grant PLACE UNDER THE SUN Best Short Fiction Film.
HONORABLE MENTION
ERASERHEAD IN A KNITTED SHOPPING BAG
Director: Lili Koss / Country: Romania
Jury Statement: ERASERHEAD IN A KNITTED SHOPPING BAG captures nan strength of puerility obsession and nan resilience it inspires. From its opening frames, it establishes a rich, atmospheric ocular connection rooted successful Ro’s soul world, 1 shaped by hardship, related tensions, and quiet cruelty. Within this reality, her determination and imagination becomes an enactment of resistance, culminating successful a haunting fusion of spectator and cinema that reveals really profoundly creation tin toggle shape a young life.
Both nostalgic and sharply observed, ERASERHEAD IN A KNITTED SHOPPING BAG evokes a circumstantial taste infinitesimal while speaking to a cosmopolitan experience: nan measurement a azygous image, story, aliases thought tin go a lifeline. For its striking cinematography, unique voice, and its moving portrayal of really young group carve retired meaning and dream connected their ain terms, we are proud to grant it an Honorable Mention.
SHORT DOCUMENTARY
Jury: David Fisch, Bryan Honig, Sarah Priestnall
WINNER
AROUND THE CLOCK
Director: Marina Musulin / Country: Croatia
Jury Statement: With AROUND THE CLOCK, we were instantly hooked by nan slice-of-life attack and really nan filmmaker throws you into this woman’s life without explanation. Through watching moments of a humble life, it does an immensely effective occupation astatine highlighting nan subject’s personality, passion, and willingness to get her hands soiled for those astir her. It’s a in installments to nan filmmaker’s imagination and nan expertise of nan editor that we travel to learn, and care, truthful overmuch astir nan taxable without nan usage of title cards, interviews, aliases narration. The filmmaking attack complemented nan taxable and her day/life beautifully.
HONORABLE MENTION
PALACES OF MEMORY
Director: Matlab Mukhtarov / Country: Azerbaijan
Jury Statement: From nan provocative first image of a biscuit dissolving into beverage to nan stunningly-shot recreations of his first memory, PALACES OF MEMORY takes america connected a travel done their ain nostalgia and insecurity. The filmmaker’s prime to let mini details, for illustration his mother spending a month’s net for photos of her children (especially erstwhile nan photos are somewhat mediocre), is simply a very effective measurement to item nan lengths group spell conscionable to remember. After an in-depth exploration of aforesaid and memory, enhanced by emotion-led euphony choices, ending pinch nan innocence of a young alien Yusif, leaves nan spectator pinch galore questions astir nan value of memory. Will this beryllium Yusif’s first memory? Is it okay to not find nan answers you are looking for wrong yourself? Is surviving successful nan infinitesimal much joyful?
SHORT ANIMATION
Jury: C. Craig Patterson, Ron Holsey
WINNER
SILENT CINEMA
Director: Krste Gospodinovski / Country: North Macedonia
Jury Statement: An ambitious, well-executed and beautiful cinematic accomplishment that uses clever stop-motion techniques executed pinch nan utmost care. SILENT CINEMA manages to beryllium evocative moreover utilizing rough, homemade-feeling puppets pinch fixed faces. The lighting, creation creation and people are each fantabulous – and nan azygous changeable building gives nan movie a dreamy, meditative quality. In summation to nan method competence of nan film, nan communicative was personally moving for members of nan jury. The filmmaker crafted thing that provides a communicative without answering everything for us.
HONORABLE MENTION
DISTURBIA
Director: Mira Yankova / Country: Bulgaria
Jury Statement: An inspired and meticulously crafted watercourse of consciousness pinch absurdist and surreal morphs that return america connected a thought-provoking journey. DISTURBIA was emotionally affecting and felt individual to nan filmmaker. A visually stunning portion that felt astatine times for illustration a psychedelic Guernica.
HONORABLE MENTION
FAČUK
Director: Maida Srabovic / Country: Croatia, Slovenia
Jury Statement: FAČUK is an allegorical and elemental communicative told exceptionally good done its art. With inspired design, stunning backgrounds and affecting score, nan movie manages to beryllium whimsical while dealing pinch difficult taxable matter. The filmmaker masterfully integrates nan naive creation style into nan film’s creation and animation techniques. While it doesn’t awkward distant from its outlook aliases darkness, FAČUK is for illustration a communicative told connected stained-glass windows – done wide changeable tableaus and painstakingly beautiful art.
