This year’s editions of the Youth Film Festival and Four River Film Festival, organized by the Croatian Film Association and Cinema Club Karlovac, and co-organized by the newly opened Edison Cinema, were closed with the screening of the multi-award-winning film The Uncle by directors Andrija Mardešić and David Kapac on Friday evening, and with the Awards Ceremony on Saturday
The Grand Prix of the Festival went to the film Bestiary (dir. Paul Van der Stegen) from France, while the Ukrainian film I’m not like them (dir. Mika Nechyporenko) won the Yellow Flag award, which is awarded to the film that most successfully and convincingly condemns violence with its topic and story.
The best films were decided on by an expert jury consisting of: Zdenka Gold, producer and founder of the production company Spiritus movens, director and multimedia artist Tomaž Pavkovič and director and producer Ljubo Zdjelarević.
The jury declared the following are the best films of the 28th Youth Film Festival: in the category of animated film, Friendship Between Beings by a group of authors led by mentor Sandro Toth from the Center for Lifelong Education and Culture Bjelovar; in the category of documentary film, the film Off the Grid by the Video group from the Student dorm of Hospitality and Tourism School Osijek; in the category of fiction film, The Herald by young director Dražen Bošnjak from Split, which also received the Audience Award, while in the category of freestyle film, What Is Your Way? by Jakov Benčić, a young author from Pula.
The best films of the 16th Four River Film Festival are: in the animated film category, the Irish film The Tell-Tale Heart (dir. Max Hendrickson), the award for Best documentary went to Oyum (dir. Aidai Askarova) from Kyrgyzstan, in the fiction film category the Ukrainian film I’m Not Like Them (dir. Mika Nechyporenko) was awarded, while in the freestyle category the film Lucid (dir. Enis Prijić) from Bosnia and Herzegovina received an award.
The Youth Jury, which this year included film lovers from Croatia, Qatar and Italy, handed out the following awards: the award for Best actor went to Dražen Bošnjak for the role of Mirko in the film The Herald (dir. Dražen Bošnjak, Croatia), Julie Nicola was declared the Best actress for the role of Julie in the film Bestiary (dir. Paul Van der Stegen, France), the award for Best director was won by the film Tell-Tale Heart (dir. Max Hendrickson, Ireland), the award for Best screenplay also went to the film The Herald (School of Design, Graphics and Sustainable Construction Split), while the award for Best cinematographer went to the film I’m not like them (dir. Mika Nechyporenko, Ukraine) and the award for Best editing went to the film Seed Cycle (dir. Francesca Antounette Rodriguez Reyes, Peru).
The last official evening screening of this year’s Festivals was of the aforementioned film The Uncle by Andrija Mardešić and David Kapac. This debut feature film won as many as 13 awards, including the main prize of the jury at the 36th Braunschweig International Film Festival, Germany, and was awarded at the 56th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival with a special recognition in the Proxima competition program. The screening of the film in Karlovac took place in front of a packed audience under the starry sky, right next to the Korana river. This year’s evening program also included the debut film by director Filip Heraković, called Pelican, on which Pavle Kocanjer, a young filmmaker from Karlovac, worked as a camera assistant, and Karlovac actors Peđa and Vanja Gvozdić were also part of the cast. We also saw Josip Žuvan’s feature film debut, Carbide, and the multi-award-winning film Safe Place by director Juraj Lerotić.
As many as 1,447 films were submitted to this year’s Youth Film Festival and Four River Film Festival, out of which 63 titles were included in the competition program. The number of submitted films confirms the importance and credibility of these Festivals among young filmmakers around the world.
The Karlovac audience followed the Awards Ceremony live in the Edison Cinema, and anyone who wants to can watch the video of the Ceremony here: https://web.facebook.com/four.river.film.festival/videos/833974134798592/
The films from the competition programs of both Festivals can be viewed online at https://hfsa.com.hr/28rm/screening-schedule/ until Sunday, September 17th. You can find all the information about the Festivals as well as their programs at www.frff.com.hr.
photos by: Demjan Rožman and Antonela Zvonković
The Festivals are sponsored by the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, the Croatian Association of Technical Culture, the Ministry of Science and Education, the “Kultura Nova” Foundation, City of Karlovac, Karlovac County, the Tourist Board of the City of Karlovac, the Croatian National Tourist Board, the Technical Culture Community of the Karlovac County and City and Turbing d.o.o.
