20th Liffe Closing and Awards Ceremony

On Sunday, 22 November, the 20th LIFFe came to a close. During the twelve Festival days 91 feature films and 15 short films were screened, over 45,000 tickets were sold for a total of 254 screenings. The Festival was visited by 29 guests and 171 accredited members of the press. All this testifies to the success of this year’s jubilee LIFFe.

After the intro by Kisha the guests eagerly awaited the announcement of the winners. Danilo Tomšič, Sales Manager at Mobitel, bestowed the Itak film fest winner, Domen Konda, for his Slovenski film shot by mobile film.

15 films competed for the Best Short Film Award. The international jury presented the award to Missing by Jochem de Vries from the Netherlands. The jury stated that “the winning film explores childhood and family with a directness and simplicity that allow us to glimpse apparently ordinary events which say much about the people concerned, their milieu, and their society. Free of inherent judgment or insinuation, its content is left fully open to interpretation of the viewer. It is executed with the economy and confidence that mark the best work in the short-film format.” The Special Mention went to Australian film The Ground Beneath by Rene Hernandez.

The FIPRESCI Prize, awarded by the International Federation of Film Critics, was bestowed to Ben and Josh Safdie for Go Get Some Rosemary. The jury stated that “Josh and Ben Safdie brothers tell a simple story about a complicated family – which is their own. Inspired by the New York independent film tradition, it captures the hectic patchwork family life. It’s a comical drama about a man in between extremes and his confused sons. A warm-hearted look back without anger.”

The Dragon Award, designed by Polona Demšar, should have been presented by Tobačna Ljubljana representative to young Canadian director Xavier Dolan for I Killed My Mother, but as the filmmaker was shooting in the north of Canada, he only sent a thank-you note: “I am honored, flattered, astonished to receive this award. It is a message of love and appreciation from a collectivity of people, and is therefore so valuable, sincere. A prize from a Jury may have a prestigious or intellectual value, but an Audience Award means a numerous crowd is behind the film, and such consideration from an eclectic, multigenerational, cinephilic public touches every single bit of my heart, my pride, my spirit. I am mesmerized by the film's effect on people all around the world, from here to you, with all the cultural disparities and differences that distances, seas and countries imply. Thank you so much, and long live cinéma for bringing us closer in art and in life.”

The Kingfisher Jury of the 20th LIFFE consisted of Dana Linssen from The Netherlands, Elma Tataragić from Bosnia and Martin Turk from Slovenia. The jury was happy and proud to had come to a unanimous decision.

First the jury gave a Special Mention to a film that had been impossible not to award. For its perfect aesthetic, storytelling, directing of the actors, for its social engagement and philosophical insightfulness, the Special Mention of the Kingfisher Jury of the 20th LIFFE went to Politist, Adjectiv by Corneliu Porumboiu. The Kingfisher Award of the 20th LIFFE went to a film that is courageous in its portrayal of a war situation which not only recalls the war outside, but also confronts us with the enemy within every human being that is perhaps the biggest threat to himself. Starting from a very realistic situation, the film slowly turns into a surrealistic nightmare. For expressive acting, a convincing story and inventive directing, the Kingfisher Award went to The Blacks by Zvonimir Jurić and Goran Dević.

The awards ceremony was followed by a Norwegian film, O’Horten. The 20th Liffe has passed away, long live the 21st Liffe.