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AWARDS Czech Republic

The Zlín Film Festival honours children’s and youth cinema, crowning Supa Modo

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- The touching story by Likarion Wainaina came out on top at the international film festival for children and youth in the Czech Republic

The Zlín Film Festival honours children’s and youth cinema, crowning Supa Modo
Supa Modo by Likarion Wainaina

The Zlín Film Festival, an international gathering for children's and youth cinema, has wrapped its 58th edition. The festival showcased 300 films from 55 countries, 18 of which enjoyed their world, international or distributional premieres (in total, 199 movies were introduced as a premiere screening). Supa Modo [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
 by Likarion Wainaina (a co-production between Kenya and Germany), a touching child superhero story, won the Golden Slipper for Best Feature Film for Children along with the Ecumenical Jury Award. The jury appreciated the fact that the “heavy topic” was tackled “in a light and sensitive way” through “strong female characters, creativity and humour”. Mihajlo Milavić and Silma Mahmuti took home the City of Zlín Award for their performances in Raško Miljković's Serbian-Macedonian film The Witch Hunters [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, which is similar to Supa Modo in that it shares the superhero theme and features children who transform harsh reality into fantasy.

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The British film Barley Fields on the Other Side of the Mountains by Tian Tsering netted the Golden Slipper for Best Feature Film for Youth. “The film reminds us that freedom is indispensable and not certain. It is important to keep in mind that freedom is important to fight for. Tibet is still under Chinese rule, and the people of Tibet are not free,” remarked the jury when handing over the award. Milya Corbeil-Gauvreau received a prize for her role as Manon in the film Cross My Heart by Luc Picard, while the movie also won the Main Prize of the Youth Jury for Best Feature Film for Youth. Two movies shared a Special Mention: Pipsi by Rohan Deshpande and Home Team by Carlos Morelli

Norway’s Los Bando [+see also:
trailer
interview: Christian Lo
film profile
]
 by Christian Lo was named Best Feature Film for Children. The Austrian film The Best of All Worlds [+see also:
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trailer
film profile
]
 by Adrian Goiginger, following seven-year-old Adrian as he grows up in the underground drug scene, with his mother torn between drugs and her love for him, won the Europe Award for the Best European First Film. The jury noted, “Verena Altenberger and Jeremy Miliker break our hearts and raise our hopes as a mother and her son”. A Special Mention went to the German film Once Upon a Time… Indianerland [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
 by Ilker Çatak. “A wild, fun coming-of-age trip that will find a large audience and bears a message of responsibility at its heart,” the jury explained as it justified its decision.

The festival also held its traditional auction of artistically decorated film clapperboards and donated the proceeds to the FILMTALENT Endowment Fund to support emerging filmmakers.

Here is the complete list of winners at the Zlín Film Festival:

Golden Slipper for Best Feature Film for Children
Supa Modo [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
 – Likarion Wainaina (Kenya/Germany)

City of Zlín Award for Best Children’s Performance in a Feature Film for Children
Mihajlo Milavić and Silma Mahmuti – The Witch Hunters [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 (Serbia/Macedonia)

Golden Slipper for Best Feature Film for Youth
Barley Fields on the Other Side of the Mountains - Tian Tsering (UK)

Miloš Macourek Award for Best Youth Performance in a Feature Film for Youth
Milya Corbeil-Gauvreau - Cross My Heart (Canada)
Special Mention
Pipsi - Rohan Deshpande (India)
Home Team - Carlos Morelli (Uruguay/Argentina/Brazil)

Golden Slipper for Best Animated Film
Blueberry Hunt – Alexandra Májová, Kateřina Karhánková (Czech Republic)

Hermína Týrlová Award for Young Artists Aged Under 35
Kuap - Nils Hedinger (Switzerland) 

Main Prize of the Children’s Jury for Best Feature Film for Children
Los Bando [+see also:
trailer
interview: Christian Lo
film profile
]
 – Christian Lo (Norway)

Main Prize of the Youth Jury for Best Feature Film for Youth
Cross My Heart - Luc Picard (Canada)

Europe Award for Best European First Film 
The Best of All Worlds [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 - Adrian Goiginger (Austria)

Special Recognition
Once Upon a Time… Indianerland [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
 - Ilker Çatak (Germany) 

Main Prize for the Top Film in the Zlín Dog Competition (€1,000)
Leave of Absence - Moshe Rosenthal (Israel)

Genre prizes

Best Animated Film
Hybrids - Florian Brauch, Matthieu Pujol, Kim Tailhades, Yohan Thierau, Romain Thirion (France)

Best Documentary Film
The Last Prior - Petr Januschka, Tereza Vágnerová (Czech Republic)

Best Live-action Film
Into the Blue - Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović (Croatia) 

ECFA Doc Award
Wilder Than Wilderness - Marián Polák (Czech Republic) 

Ecumenical Jury Award
Supa Modo - Likarion Wainaina 

Audience awards

Golden Apple for Best Feature Film
The Third Wish - Vít Karas (Czech Republic)

Golden Apple for Best Short Animated Film
Trunky - Ekaterina Filippova (Russia)

ČT: D Audience Award for Best Short Animated Film
Belly Flop - Jeremy Collins, Kelly Dillon (South Africa)

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