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CROSSING EUROPE 2019 Awards

The Man Who Surprised Everyone conquers Crossing Europe

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- Other winners at the Linz-based event included Heimat Is a Space in Time, Irina and Consequences, with Special Mentions going to Light as Feathers, Oray, Srbenka and Transnistra

The Man Who Surprised Everyone conquers Crossing Europe
Darko Štante, the director of Consequences, picks up his YAAAS! Competition Jury Award (© Christoph Thorwartl/subtext.at)

The 16th Crossing Europe Film Festival Linz (25-30 April) handed out its awards at a ceremony last night in the Ursulinensaal festival venue in the Upper Austrian Culture Quarter.

In the Fiction Competition, dedicated to first and second films, the main Award for Best Fiction Film, worth €10,000, went to the Russian-Estonian-French co-production The Man Who Surprised Everyone [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Natasha Merkulova and Aleksey Chupov. The movie world-premiered in Venice’s Orizzonti, where it garnered its lead, Natalya Kudryashova, the Best Actress Award.

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The jury, comprising filmmakers Mahmut Fazıl Coşkun (Turkey) and Ana Lungu (Romania), and founder of the Locarno Critics’ Week and former Visions du Réel director Jean Perret, also gave out two Special Mentions: one to Dutch director Rosanne Pel for Light as Feathers [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rosanne Pel
film profile
]
and another to actor Zejhun Demirov, for his phenomenal turn in Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay's Berlinale prizewinner Oray [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay
film profile
]
(Germany).

Thomas Heise's monumental 218-minute documentary Heimat Is a Space in Time [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
continued its awards run, following a triumph at Visions du Réel, scooping the Crossing Europe Social Awareness Award for Best Documentary, worth €5,000. The jury, consisting of festival programmers and curators Ralph Eue (DOK Leipzig), Djamila Grandits (CineCollective Vienna) and Oksana Sarkisova (Verzio International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival Budapest), handed out Special Mentions to Nebojša Slijepčević's Srbenka [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nebojša Slijepčević
film profile
]
(Croatia) and Anna Eborn's Transnistra [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
(Sweden/Denmark/Belgium).

In the newly established YAAAS! Competition, aimed at and curated by young people, the Youth Jury awarded the €2,000 prize to Consequences [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Darko Štante
interview: Timon Sturbej
film profile
]
by Slovenia's Darko Štante. Finally, the Audience Award, worth €1,000, went to Nadejda Koseva's Irina [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Martina Apostolova
film profile
]
(Bulgaria).

Here is the full list of Crossing Europe Film Festival Linz award winners:

Competition – Fiction

Best Fiction Film
The Man Who Surprised Everyone [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Natasha Merkulova, Aleksey Chupov (Russia/Estonia/France)
Special Mentions
Light as Feathers [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rosanne Pel
film profile
]
- Rosanne Pel (Netherlands) 
Zejhun Demirov for his role in Oray [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay
film profile
]
 (Germany)

Competition – Documentary

Social Awareness Award – Best Documentary
Heimat Is a Space in Time [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Thomas Heise (Germany/Austria) 
Special Mentions
Srbenka [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nebojša Slijepčević
film profile
]
- Nebojša Slijepčević (Croatia)
Transnistra [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Anna Eborn (Sweden/Denmark/Belgium)

YAAAS! Competition Jury Award
Consequences [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Darko Štante
interview: Timon Sturbej
film profile
]
- Darko Štante (Slovenia/Austria) 

Audience Award
Irina [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Martina Apostolova
film profile
]
- Nadejda Koseva (Bulgaria)

Competition – Local Artist

Money Prize (€5,000)
Movements of a Nearby Mountain [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sebastian Brameshuber
film profile
]
- Sebastian Brameshuber (Austria/France) 

Material Prize (post-production services from The Grand Post, worth €2,000)
Fleischwochen - Joachim Iseni (Austria) 

Innovative Award – Local Artist
Animistica - Nikki Schuster (Austria/Mexico/Germany) 

Creative Region Music Video Award
Fahrvergnügen by Chris Imler - Dagmar Schürrer (Austria)

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