21/10/2019 - The Latvian film by Juris Kursietis has won out over six other Central and Eastern European movies

CinÉast 2019's international jury during the awards ceremony (© Margo Skwara Photography)

At the awards ceremony of the 12th edition of CinÉast, held at the Cinémathèque Luxembourg on Saturday 20 October, the international jury presided over by renowned French director-scriptwriter Jacques Doillon awarded the Grand Prix to Oleg [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Juris Kursietis
film profile] by Juris Kursietis (Latvia/Belgium/Lithuania/France) and the Special Jury Prize to Corpus Christi [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bartosz Bielenia
interview: Jan Komasa
film profile] by Jan Komasa (Poland/France). The rest of the jury was composed of Venice Days programmer Renata Santoro, Romanian filmmaker Marius Olteanu, Luxembourgish director-producer Adolf El Assal and Luxembourgish actress Sophie Mousel.

The wins for Oleg and Corpus Christi come after a successful run on the festival circuit for both films. In the CinÉast selection, they locked horns with a strong group of movies that also included Cat in the Wall [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mina Mileva, Vesela Kazakova
film profile] by Mina Mileva and Vesela Kazakova, Nova Lituania [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Karolis Kaupinis
film profile] by Karolis Kaupinis, Scandinavian Silence [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Martti Helde
film profile] by Martti Helde, Stitches [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Miroslav Terzić
film profile] by Miroslav Terzic and Open Door [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Florenc Papas
film profile] by Florenc Papas.

The Critics' Prize awarded by the press jury also went to Corpus Christi. The press jury included journalists France Clarinval (RTL), Marc Trappendreher (d’Lëtzebuerger Land) and Cristóbal Soage (Cineuropa). The winner of the Audience Award was Honeyland [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ljubomir Stefanov, Tamara K…
interview: Tamara Kotevska, Ljubomir S…
film profile], which came out on top after the votes were cast by the members of the audience attending the screenings. The Audience Awards for Best Short Films were bestowed upon The Christmas Gift by Bogdan Muresan (fiction, Romania/France), Toomas Beneath the Valley of the Wild Wolves by Chintis Lundgren (animation, Croatia/Estonia/France) and Dancing For You by Kataryna Lesisz (documentary, Poland).

Here is the full list of winners:

Grand Prix
Oleg [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Juris Kursietis
film profile] - Juris Kursietis (Latvia/Belgium/Lithuania/France)

Special Jury Prize
Corpus Christi [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bartosz Bielenia
interview: Jan Komasa
film profile] - Jan Komasa (Poland/France)

Critics’ Prize
Corpus Christi – Jan Komasa

Audience Award
Honeyland [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ljubomir Stefanov, Tamara K…
interview: Tamara Kotevska, Ljubomir S…
film profile] - Tamara Kotevska, Ljubomir Stefanov (North Macedonia)

Audience Awards – short films

Fiction
The Christmas Gift – Bogdan Muresan (Romania/France)

Animation
Toomas Beneath the Valley of the Wild Wolves – Chintis Lundgren (Croatia/Estonia/France)

Documentary
Dancing For You – Kataryna Lesisz (Poland)