email print share on Facebook share on Twitter share on LinkedIn share on reddit pin on Pinterest

CINÉAST 2021 Awards

Murina wins the Grand Prix at CinÉast

by 

- Croatian director Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović's coming-of-age tale, which won the Caméra d'Or at Cannes, was awarded the main prize in Luxembourg after a 17-day festival

Murina wins the Grand Prix at CinÉast
The awarding of the CinÉast Grand Prix to Murina by Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović (© Dalboyne)

After 17 days offering a platform for films from Central and Eastern Europe, the 14th edition of CinÉast (7-24 October) has come to an end. A total of 55 fiction features and documentaries, as well as 35 shorts, were screened in Luxembourg City and several other cities in the country. The films came from 20 different countries, and there was a special focus on Slovenia this year.

The programme also included photography exhibitions, concerts, panels and special meetings. One of these took place on the closing day of the festival with Romanian director Radu Jude. The latter not only presented his newest film, Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Radu Jude
film profile
]
, which won the Golden Bear for Best Film at this year's Berlinale, but was also the chair of the international jury invited by the festival to hand out two of the main prizes to films in the competition (which saw a total of seven movies locking horns).

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

The Grand Prix went to the coming-of-age film Murina [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović
interview: Gracija Filipovic
film profile
]
by Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović. The jury stated that the story is “told with graceful vigour and with an incredibly detailed mise-en-scène”. The jury was made up of a total of five members: besides director-scriptwriter Radu Jude, it included Czech director Michaela Pavlátová, Luxembourgish producer-director Nicolas Steil, Luxembourgish actress-director Larisa Faber and Belgian co-director of the Brussels International Film Festival Céline Masset. Moreover, they decided on the winner of the Special Jury Prize. This went to Małgorzata Szumowska and Michał Englert's tragicomedy Never Gonna Snow Again [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Małgorzata Szumowska and Mi…
film profile
]
because of “its well-crafted social critique, mesmerising cinematography and for its magical realism”.

From among the same selection of seven films, which also included Celts [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Milica Tomovic
film profile
]
by Milica Tomović (Serbia), Forest – I See You Everywhere [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Bence Fliegauf (Hungary), Inventory [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Darko Sinko
film profile
]
by Darko Sinko (Slovenia), Saving One Who Was Dead [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Václav Kadrnka
film profile
]
by Václav Kadrnka (Czech Republic) and Miracle [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bogdan George Apetri
film profile
]
by Bogdan George Apetri (Romania), the Press Jury chose Apetri's drama with comical elements as the winner of the Critics’ Prize. The jury was composed of three members: Gabrielle Seil (Revue), Tobias Keßler (Saarbrücker Zeitung) and Teresa Vena (Cineuropa, freelancer). In their statement, they said: “Through a single detail, like someone's taste in music, the film evokes in an unpretentious way a feeling of longing for a so-called better past – and an uncertain future. With precise dialogue, it deals with important topics such as religion and gender roles, and shows that it is in personal relationships where political relevance lies.”

This year, for the first time, the festival put together a special jury of young people who also voted for their favourite film at the gathering. They bestowed the Young Talents Award upon a filmmaker from the new generation – namely, Polish director Dawid Nickel for his coming-of-age story Love Tasting [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
.

This second hybrid edition of CinÉast ended on a positive note, as its director, Radek Lipka, and artistic director, Hynek Dedecius, handed over the prizes to the winners virtually, in a symbolic gesture, before bringing the festival to a close with the animated film My Sunny Maad [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Michaela Pavlátová
film profile
]
by Michaela Pavlátová.

Here is the complete list of award winners at the 14th edition of CinÉast:

Grand Prix
Murina [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović
interview: Gracija Filipovic
film profile
]
– Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović (Croatia/Brazil/USA/Slovenia)

Special Jury Prize
Never Gonna Snow Again [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Małgorzata Szumowska and Mi…
film profile
]
- Małgorzata Szumowska, Michał Englert (Poland/Germany)

Critics' Prize
Miracle [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bogdan George Apetri
film profile
]
– Bogdan George Apetri (Romania)

Young Talents Award for Documentary Film
Love Tasting [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
– Dawid Nickel (Poland)

Audience Award – Best Feature
Love Around the World [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Davor and Andjela Rostuhar (Croatia)

Audience Award – Best Short Film – Fiction
Boredom – Alicia Bednáriková (Slovakia)

Audience Award – Best Short Film – Documentary
Stolen Fish – Gosia Juszczak (Poland)

Audience Award – Best Short Film – Animation
Red Shoes – Anna Podskalská (Czech Republic)

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.

Privacy Policy