Running for two weeks (21 March-4 April), the Vilnius Film Festival Kino Pavasaris has brought its 24^th edition to a close by awarding Richard Billingham’s autobiographical drama Ray & Liz [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Richard Billingham
scheda film] as the Best Film in the European Debut Competition. The awards ceremony was held on Friday 5 April at the Forum Cinemas Vingis and was hosted by the festival’s general director, Algirdas Ramaška.

The jury of the European Debut Competition, comprising writer-director Eglė Vertelytė, director and editor of Cinema Scope Mark Peranson, New Horizons International Film Festival artistic director Marcin Pieńkowski, Tokyo Film Festival director Takeo Hisamatsu and Beta Cinema representative Cosima Finkbeiner, chose Billingham’s debut feature for its “vivid, powerful and human depiction of a family, a place and a time, filmed with precision and dark, unsettling humour”.

For the second year in a row, the Cineuropa Prize was handed out at the Vilnius Film Festival, and the jury bestowed it upon Lithuanian director Aistė Žegulytė’s documentary Animus Animalis (A Story about People, Animals and Things) [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Aistė Žegulytė
scheda film], calling it “a genuine and unexpected discovery that makes us feel what life is like in the middle of death and what death is like in the middle of life".

The Best Director Award was handed to Hungarian filmmaker Zsófia Szilágyi for her intimate and insightful look at the challenges of motherhood, One Day [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Zsófia Szilágyi
scheda film]. Also, seasoned Spanish thesp Lola Dueñas was awarded as Best Actress for her emotional performance in Journey to a Mother's Room [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Celia Rico Clavellino
scheda film] by Celia Rico Clavellino. The Best Actor Award was bestowed upon Lithuania’s Paulius Markevičius for his characteristic role in Summer Survivors [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Marija Kavtaradzė
scheda film] by Marija Kavtaradzė, and this film was also the one that the local audience picked as their favourite Lithuanian flick.

The FIPRESCI Prize, for the best film created in the Baltic region, was given to Danish director Rasmus Kloster Bro for his claustrophobic feature debut, Cutterhead [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Rasmus Kloster Bro
scheda film]. The movie that topped the audience poll was Nadine Labaki’s drama Capernaum [+leggi anche:
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scheda film], which received the Best Film Audience Award. Finally, acclaimed Polish director Krzysztof Zanussi picked up a Lifetime Achievement Award at the festival.

The 24^th edition of the Vilnius Film Festival Kino Pavasaris set some new records, as the 170 films that were screened across a total of 19 Lithuanian cities drew in more than 125,000 viewers, thus surpassing by 10,000 the admissions record previously set during last year’s edition.

Here is the complete list of winners at the 24^th Vilnius Film Festival Kino Pavasaris:

European Debut Competition

Best Film
Ray & Liz [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Richard Billingham
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Cineuropa Prize
Animus Animalis (A Story about People, Animals and Things) [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Aistė Žegulytė
scheda film] - Aistė Žegulytė (Lithuania)

Best Director
Zsófia Szilágyi - One Day [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Zsófia Szilágyi
scheda film] (Hungary)

Best Actress
Lola Dueñas - Journey to a Mother's Room [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Celia Rico Clavellino
scheda film] (Spain/France)

Best Actor
Paulius Markevičius - Summer Survivors [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Marija Kavtaradzė
scheda film] (Lithuania)

FIPRESCI Prize
Cutterhead [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Rasmus Kloster Bro
scheda film] - Rasmus Kloster Bro (Denmark)

Audience Awards

Best Film
Capernaum [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] - Nadine Labaki (Lebanon/France)

Best Lithuanian Film
Summer Survivors - Marija Kavtaradzė

Best Short Film
Family Unit - Titas Laucius (Lithuania)

Short Film Competition

Best Short Film
In Between - Samir Karahoda (Kosovo)
Special Mention
The Night of the Plastic Bags - Gabriel Harel (France)