After 17 days offering a platform for films from Central and Eastern Europe, the 14^th 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 [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Radu Jude
scheda film], 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 Grand Prix went to the coming-of-age film Murina [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović
intervista: Gracija Filipovic
scheda film] 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 [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Małgorzata Szumowska e Mic…
scheda film] 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 [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Milica Tomovic
scheda film] by Milica Tomović (Serbia), Forest – I See You Everywhere [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Bence Fliegauf (Hungary), Inventory [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Darko Sinko
scheda film] by Darko Sinko (Slovenia), Saving One Who Was Dead [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Václav Kadrnka
scheda film] by Václav Kadrnka (Czech Republic) and Miracle [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Bogdan George Apetri
scheda film] 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 [+leggi anche:
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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 [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Michaela Pavlátová
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Here is the complete list of award winners at the 14^th edition of CinÉast:

Grand Prix
Murina [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović
intervista: Gracija Filipovic
scheda film] – Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović (Croatia/Brazil/USA/Slovenia)

Special Jury Prize
Never Gonna Snow Again [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Małgorzata Szumowska e Mic…
scheda film] - Małgorzata Szumowska, Michał Englert (Poland/Germany)

Critics' Prize
Miracle [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Bogdan George Apetri
scheda film] – Bogdan George Apetri (Romania)

Young Talents Award for Documentary Film
Love Tasting [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] – Dawid Nickel (Poland)

Audience Award – Best Feature
Love Around the World [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] - 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)