Last Friday 22 July, the 29th Palić European Film Festival came to an end. The prizes were awarded at the closing ceremony, where the big winner of the official section was R.M.N. [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Cristian Mungiu
intervista: Judith State
scheda film], a co-production between Romania, France, Belgium and Sweden directed by Cristian Mungiu (winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes 2007 for 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Cristian Mungiu
intervista: Oleg Mutu
scheda film]), receiving the Golden Tower for best film. The Palić Tower for Best Director went to Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk for his first feature film: Pamfir [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk
intervista: Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk
scheda film] (Ukraine/France/Poland/Chile/Luxembourg/Germany).

Also, a mention in the official section, decided by the jury made up of the German-Hungarian programmer Joshua Jádi (Cottbus Film Festival), the Israeli producer Katriel Schory, the Malaysian producer/programmer Lorna Tee, the British producer M.J. McMahon and the Serbian actress Katarina Radivojevic, went to the Hungarian drama about a female bodybuilding champion Gentle [+leggi anche:
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intervista: László Csuja e Anna Nemes
scheda film], directed by the duo László Csuja and Anna Nemes.

The Critics’ Jury, who judged the Parallels and Encounters section (programmed by Julia Sinkevych - read the interview) and included the Ukrainian Nataliia Serebriakova, the German Wolfgang Martin and the Croatian Martin Milinkovic, deemed Butterfly Vision [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Maksym Nakonechnyi
scheda film] (Ukraine/Czech Republic/Croatia/Sweden), the debut film by Maksym Nakonechnyi, as the winner, and gave a special mention to Fools [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Tomasz Wasilewski
scheda film] (Poland/Romania), by Tomasz Wasilewski.

Meanwhile, the FIPRESCI jury (made up of Italy’s Michele Sancisi, Germany’s Ingrid Beerbaum and Sunchica Unevska, from North Macedonia) decided that its prize would go to Rimini [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Ulrich Seidl
scheda film] (Austria/France/Germany),  a journey into the winter of the Italian seaside town, accompanying a failed melodic singer who survives as a mature gigolo and receives a surprise visit that will change his existence, by the always impressive Austrian Ulrich Seidl. The special mention for this jury went to Pamfir.

Following an event held on Friday at an open-air cinema under the stars, an Aleksandar Lifka award was presented to French filmmaker Michel Hazanavicius, followed by a screening of his zombie comedy Final Cut [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Michel Hazanavicius
scheda film], which had its world premiere at the last Cannes festival. That same morning, at a press conference, the Parisian said that Palić was "a very peaceful place, ideal for a festival, and that he knew Emir Kusturica, a great star of Serbian cinema, whose films I admire”.

Other awards presented during the Serbian festival were the Underground Spirit of Europe Award to the Hungarian filmmaker István Borbás, a regular collaborator of the Swedish Roy Andersson; the Honorary Lifka Award for contribution to regional cinema went to the Serbian actor Igor Galo, and another Aleksandar Lifka Award (which he received on 16 July, during the festival's opening ceremony) to the Serbian playwright, screenwriter and director Dusan Kovacevic.

Here is the list of the main award winners:

Official Selection

Golden Tower for Best Film
R.M.N. [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Cristian Mungiu
intervista: Judith State
scheda film] - Cristian Mungiu (Romania/France/Belgium/Sweden)

Palic Tower for Best Director
Pamfir [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk
intervista: Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk
scheda film] - Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk (Ukraine/France/Poland/Chile/Luxembourg/Germany)

Special Mention
Gentle [+leggi anche:
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intervista: László Csuja e Anna Nemes
scheda film] - László Csuja and Anna Nemes (Hungary)

FIPRESCI Award for Best Film
Rimini [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Ulrich Seidl
scheda film] - Ulrich Seidl (Austria/France/Germany)
Special Mention
Pamfir - Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk

Parallels and Encounters

Critics Jury Award
Butterfly Vision [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Maksym Nakonechnyi
scheda film] - Maksym Nakonechnyi (Ukraine/Czech Republic/Croatia/Sweden)

Special Mention
Fools [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Tomasz Wasilewski
scheda film] - Tomasz Wasilewski (Poland/Romania)