The second Küstendorf Film Festival in Drvengrad on Mokra Gora ended with formal ceremony and presentation of Golden, Silver and Bronze Egg for the best student films.
After opening act – potpourri of Serbian folk songs and dances performed by the ’Svetozar Markovic’ folklore ensemble from Kragujevac – the president of the jury, actress Anica Dobra, and the member of the jury, producer Karl Baumgartner, in the absence of the third member of the jury, Gian Luca Farinelli, director of the Cineteca di Bologna, have read welcoming speech and their decissions.
Award ceremony was preceded by the special award of journalists and critics accredited at the first Kustendorf Film Festival. This award was unanimously granted to the Serbian director Dragan Misic for the film Fly.The award was presented by Mrs. Dubravka Lakic, the journalist and film critic of Politika daily, who emphasized the high quality of this year’s selection for which all greetings should be given to Dunja Kusturica, who is dramaturgy student, too.
According to the judgement of the members of the jury, who praised the general quality of the films, the third prize, Bronze Egg was awarded to American director Shih-Ting Hung for the film Viola. Silver Egg was awarded to German director Nina Vukovic for the film Miki’s Ballad.
The first prize of the Festival, Golden Egg was given to the director Kohki Hasei for the film Godog.
Explaining their decision, members of the jury stressed that the winning film is deeply moving and that it warns the conscience and morality of our time.
The jury decided to give the special award to the director Jean François Rouzé for the film 5 Seconds, with explanation that this is wonderful and brave film of the author who is capable to develop a clever idea and to transform it into an elegant and new film.
Thanking for the award, young director Nina Vukovic said that a friend told her that some day Küstendorf will become new Sundance Festival.
– Although I hope that Sundance will become like Küstendorf some day – said the awarded director with a smile.
Shocked by the first award and restricted by the language barrier, Kohki Hasei at first did not realised that he was a winner. After many congratulations and sincere kisses, he started to celebrate his victory promising that he will come next year with a new film.
The festival was officially closed by its founder and director, Emir Kusturica, who, after thanking the Serbian Ministry of Culture without whose help the Festival would not be so successful, told to the young filmmakers that ‘they can be satisfied because friendship, authorship, aesthetics, ideology, politics and love were the subjects that attracted the attention and that utopia called Küstendorf is possible.’
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