Grand Prize for Best Film
The Family Portrait
Director: Lea Vidaković
This animated film tells, poetically and in rich detail, the story of an aristocratic family caught between stagnation and upheaval, its style recalling dramas such as Michael Haneke's "The White Ribbon". Not a word is spoken here; none is allowed to be. The characters meet each other in silence, finding neither words nor means to resist the intruders — their own relatives. Instead, they surrender to their fate. An impressive film, aesthetically and visually convincing, that tells a moving, universal family story many of us will recognise.
Best Documentary
Exist
Director: Payam Shadniya
With intelligence and thorough research, the filmmaker unveils a unique ecosystem in southern Iran, set between massive oil and gas refineries. The film centers on the life of a local woman who, to support herself and her son, kills fish with gas capsules to sell them in the market. It portrays a sad search for life in the heart of desolation. Straddling the line between documentary and fiction, the film achieves an impressive structure that places it within the realm of non-fiction.
Best Animation
Breath
Through powerful and imaginative illustration, this animation narrates the journey of Death as it moves through everyday life, among ordinary people, until it reaches the one to touch. With a minimalist design, using the fewest lines and a pared-down style, the film masterfully creates a richly 3D space by 2D painting. We present this award for its high quality technique and poetic storytelling.
Best Action Film
The Steak
Director: Kiarash Dadgar
In just a few minutes, the director turns a mother's loving birthday preparations for her small daughter into a moment of horror. The camera looks head-on, in a fixed shot, at the deadly events unfolding. Then it begins to move, becoming a visually extraordinary, metaphorical 360-degree pan: in a single instant, life can turn completely. At the start, the steak is still sizzling raw in the pan; by the end of the film, it is charred. That is how little time it took to extinguish two lives.
Supported by a richly layered sound design, the film needs no dialogue — the brutality of war speaks its own language.
Best Children's Film
Nube
Director: Diego Alonso Sanchez de la Barquera Estrada, Christian Arredondo Narvaez
The touching animated film “Nube” tells, in an imaginative way, the story of the stormy mother-daughter relationship between two clouds. Through this narrative approach and expressive animation, “Nube” creates an emotional connection that moves even young viewers. The decision to make the film without dialogue heightens the visual experience of this richly detailed, lovingly animated work. Poetically crafted, the film invites young and old alike to keep talking about the moment of growing up and letting go.
Young Jury – Best Children's Film
Hide and Seek
Director: Rami Abbas
The film "Hide and Seek" directed by Rami Abbas conveys the harsh realities of war, to an international audience, in only 7 minutes. It represents a relevant piece of history through its episodic way of writing and editing, as well as its simple but expressive hand-drawn animation style. We picked it for its touching story telling, inspired by true events, and its significant message.
Selected by the Young Jury, grades 11 and 12 at Thuringia International School.
Category coming soon
La Reproduction
Director: Jean-Marie Villeneuve
Statement coming soon
