CINEUROPA
BY Alfonso Rivera
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With the recent conclusion of the 18th edition of FEST – New Directors New Films Festival, which took place in the Portuguese city of Espinho between 21 and 26 June, the winners of the various competitions of the event have been revealed. In the fight for the Golden Lynx in the fiction category, according to the jury formed by the Spanish director Ainhoa Rodríguez (Mighty Flash [+]), the American actress Caprice Crawford and the Portuguese actor Miguel Nunes, the Golden Lynx Fiction went to the Romanian feature film Immaculate [+], directed by Monica Stan and George Chiper-Lillemark, while one mention went to the co-production between Bolivia, Uruguay and France, Utama [+], by Alejandro Loayza Grisi, and the other to A Piece of Sky [+], by Michael Koch (Switzerland/Germany).
For the awards in the documentary category, programmer Alberto Valverde and Croatian critic Nino Kovacic awarded the Golden Lynx Documentary to Alis [+], by the duo Clare Weiskopf – Nicolás Van Hemelryck (Colombia/Chile/Romania), while the Silver Lynx went to Even Though They Steal My Dreams, by Zoé Brichau (Belgium).
British academic Christopher Nunn and Polish director Tomek Popakul selected the winners of the National Grand Prix and the experimental category of the Silver Lynx competition. The National Grand Prix went to Mansa, by Mariana Bártolo, and the Honourable Mentions went to Da Sala ao Cinema à Rua, by Leonardo Miranda, and A Rapariga de Saturno, by Goncalo Almeida. The Silver Lynx Experimental was won by Woman As Image, Man As Bearer of the Look, a short film by Carlos Velandia (Colombia).
In the Silver Lynx fiction category, which rewards short films of any genre, the jury included Portuguese programmer Luísa Alvão and Belgian filmmakers Meltse Van Collie and Niels Putman, who awarded Mona & Parviz by Kevin Biele (Germany).
As for FEST’s student film competition, called NEXXT, producer Ruben Sevivas and programmer Tiago Santos, both from Portugal, acted as judges and awarded the NEXXT Academic Competition to Headfish by Jakub Prysak (Poland) with an Honourable Mention to Frida by Aleksandra Odic (Germany).
Finally, the audience at the Espinho festival chose the Jordanian film Daughters Of Abdul-Rahman, by Zaid Abu Hamdan, in the Golden Lynx competition, and the medium-length film Unter der Welle, by Veronika Hafner (Germany), in the Silver Lynx section.
The awards:
Golden Lynx Competition
Golden Lynx Fiction
Immaculate [+] – Monica Stan, George Chiper-Lillemark (Romania)
Honourable Mention
Utama [+] – Alejandro Loayza Grisi (Bolivia/Uruguay/France)
A Piece of Sky [+] – Michael Koch (Switzerland/Germany)
Golden Lynx Documentary
Alis [+] – Clare Weiskopf, Nicolás Van Hemelryck (Colombia/Chile/Romania)
Audience Award
Daughters Of Abdul-Rahman – Zaid Abu Hamdan (JOR)
Silver Lynx Competition
Silver Lynx Fiction
Mona & Parviz – Kevin Biele (Germany) (short film)
Honourable Mention
A Man Trembles – Lam Li Shuen & Mark Chua (Singapore) (short film)
Silver Lynx Documentary
Even Though They Steal My Dreams – Zoé Brichau (Belgium) (short film)
Honourable Mention
My Period is Late – Cai Ning (Estonia/Portugal/United Kingdom/Belgium) (short film)
Silver Lynx Animation
Terra Incógnita – Pernille Kjaer, Adrian Dexter (France) (short film)
Honourable Mention
Toothless – Andrea Guizar (Poland) (short film)
Fall of the Ibis King – Mikai Geronimo, Josh O’caoimh (Ireland) (short film)
Silver Lynx Experimental
Woman As Image, Man As Bearer of the Look – Carlos Velandia (Colombia) (short film)
Honourable Mention
The Empty Sphere – Stéphanie Roland (France/Micronesia/Belgium) (short film)
Apocalypse Baby, We Advertise The End of the World – Camille Tricaud, Franziska Unger (Germany) (short film)
Audience Award
Unter der Welle – Veronika Hafner (Germany) (medium-length film)
National Competition
National Grand Prix
Mansa – Mariana Bártolo (Portugal) (short film)
Honourable Mention
Da sala ao cinema à rua – Leonardo Miranda (Portugal) (short film)
A Rapariga de Saturno – Goncalo Almeida (Portugal) (short film)
NEXXT – Academic Competition
NEXXT Award
Headfish – Jakub Prysak (Poland) (short film)
Honourable Mention
Frida – Aleksandra Odic (Germany) (short film)
