21/11/2016 - After collecting top prizes at Reykjavik and Copenhagen, Ralitza Petrova’s feature debut has received the Bronze Horse in the Swedish capital

On Friday 18 November, Bulgarian director Ralitza Petrova’s first feature, Godless [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ralitza Petrova
film profile], added the world’s heaviest film trophy, the 7.3kg Bronze Horse, to its collection of top prizes, when Petrova accepted the Award for Best Film at the 27^th Stockholm International Film Festival, which ended on Sunday.

“An astonishing masterpiece,” said the jury. “This is filmmaking of the highest order and marks the arrival of a new great within cinema – Godless will forever live in the hearts and minds of its viewers.” The film’s Bulgarian star, Irena Ivanova, was named Best Actress for her role as a nurse who traffics the ID cards of patients with dementia on the black market for identity thefts, spurred on by the promise of easy money and an addiction to morphine. 

It was Godless’ third Nordic win, after it received the Golden Puffin for Best Film at Iceland’s Reykjavik International Film Festival (8 October – read the news) and the CPH PIX New Talent Award at Denmark’s Copenhagen International Film Festival (10 November – read the news). When it was launched at the Locarno International Film Festival, it bagged four awards, including the Golden Leopard for Best Film. 

Chinese director Johnny Ma’s Old Stone – a psychological thriller about a taxi driver battling bureaucracy and legal manipulation in China – earned him the Awards for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. Meanwhile, French actor Kévin Azaïs’ portrayal of a young punk rocker in Morgan Simon’s A Taste of Ink [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Morgan Simon
film profile] allowed him to scoop Best Actor. 

US director Wayne Roberts’ Katie Says Goodbye, following a 17-year-old girl in the American Southwest who turns to prostitution to fulfil her dream of a new life in San Francisco, went home with the City of Stockholm’s SEK 1 million (€103,000) Stockholm Impact Award, given out “to highlight the possibility for film to create change and debate through the depiction of contemporary subjects”.

Here is the full list of award winners at the 27th Stockholm International Film Festival:

Bronze Horse for Best Film
Godless [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ralitza Petrova
film profile] – Ralitza Petrova (Bulgaria/Denmark/France) 

Best First Film
Sand Storm [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Elite Zexer (Israel/France)

Best Director
Johnny Ma – Old Stone (China/Canada)

Best Original Screenplay
Johnny Ma – Old Stone 

Best Cinematography
Andrei Butica – Dogs [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bogdan Mirica
film profile] (Romania/France/Bulgaria/Qatar)

Best Actress
Irena Ivanova – Godless 

Best Actor
Kévin Azaïs – A Taste of Ink [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Morgan Simon
film profile] (France)

Best Documentary
Hooligan Sparrow – Nanfu Wang (China/USA)

Stockholm Impact Award
Wayne Roberts – Katie Says Goodbye (USA/France)

Best Short Film
Imago – Raymund Ribay Gutierrez (Philippines)

Stockholm Rising Star
Filip Berg 

FIPRESCI Prize for Best Film
American Honey [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Andrea Arnold
film profile] – Andrea Arnold (UK/USA)

Stockholm Lifetime Achievement Award
Francis Ford Coppola

Stockholm Visionary Award
François Ozon

1 Km Film Scholarship
Frida Kempff – Dear Kid (Sweden)

iFestival Award
Trial and Error – Antje Heyn (Germany)