05/03/2018 - Lazar Bodroža's sci-fi title has won Best Film, Director, Actor and Actress, while The Charmer and Comic Sans scooped FEST's international awards

The 46th FEST – International Film Festival Belgrade (23 February-4 March), which since 2016 has also served as a platform for the official national Serbian awards, gave out its prizes at two ceremonies, on Friday and Saturday. 

Friday saw Lazar Bodroža's low-budget sci-fi title Ederlezi Rising [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] upset the national awards by winning the Belgrade Victor for Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor for Sebastian Cavazza, and Best Actress for Stoya. It also received a Special Mention from the FEDEORA critics’ jury.

Kosta Ristić's Bandits in Search of Mom [+see also:
trailer
film profile] won the Jury Prize, while one of its young, non-professional actors, Kristijan Garip, received the Best Debutant Award. The film also received the “Milutin Čolić” Award given out by the daily paper Politika.

Dejan Zečević's Offenders [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] won Best Screenplay for Djordje Milosavljević and a Special Award for Cinematography for Miladin Čolaković, as well as prizes from both critics’ juries (FIPRESCI and FEDEORA), clearly demonstrating the pointlessness of having juries from two different critics' associations at the same festival.

In the regional competition, the “Nebojša Đukelić” Award went to Nevio Marasović's Comic Sans [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], while Jan Cvitkovič's The Basics of Killing [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jan Cvitkovič
film profile] received a Special Mention. Confusingly, the jury for this award also consists of film critics. 

The first awards ceremony also saw prizes given out in the Frontiers programme, where Rüdiger Suchsland's documentary Hitlers Hollywood [+see also:
trailer
film profile] won the Best Film Award, and another documentary, Mexican filmmaker Everardo González's Devil's Freedom, picked up a Special Mention.

The second night was dedicated to the main international competition, where Milad Alami's The Charmer [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ardalan Esmaili
interview: Milad Alami
film profile] won the Best Film and Best Screenplay Awards. For the full list, scroll down.

The honorary Belgrade Victor prizes were handed to legendary Yugoslav actress Neda Arnerić, and the Russian filmmaker and general director of Mosfilm Karen Shakhnazarov. 

Finally, FEST Forward, the industry section of the festival, played host to pitching sessions in two competitions. In the international Women in Film section, the Best Pitch Award, worth €4,000, went to the project The Encounter, an Austrian-Georgian-Serbian co-production directed by Tatia Skhirtladze, and in the national section, Vojin Vasović's The End of the World won the other €4,000 prize, with a Special Mention going to Bacha by Ana Lazarević. 

Here is the full list of award winners:

National competition

Belgrade Victor for Best Film
Ederlezi Rising [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Lazar Bodroža (Serbia/USA)

Jury Prize
Bandits in Search of Mom [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - Kosta Ristić

Best Director
Lazar Bodroža – Ederlezi Rising

Best Screenplay
Djordje Milosavljević – Offenders [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]

Best Actor
Sebastian Cavazza – Ederlezi Rising

Best Actress
Stoya – Ederlezi Rising

Best Debutant
Kristijan Garip – Bandits in Search of Mom 

Special Award
Miladin Čolaković (cinematographer) – Offenders

"Milutin Colic" Award
Bandits in Search of Mom

“Dinko Tucaković” FIPRESCI Award
Offenders
Special Mention
Dovlatov [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Milan Maric
film profile] - Alexei German Jr (Russia/Poland/Serbia)

FEDEORA Award
Offenders
Special Mention
Ederlezi Rising

Regional competition

“Nebojša Đukelić” Award for Best Film
Comic Sans [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Nevio Marasović (Croatia)
Special Mention
The Basics of Killing [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jan Cvitkovič
film profile] - Jan Cvitkovič (Slovenia/Serbia)

International competition

Belgrade Victor for Best Film
The Charmer [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ardalan Esmaili
interview: Milad Alami
film profile] - Milad Alami (Denmark/Sweden/France)

Jury Prize
No Date, No Signature - Vahid Jaliland (Iran)

Best Director
Paul Schrader – First Reformed (USA)

Best Screenplay
Ingeborg Topsøe and Milad Alami – The Charmer

Best Actor
Adel Karam – The Insult [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ziad Doueiri
film profile] (Lebanon/Belgium/Cyprus/France/USA)

Best Actress
Acting ensemble – Angels Wear White [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Vivian Qu
film profile] (China/France)

Best Debutant
Natalia Garagiola (director) - Hunting Season [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Natalia Garagiola
film profile] (Argentina/France/USA/Germany/Qatar)

FEDEORA Award
The Insult - Ziad Doueiri

Marble Award for Best Queer Film
Thelma [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Eili Harboe
interview: Joachim Trier
film profile] - Joachim Trier (Norway/France/Sweden/Denmark)

Frontiers
Hitlers Hollywood [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - Rüdiger Suchsland (Germany)
Special Mention
Devil's Freedom - Everardo González (Mexico) 

Honorary Belgrade Victor
Neda Arnerić, Karen Shakhnazarov 

FEST Forward

Women in Film
The Encounter - Tatia Skhirtladze (Austria/Georgia/Serbia)

National Selection
The End of the World - Vojin Vasović (Serbia)
Special Mention
Bacha - Ana Lazarević (Serbia)