The 29th edition of the Vilnius International Film Festival (Kino Pavasaris), which ran from 14-27 March in Lithuania, came to an end on Wednesday night, with an awards gala that saw In the Rearview [+leggi anche:
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The documentary, which takes us inside Hamela’s vehicle as he evacuates Ukrainians after the Russian invasion, received an €8,000 cash prize established by Vilnius City Municipality. The prize was decided upon by a five-person jury made up of Polish director Paweł Łoziński, film journalist Marta Bałaga, actress Elit İşcan, head of the Berlin Film Festival's Perspektive Deutsches Kino department Jenni Zylka, and journalist and producer Klementina Remeikaitė. The movie, a co-production between Poland, France and Ukraine, was screened as the closing film after the awards ceremony.

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The jury stated: “In the backseat of the vehicle, the refugees talk about what they had to leave behind – their house, their animals, their family and their belief in a peaceful life – filling it with the fate of an entire nation. On its way out, it passes ruins, soldiers and tanks. In its rearview mirror, you can see more than just a destroyed country – it also shows destroyed hope. But at least its passengers managed to escape.”

The jury also gave a Special Mention to actress Saura Lightfoot Leon for her “fearless, present and very tactile” performance in Luna Carmoon’s debut feature, Hoard [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Luna Carmoon
scheda film], a UK production.

More than 100,000 visitors attended the festival screenings this year. The Audience Award went to DK Welchman and Hugh Welchman’s The Peasants [+leggi anche:
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A successful edition of Meeting Point Vilnius, a four-day industry event running from 24-27 March consisting of workshops, meetings and pitching forums, was also held during the festival, attracting more than 200 film professionals from Europe and the Caucasus. Work in Progress and Drama Series awards were announced on Tuesday evening.

The Work in Progress session gives priority to directors who are making their first or second feature. This year, 11 projects (eight fictions and three documentaries) were selected for the pitching (see the report). The jury consisted of senior programmer at the Sundance Film Festival Heidi Zwicker, director of the REC Tarragona Festival and film programmer at Tallinn Black Nights Javier Garcia Puerto, and marketing director for MUBI releases Phil Guy.

The Lithuanian Film Centre’s award of €5,000 went to the Lithuanian project Toxic, directed by Saulė Bliuvaitė, a coming-of-age film in which two teenage girls from a bleak industrial town attend modelling school and grapple with their body image. The jury stated: “We admired the authenticity and gravity with which this promising feature debut depicted the struggles of its compelling young protagonists as well as the visual craft of the director.”

In the Drama Series strand, the jury members were Swedish fiction and documentary producer Helene Granqvist, scriptwriter Valeria Richter, and screenwriter Joachim Friedmann. The Creative Europe Media Desk Lithuania Award, consisting of a script consultation with Joachim Friedmann, went to the Czech animated adult series Garbage, created by Jaroslav Klimes.

Here is the full list of this year’s award winners:

Best Film
In the Rearview [+leggi anche:
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Special Mention
Saura Lightfoot Leon - Hoard [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Luna Carmoon
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Best Short Film
Resentment - Gleb Osatinski (Lithuania)

Best Lithuanian Short Film
The One Who Knows - Eglė Davidavičė (Lithuania)
Special Mention
Sea Salt - Leila Basma (Lithuania)

Audience Award
The Peasants [+leggi anche:
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Best Lithuanian Premiere
The Peasants - DK Welchman, Hugh Welchman

Meeting Point Vilnius awards

Lithuanian Film Centre Award
Toxic - Saulė Bliuvaitė (Lithuania)
Producer: Giedrė Burokaitė
Production company: Akis Bado

Special Mention
Grace for Sale - Emre Sert, Gözde Yetişkin (Turkey)
Producers: Ender Sevim, Kerem Çelebi
Production companies: Riders Film, Sert Yetiskin Film

AVAKA Prize for Best Lithuanian Picture
Sounds of the Desert - Emilija Škarnulytė (Lithuania)
Producer: Emilija Škarnulytė
Production company: Mirror Matter

JETSONIX Full Post-production Award
Sounds of the Desert - Emilija Škarnulytė

No Problemo Music Licensing Award
Quiet War - Lana Shapoval (Ukraine)
Producers: Hanna Burdina, Lana Shapoval
Production company: Independent Cultural Initiatives

Marché du Film Awards
Quiet War - Lana Shapoval

Partitas Mundi - Zoran Tairovic (Serbia)
Producers: Nikola Spasic, Milanka Gvoic
Production companies: Rezon, Intercultural theatre III

Ji.hlava New Visions Award
Quiet War - Lana Shapoval

Drama Series awards

Creative Europe Media Desk Lithuania Award
Garbage - Jaroslav Klimes (Czech Republic)
Production companies: Cofilm, Broom Films

No Problemo Music Licensing Award
Garbage - Jaroslav Klimes

Words Across Europe – WAE Virtual Collaboration Award
Gabija Siurbytė - Jellyfish in the Moon (Lithuania)
Production company: Dansu