14/11/2016 - The film by Russia’s Ivan Tverdovsky has won the Best Film and Best Actress Awards, while Hungary’s Szabolcs Hajdu was singled out for It’s Not the Time of My Life

Ivan I Tverdovsky collecting his prize at Cottbus (© FilmFestival Cottbus)

After taking its audiences by the hand, leading them all around Eastern Europe through a variety of different styles, exploring 200 titles representing 45 countries, the 26^th FilmFestival Cottbus came to a close with victory for Zoology [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ivan I Tverdovsky
film profile] by Russia’s Ivan I Tverdovsky, a co-production with France and Germany that already screened in competition at Karlovy Vary. In the film, the body of the heroine, who works at a zoo, undergoes a Kafkaesque transformation that brings her closer to the animal world that surrounds her. The jury, this year comprising famous Serbian actress Mirjana Karanović, her colleagues Tihana Lazović (Croatia, The High Sun [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dalibor Matanic
interview: Tihana Lazovic
film profile]) and Kate Molchanova (Ukraine), German journalist Elisabeth Herrmann and Israeli producer Marek Rozenbaum, praised Zoology for the way it "perfectly unites high artistic achievements and an exceptional sensitivity for human values. Using a strong metaphor, it tells us an original and emotional story about loneliness, love, hope and lust for life in a society full of bigotry, prejudice and insensitivity for others.” In addition to the Best Film Award, worth €25,000, the work also earned its lead actress, Natalia Pavlenkova, the Prize for Outstanding Actress.

The Best Director Award was bestowed upon Hungary’s Szabolcs Hajdu for his exceptional work on It’s Not the Time of My Life [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Szabolcs Hajdu
film profile]. Indeed, he shot the movie in his flat, with his own children and with the help of his students, for a grand total of €4,000, in the process offering us an admirable tale revolving around family through the depiction of the chaos and harmony of day-to-day life in a Hungarian upper-middle-class household.

The Prize for Outstanding Actor rewarded the extraordinary performance by Dawid Ogrodnik in the exuberant and hysterical The Last Family [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dawid Ogrodnik
film profile], the feature-length fiction debut by Poland’s Jan P Matuszynski that already screened in competition at Locarno and which portrays the stifling daily life of surrealist painter Zdzislaw Beksinski and his family. This masterful work also curried favour with the jury, earning it the Best Debut Film Award (which gave its Honourable Mention to the Estonian film Ghost Mountaineer [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]).

The ecumenical jury plumped for Kills on Wheels [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Hungary’s Attila Till. The jury of schoolchildren tasked with assessing the youth-orientated U-18 section was enthralled and bowled over by Storm Cells by Jakob Schmidt. The Best Short Film Award went to The Son by Hristo Simeonov, while a Special Award was handed to Credit by Vadim Valiullin. Lastly, the DIALOGUE Prize for Intercultural Communication was granted to House of Others [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rusudan Glurjidze
interview: Salome Demuria
film profile], the feature debut by Rusudan Glurjidze, which is representing Georgia at the Oscars.

Here is the complete list of award winners:

Best Film
Zoology [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ivan I Tverdovsky
film profile] - Ivan I Tverdovsky (Russia/France/Germany)

Best Director
Szabolcs Hajdu - It’s Not the Time of My Life [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Szabolcs Hajdu
film profile] (Hungary)

Best Actress 
Natalia Pavlenkova – Zoology

Best Actor
Dawid Ogrodnik - The Last Family [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dawid Ogrodnik
film profile] (Poland)

Best Debut Film
The Last Family - Jan P Matuszynski
Honourable Mention
Ghost Mountaineer [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Urmas Eero Liiv (Estonia)

Ecumenical Jury Prize 
Kills on Wheels [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Attila Till (Hungary)

Best Film for U-18s
Storm Cells - Jakob Schmidt (Germany)

Best Short Film
The Son - Hristo Simeonov (Bulgaria)

Special Prize for a Short Film
Credit - Vadim Valiullin (Russia)

DIALOGUE Prize
House of Others [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rusudan Glurjidze
interview: Salome Demuria
film profile] - Rusudan Glurjidze (Georgia/Russia/Spain/Croatia)

(Translated from French)