Iceland's Jar City gets top Karlovy Vary award
by Vitor Pinto
Jar City [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Icelandic director Baltasar Kormakur received the Crystal Globe for Best Feature Film at the 42nd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival awards ceremony last Saturday night.
"We make only about five films a year and three are here at this festival. Now we've got this," said the director after receiving the prize from US actor Danny DeVito.
Produced by Iceland's Blueeyes in association with Germany's Bavaria Pictures and Denmark's Nordisk Film, the film is based on Arnaldur Indridason's novel Tainted Blood, which follows a cop trying to prove the link between a 1974 death and a recent murder of a reclusive lowlife.
Released domestically in late 2006, Jar City quickly became a local hit and a success among critics. Trust Film Sales is handling international sales.
The Best Director prize went to Norway's Bård Breien for his feature debut The Art of Negative Thinking [+see also:
trailer
film profile], a burlesque title about a wheelchair-bound accident victim, who takes part in group therapy with other handicapped people. Nordisk Film handles the international sales of this Maipo Film & TV production
Best Actress went to Elvira Minquez for her performance in the Spanish film Pudor [+see also:
trailer
film profile], directed by David and Tristan Ulloa, while debutant Sergey Puskepalis was given the Best Actor award for his role in Simple Things by Russian director Alexey Popogrebsky.
In the East of the West sidebar section, the Best Film was deemed Armin [+see also:
trailer
film profile], a co-production between Croatia, Germany and Bosnia and Herzegovina directed by Ognjen Svilicic. A special mention was attributed to Estonian title The Class [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Ilmar Raag.
Besides the 11,083 accredited visitors, the festival sold 115,110 tickets this year.
The full list of awards:
Grand Prix – Crystal Globe
Jar City - Baltasar Kormákur
Special Jury Prize
Lucky Miles - Michael James Rowland
Best Director Award
The Art of Negative Thinking - Bård Breien
Best Actress Award
Elvira Mínguez for Pudor
Best Actor Award
Sergey Puskepalis for Simple Things
Special mention
Ex-aequo
Leonid Bronevoy for the film Simple Things
Zdeněk Svěrák for the script of Empties
BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM (under 30 minutes long)
Artel - Sergey Loznitsa
SPECIAL MENTION
Theodore - Laila Pakalnina
BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM (over 30 minutes long)
Lost Holiday - Lucie Králová
SPECIAL MENTION
The Mosquito Problem and Other Stories - Andrey Paounov
EAST OF THE WEST AWARD
BEST FILM
Armin - Ognjen Sviličić
SPECIAL MENTION
The Class - Ilmar Raag
OTHER PRIZES AWARDED AT THE FESTIVAL
AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ARTISTIC CONTRIBUTION TO WORLD CINEMA
Danny DeVito, USA
Břetislav Pojar, Czech Republic
PRÁVO AUDIENCE AWARD
Empties - Jan Svěrák
NON-STATUTORY AWARDS
FIPRESCI AWARD
Simple Things - Alexey Popogrebsky
THE DON QUIXOTE PRIZE (FICC – International Federation of Film Societies)
Jar City - Baltasar Kormákur
THE ECUMENICAL JURY AWARD
Simple Things - Alexey Popogrebsky
SPECIAL MENTION
Conversation with My Gardener - Jean Becker
EUROPA CINEMAS LABEL
The Class - Ilmar Raag
CZECH TELEVISION AWARD – INDEPENDENT CAMERA
Pingpong - Matthias Luthardt (see focus)
NETPAC AWARD
The Band’s Visit - Eran Kolirin
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