Russian films win top awards at Cottbus Film Festival

Russia won the two top awards at the Film Festival Cottbus, one of the most important festivals of Eastern European Cinema worldwide.

The main prize of 20,000 Euros, donated by the Society for Film and Television Rights (GWFF), went to Aleksandr Veledinsky for his film THE GEOGRAPHER DRANK HIS GLOBE AWAY. The story of a modern Russian saint won over the International Festival Jury, together with the ability of the director, whose "exquisite mastery of his craft and great playfulness" tipped the scales.

The special prize of 7,500 euros for best director donated by the Radio Berlin-Brandenburg (rbb), is awarded to Yury Bykov for his feature film, THE MAJOR (Russia). The jury praised the multi-talented filmmaker Bykov, who was also responsible for the film’s music as well as playing one of the main roles.

The award for outstanding actress, worth 5,000 Euros and donated by the city of Cottbus, goes to Michaela Bendulová for her role as the 15-year-old Ela in MIRACLE (Juraj Lehotský, Slovakia / Czech Republic). The jury praised her powerful performance and Bendulová’s ability to portray a fragile character with profound sensitivity. The prize for an outstanding Actor goes to Hadzihafizbegovic Emir for his performance in CHEFURS OUT! (Goran Vojnovic, Slovenia / Croatia), in which he demonstrates great charisma in his role as a father.

The prize for the best youth film in the U18 German - Polish youth film competition, donated by the Cottbus Chamber of Crafts and worth 1,500 Euros, goes to the German feature film by Thomas Sieben, DAM.
In the Short Film Competition, the contribution by Maria Zbaska, BROTHER DOG stood out. She took the top prize of 2,500 Euros donated by Druckzone Cottbus.

The enthralling historical drama and this year’s opening film, RUN, BOY, RUN (Pepe Danquart, Germany / France) was the public’s favourite and won the festival’s audience prize worth 3,000 euros, awarded by the Lausitzer Rundschau.

Via Film Festival Cottbus Press Release dated 11.09.2014