'The Father'

Source: Karlovy Vary

‘The Father’

Bulgarian-Greek comedy The Father won the Grand Prix - Crystal Globe at the 54th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (June 28 – July 6), which closed yesterday with its annual awards ceremony.

Scroll down for full list of winners

Directed by Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov (The Lesson, Glory), The Father was selected by grand jury comprising Annemarie Jacir, Štěpán Hulík, Sergei Loznitsa, Angeliki Papoulia and Charles Tesson. The Crystal Globe comes with $25,000 prize money.

The film tells the story of a middle-aged man (Ivan Barnev) attempting to stop his widowed father (Ivan Savov) coming off the rails, and was described in Screen’s review as a “supremely well-honed comedy, segueing between farce and satire”.  The film is sold internationally by Wide and is produced by Abraxas Film and Graal Films.

The special jury award went to Jan-Ole Gerster’s German drama Lara, one of the buzziest titles of the festival. The film’s star Corinna Harfouch also won best actress for her role as a jealous mother who struggles to cope with the prospect of her son’s success. Beta Cinema is handling international sales.

Tim Mielants won the best director award for dark comedy Patrick set in a naturist camp. The film has won awards at the Connext Work In Progress forum

The 55th Karlovy Vary Film Festival will be held from July 3 to July 11, 2020.

Full list of winners

GRAND PRIX – CRYSTAL GLOBE ($25,000)
The Father (Bulgaria, Greece) dir. Kristina Grozeva, Petar Valchanov,

SPECIAL JURY PRIZE ($15,000)
Lara (Germany) dir. Jan-Ole Gerster

BEST DIRECTOR AWARD
Tim Mielants for Patrick (Belgium) 

BEST ACTRESS AWARD
Corinna Harfouch for Lara (Germany) 

BEST ACTOR AWARD
Milan Ondrík for Let There Be Light (Slovak Republic, Czech Republic) 

SPECIAL JURY MENTION
The August Virgin (Spain) dir. Jonás Trueba 

SPECIAL JURY MENTION
Antonia Giesen for The Man of the Future (Chile, Argentina)

East Of The West – Competition

EAST OF THE WEST GRAND PRIX ($15,000)
The Bull (Russia) dir. Boris Akopov Russia

EAST OF THE WEST SPECIAL JURY PRIZE ($10,000)
My Thoughts Are Silent (Ukraine) dir.Antonio Lukich 

Documentary films – Competition

GRAND PRIX FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM ($5,000)
Immortal (Estonia, Latvia) dir. Ksenia Okhapkina 

DOCUMENTARY SPECIAL JURY PRIZE
Confucian Dream (China) dir. Mijie Li 

PRÁVO AUDIENCE AWARD
Jiří Suchý – Tackling Life With Ease (Czech Republic), dir. Olga Sommerová 

Non-Statutory awards

AWARD OF INTERNATIONAL FILM CRITICS (FIPRESCI)
The August Virgin (Spain) dir. Jonás Trueba 

THE ECUMENICAL JURY AWARD
Lara (Germany) dir. Jan-Ole Gerster 

Ecumenical Jury Commendation
Let There Be Light (Slovak Republic, Czech Republic) dir. Marko Škop 

FEDEORA AWARD
Passed by Censor (Turkey, Germany, France) dir. Serhat Karaaslan 

FEDEORA JURY Special Mention
Aga’s House (Kosovo, Croatia, France, Albania) dir. Lendita Zeqiraj 

EUROPA CINEMAS LABEL AWARD
Scandinavian Silence (Estonia, France, Belgium) dir. Martti Helde 

Industry awards

WORKS IN PROGRESS (100,000 EUR)
Pigeon’s Milk (Russia, Moldova) dir. Eugen Maryan 

DOCS IN PROGRESS (5,000 EUR)
The Silhouettes (Iran, Philippines) dir. Afsaneh Salari 

EURIMAGES LAB PROJECT AWARD (50 000 EUR)
Bottled Songs (Germany, France, USA, Finland) dir. Kevin B. Lee, Chloé Galibert-Laîné 

KVIFF & MIDPOINT DEVELOPMENT AWARD (10 000 EUR)
Some Birds (Hungary) dir. Dániel Hevér

Crystal Globe for outstanding artistic contribution to world cinema

Julianne Moore, USA
Patricia Clarkson, USA

Festival president’s award for contribution to Czech cinematography

Vladimír Smutný, Czech Republic