The “Golden Tower” award for the best film of the 30th Palić European Film Festival was won by Red Sky, directed by Christian Pecold. In its explanation, the jury emphasized that it was awarding the film “to remind us again of the unique power of film to articulate, perhaps more deeply than any other art form, the human condition at this moment, in a time on the edge of a volcano.”
The jury awarded the prize for the best director to Adám Császi for the film Three Thousand Numbered Pieces, namely “because of the subversive and brazen directorial process and the sublimated manipulation of time and frame, as well as because he made us face what we are running away from”.
The jury awarded special awards to the films Zero Calories by Jessica Hausner and Trapped by Vasilis Katsupis. The international jury of the main competition program consisted of festival director Tito Rodríguez (Spain), festival selector Daniela Weber (Germany), screenwriter and director Nana Janelidze (Georgia), screenwriter and director Milorad Milinković (Serbia) and screenwriter and director Eran Kolirin (Israel).
The best film in the “Parallels and Collisions” competition program is The Living Saint by director Tinatin Kairishvili. According to the jury, this is “a film with a powerful approach to a well-constructed script, with a clearly defined visual style.”
Special recognition of the International Jury of the “Parallels and Collisions” program was unanimously awarded to the film Cold as Marble by Asif Rustamov. In the explanation of the jury, it was stated that this production “tells a love story with the director’s sensitive perspective and powerful performances, and exposes the violent consequences of generational trauma in a patriarchal society.” The international jury consisted of producer Ivana Marinić-Kragić, actress and director Bonnie Williams and actress Nancy Mensah-Offei.
The FIPRESCI jury consisted of Renod Baronian, Mike Nafs and Alejandra Treljes, and awarded the FIPRESCI award for the best film of the Main Competition Program to The Red Sky by Christian Petzold. The explanation of the jury said that “The jury wants to award a film that explores interpersonal relationships with a prudent and sensitive sense of passion and humor, which achieves a story pregnant with literature, love and life’s troubles. Moreover, this film brilliantly explores the inner insecurities of the artist, while at the same time building a powerful portrait of humanity.”