“3 Kilometers to the End of the Earth,” by Romanian director Emmanuel Parvu, which was nominated for the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival, won the top prize at the Sarajevo Film Festival on Friday night.
The actor-turned-director's third feature film was awarded the prize by a jury led by American writer-director Paul Schrader (First Reformed), which also included Swedish actress and producer Noomi Rapace (Rum), Finnish director and screenwriter Juho Kuosmanen (Compartment No. 6), Sarajevo-born, Paris-based director, screenwriter and editor Una Gunjak (Excursion) and Slovenian actor Sebastian Cavazza (Men Don't Cry).
Three Kilometers follows the story of a 17-year-old boy who is assaulted by a homophobic savage in a small town in Romania's Danube Delta, and examines the impact of the attack on his rural community from various perspectives. Variety's Guy Lodge called the film “an obstinate study of personal and institutional prejudice that presses upon a community's misfits” and praised the “cinematographic tradition” of its formal achievement, but added that “there is little unique about the film, either stylistically or in its superficial portrayal of human beings.”
The Best Director award went to Yorgos Zois for his fantasy drama “Arkadia,” which had its world premiere in the Encounter section at the Berlinale Film Festival. The film tells the story of Katerina, a brilliant neurologist played by the outstanding Greek actress Angeliki Papoulia (Dogtooth, The Lobster), and her husband Yannis (Vangelis Mourikis), a once-respected doctor, who are called in to identify the victim of a horrific car accident at an off-season seaside resort. Upon arriving, Katerina embarks on a mysterious nightly bash at a seaside bar, where she is forced to confront her worst suspicions.
The best actress award went to Anab Ahmed Ibrahim for her performance in Mo Halaweh's “A Village Next to Paradise,” which premiered in the “Un Certain Regard” section at Cannes this year, making it the first Somali film to screen on the Croisette. Ibrahim plays a woman trying to live life on her own terms after her marriage ends due to infertility, and Variety's Murtada El Fadl called it a “poised” and “confident” debut from Halaweh.
The best actor award went to Dru Bem for his lead role in Andrei Kohn's “Holy Week,” a historical drama about the endless bloodshed that takes place in a 19th-century Romanian village. Bem plays Leiva, a Jewish man who runs the village inn, a place where Christians and Jews meet, but whose convivial atmosphere hides racism and anti-Semitism.
The complete list of winners from the 30th Sarajevo Film Festival is as follows:
Best Feature Film: “The Heart of Sarajevo”
3km to the end of the world
Romania
Directed by: Emmanuel Parve
Producer: Mirna Beretz
The 16,000 euro prize money will be co-funded by the Sarajevo Canton Tourist Board.
Best Director: “The Heart of Sarajevo”
Yorgos Zois, Arcadia
Greece, Bulgaria, United States
The 10,000 euro prize is sponsored by the United Nations in Bosnia and Herzegovina in cooperation with UNESCO.
Best Actress for “Heart of Sarajevo”
Anab Ahmed Ibrahim, “The Village Next to Paradise”
Austria, France, Germany, Somalia
The prize money is 2,500 euros.
Best Actor Award for “Heart of Sarajevo”
Dol Bem, Holy Week
Romania, Switzerland
The prize money is 2,500 euros.
Competition Programme – Documentary Films
Best Documentary Film: “The Heart of Sarajevo”
Memorable Photos
Ukraine, France, Germany
Directed by: Olga Chernykh
The 4,000 euro prize is backed by the Swiss government.
Best Documentary Short Film: “The Heart of Sarajevo”
Sickly Yellow
Kosovo
Directed by: Norika Sefa
The prize money is 2,000 euros.
Human Rights Award
Your life without me
Hungary, Switzerland
Directed by: Anna Rubi
The Human Rights Award is awarded to the best documentary film in the competition that deals with human rights issues, and the prize money of 3,000 euros is sponsored by the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Special Jury Award
What we want from a statue is that it doesn't move.
Greece, France
Directed by: Daphne Heretakis
The prize money is 2,500 euros.
Competition Programme – Short Films
Best Short Film: “The Heart of Sarajevo”
absence
Türkiye
Directed by: Cem Demirel
The winning film will be nominated for an Academy Award® for Best Short Film.
The prize money is 2,500 euros.
Special Note
Octopus Pot
Austria, Germany
Directed by: Eva Pedrosa, Fanny Sorgo
Competition Programme – Student Films
Best Student Film “Heart of Sarajevo”
The smell of fresh paint
Serbia
Directed by: Nadja Petrovic
The 1,000 euro prize is sponsored by the Regional Cooperation Council.
Special Environmental Awareness Award
The sky above Zenica
Denmark, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Directed by: Zlatko Pranjic, Nanna Frank Muller
The prize of 5,000 euros is sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Special Award for Promoting Gender Equality
Sentani
Slovenia, Italy, Poland, Serbia, Austria
Directed by: Maha Dortheha Prilog
The €7,500 prize fund is sponsored by Mastercard.
