The festival’s main prize, which is named after the Oscar winner director-scriptwriter Emeric Pressburger who came from Miskolc, went to the Lithuanian Kristina Buožytė for her film Vanishing Waves. The director was present at the ceremony, so she could personally receive the award. From this year on, the jury’s Grand Prix wears the name of Adolph Zukor producer who was born near to Miskolc, and who established the Paramount Pictures. The Adolph Zukor Prize went ex aequo to two films: the Danish Teddy Bear and to Berberian Sound Studio directed by Peter Strickland.
In Private was the best short film and won the 150.000 HUF award offered by Daazo.com. Similarly, Life in Stills was awarded 150.000 HUF favoured by Miskolc Autó as the best documentary. The main prize of the animation section, which is named after the Miskolc related artist Attila Dargay, was offered by the North-Hungarian Electricity Supply Co., and went to Chinti. FICC, the International Federation of Film Societies considered Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild (distributed in Hungary by Mozinet Kft.) as best and awarded it with their Don Quijote Prize. This film received the Sundance’s main prize, either.
International film critics’ jury evaluated the films for the first time at the Miskolc International Film Festival. The FIPRESCI’s award went to Radu Jude’s Everybody In My Family (Hungarian distributor: Mozinet Kft.), the international ecumenical jury, which was in Miskolc for the second time, awarded the Austrian Deine Schönheit ist nichts wert (Your Beauty Is Worth Nothing).
The film historical series CineClassics, under the patronage of István Szabó, commemorated the Hungarian-born founder of Paramount Pictures, Adolph Zukor, and screened It’s A Wonderful Life, one of the best Paramount films, which proved to touch the audience in our present times, too, since there were no empty seats left in the screening room. The same was the situation with Casablanca, the director of which, Michael Curtiz was born in Budapest, and was also commemorated by a professional conference this year.
The Miskolc International Film market was organized for the first time, and as excepted, it became a great success. Furthermore, cinema conference, MEDIA-presentation, Roma film programs, documentary forum and master classes awaited the audience and the professionals in the film industry, just like the festival’s closing film: James Bond. And of course, there were many unforgettable concerts and parties – faithful to the Jameson CineFest traditions.
