Polish The Last Family and Lithuanian Woman and the Glacierwin in Vilnius

Polish Jan P. Matuszyński's feature debut film The Last Family and documentary Woman and the Glacier by Lithuanian director Audrius Stonys won the main competition programmes last night in Vilnius Film Festival Kino Pavasaris. Bulgarian social drama Glory and the new film by Ukrainian documentarian Sergei Loznitsa Austerlitz are also among the winners.

Matuszyński's film recreates the real-life story of Zdzisław Beksiński, a legendary Polish surrealist painter. The film was praised for its exceptional camerawork and the unique, disturbing portrait of the troubled family.

Stonys made history as the first Lithuanian director to ever win for the best film in any of Kino Pavasaris competitions. Woman and the Glacier focuses on Lithuanian scientist Aušra Revutaitė living in isolation in the 3,500 metres high mountains in Central Asia, researching the climate change.

The festival was a success for Stonys, the prominent Lithuanian documentarian, now working on an upcoming film Baltic New Wave, together with Latvian director Kristine Briede. Their new film focused on Baltic documentary filmmakers from the Soviet times was chosen as one of the winners in Meeting Point - Vilnius industry screenings. It will be shown in Cannes industry screenings this May.

Among this year's winners of Kino Pavasaris is Ukrainian Sergei Loznitsa with his new documentary Austerlitz, which shows tourists visiting former concentration camps. “Why do they go there? What are they looking for?” asks the director.

Bulgarian directors Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov are awarded for their work on the film Glory, depicting corruption in Bulgaria. The film also got a special award by the CICAE jury.

Vilnius Film Festival traditionally hosts two main competition programmes. New Europe – New Names includes upcoming directors from Central and Eastern Europe. Only the first or second feature films of the directors take part in the contest. Another competition programme is Baltic Gaze. It includes films from countries that border the Baltic Sea.

The winner of Short Film Competition was Close Ties by a Polish director Zofia Kowalewska.

The closing ceremony of the biggest and oldest film festival in Lithuania was held this Thursday at the Lithuanian National Philharmonic. This year, the festival screened more than 130 feature films and 70 short films. The festival counted more than 100,000 cinemagoers in 5 biggest cities in Lithuania.

COMPLETE LIST OF WINNERS

NEW EUROPE – NEW NAMES COMPETITION WINNERS

Best Film:
The Last Family / Ostatnia rodzina (Poland)
Directed by Jan P. Matuszyński

Best Director:
Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov for Glory / Slava (Bulgaria, Greece)

Best Actress:
Mia Petričević for Quit Staring at My Plate / Ne gledaj mi u pijat (Croatia, Denmark)
Directed by Hana Jušić

Best Actor:
Marius Repšys for The Saint / Šventasis (Lithuania, Poland)
Directed by Andrius Blaževičius

The CICAE Award:
Glory / Slava (Bulgaria, Greece)
Directed by Kristina Grozeva, Petar Valchanov

BALTIC GAZE COMPETITION WINNERS

Best Film:
Woman and the Glacier / Moteris ir ledynas (Lithuania)
Directed by Audrius Stonys

Best Director:
Sergei Loznitsa for Austerlitz (Germany)

Best Actress:
Lene Cecilia Sparrok for Sami Blood (Sweden, Denmark, Norway)
Directed by Amanda Kernell

Best Actor:
Petr Skvortsov for The Student (Russia)
Directed by Kirill Serebrennikov

SHORT FILM COMPETITION WINNERS AND AUDIENCE AWARDS

Best Short Film:
Close Ties (Poland)
Directed by Zofia Kowalewska

Short Film Special Mention:
Half a Man (Croatia, France)
Directed by Kristina Kumrić

Audience Award – Best Feature Film:
Perfect Strangers (Italy)
Directed by Paolo Genovese

Audience Award – Best Short Film:
Running Lights / Kaukai (Lithuania, India, Finland)
Directed by Gediminas Šiaulys

Student Film Award:
Vegetation Walk / Pasivaikščiojimas augalų pasaulyje (Lithuania, Switzerland, Luxembourg)
Directed by Anouk Chambaz and Julija Paškevičiūtė

MEETING POINT – VILNIUS INDUSTRY SCREENINGS WINNERS
20 minutes of each ot the winning film projects will be shown at Cannes Marche du Film industry screenings:

Baltic New Wave (Lithuania, Estonia)
Directed by Audrius Stonys and Kristine Briede

To Be Continued (Latvia)
Directed by Ivars Sileckis

A Long Day (Slovakia)
Produced by Katarina Tomkov

Headlong (Ukraine)
Directed by Marina Stepanska

Here you can find information about any of Kino Pavasaris films: http://kinopavasaris.lt/en/programa

Let us know if you have any other requests.

Best wishes from Vilnius!