Twelve films competed in the international feature films competition. The president of the international jury was Prof. Lubomir Halachev, the Rector of the Bulgarian National Academy for Film and Theatre Arts. The jury was composed of Susanna Harutunian (Armenia), Aliona Kosireva (Belorussia) and Lavinia Sandru (Romania).
The festival was extended from seven to 10 days this year and over 90 films were screened in the sections: Armenia 1915: Never More, Faces of War, Focus on Poland, Focus on Portugal, Focus on France and others.
For the first time in years Love is Folly hosted the premiere of four new Bulgarian films including Antoniy Donchev’s debut feature The Woman of My Life (Bulgaria’s Ars Digital, Macedonia’s KT Film &Media, Romania’s Peter Film Production, Hawena Films and theKurdistan Regional Government, Iraq) and Dimitar Dimitrov’s debut feature Corpse Collector (Magic Shop).
The 47th Moscow International Film Festival winner Losers, directed by Ivailo Hristov (Pro Film) opened the festival. The award-winning documentary director Atanas Kiriakov’s debut feature Barter (Ars Digital) was the Bulgarian entry in the international competition. A special programme celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Bulgarian cinema.
INTERNATIONAL JURY AWARDS
Best Film: Test (Russia)
Directed by Alexander Kott
Special Jury Award: Brides (Georgia, France)
Directed by Tinatan Kajrishvili
Produced by Gemini
Coproduced by: Millimeter Film, Ad Astra Films
Supported by the GNFC
Best Actress: Victoria Cociaş for A Love Story, Lindenfeld (Romania)
Directed by Radu Gabrea
Produced by Orion Film
Supported by the Romanian National Film Center
Best Actor: The jury did not awarded this prize
Special Mention for Film Expression Achievement: 316 (Iran)
Directed by Payman Haghani
OTHER AWARDS
Bulgaria’s Ministry of Culture Award: Eternal Promise of Love (China)
Directed by Yun Shan
Municipality of Varna Award: Tatiana Lolova for her performance in Barter (Bulgaria)
Directed by Atanas Kiriakov
Produced by Ars Digital
Supported by BNT and BGNFC
Union of the Bulgarian Filmmakers Award: Family Maias (Portugal)
Directed by João Botelho
Bulgarian Film Critics’s Award:Losers (Bulgaria)
Directed by Ivailo Hristov
Produced by Pro Film
Supported by the BGNFC
Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication from the St. Kliment Ohridski Sofia University Award: Losers (Bulgaria)
Directed by Ivailo Hristov
Produced by Pro Film
Supported by the BGNFC
