26-10-2020

FESTIVALS: Ivan I. Tverdovsky’s Conference Wins 2020 Riga IFF

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    RIGA: The Riga International Film Festival concluded its 7th edition on 25 October 2020, handing its main prize to Ivan I. Tverdovsky’s Conference, which was coproduced by Estonia’s Nafta Films. The festival took a hybrid form this year with film screenings taking place in cinemas and online, screening 129 films in 10 thematic programmes.

    The jury consisted of: director/producer Laila Pakalniņa (Latvia); Marge Liiske, Head of Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event at the Black Nights Film Festival (Estonia); Dmitrij Gluscevskij, Scanorama programmer (Lithuania); programmer Eva Markovits (France); and Theo Tsappos from the Swedish Film Institute (Sweden).

    “Naturally, this year has been challenging for both the festival team and its audiences, but at the same time it’s proven to be strangely satisfying. We’ve realised that dealing with the multiple restrictions imposed on us by the pandemic situation hasn’t diminished the public’s passionate love for film, be it the big screen at the cinema or online screenings. We’re grateful for the help and support we’ve felt from the local and international industry professionals – filmmakers, jury members, lecturers – and we’re sincerely hoping for more in-person meetings next year,” festival director Liene Treimane told FNE.

    The festival included an industry section consisting of Magnetic Series focused on the production of TV series, Green Charter exploring solutions for climate-change friendly festival actions, and Baltic Animation Meetup aimed at networking and current trends in animation.

    Full list of winners:

    Best Film
    The Conference (Russia, Estonia, UK, Italy)
    Directed by Ivan I. Tverdovsky
    Coproduced by Nafta Films (Estonia)

    Jury Special Mention
    The Trouble with Nature (Denmark, France)
    Directed by Illum Jacobi

    Short Riga Best Film
    Symbiosis (France)
    Directed by Nadja Andrasev

    Short Riga National Competition
    Divas strīpiņas / II Lines (Latvia)
    Directed by Alise Zariņa
    Produced by Latvian Academy of Culture

    Baltic Music Video competition award
    Video Kapapuu by the group Puuluup
    Directed by Zbanski Kino

    Baltic Music Video Special mention
    Bruises on Her Legs performed by Kabloonak
    Directed by Igne Narbutaite and Kabloonak

    Cinema Splendid Palace Audience Award
    Andrey Tarkovsky. A Cinema Prayer (Italy, Russia, Sweden)
    Directed by Andrey A. Tarkovsky

    Kids Weekend Best Family Film
    Romy’s Weekend / Kapsalon Romy (Netherlands)
    Directed by Mischa Kamp