The Best director went to Maciej Pierczycz and Best Actor went to Miroslaw Haniszewski for I Am a Killer. Wild Roses also won the FIPRESCI prize and the award of the Ecumenical Jury. 

Poland also won the prize of the U-18 Youth Film competition for Breaking the Limits / Najlepszy (aka The Fastest) directed by Lukasz Palkowski. Czech director Jan Sverak was on hand to introduce his film Barefoot, which won the Audience Award.

The festival, which wrapped on 12 November 2017, also boasted record attendance, of special note to Cottbus Fest CEO and Cottbus native Andreas Stein. “This is my hood,” he told FNE.

Speaking with FNE, Cottbus programme director Bernd Buder said of the programming selection, “The concept is to show the variety of Eastern Europe and the films, in both content and style…. The idea is to break the clichés of the region. I see relevance both in art house and commercial production.” One of the festival’s popular draws is the section of National Hits, with films from Serbia, Poland, Latvia and the Czech Republic among the selection. “Blockbusters and commercial films are picking up relevant topics more quickly than before,” he added.

The festival, which introduced the first CEE pitching forum/market Connecting Cottbus 19 years ago, is expanding into a mentorship role with workshops for young students and filmmakers from Germany and its neighbors Poland and the Czech Republic. It also launched a meeting of film festival representatives, whose discussion topics included how to support social discourse and the long-standing issue of screening fees.

Complete list of awarded films:

Best Film: Wild Roses (Poland)
Directed by Anna Jadowska
Production Alter Ego Pictures
Supported by Polish Film Institute

Best Director: Maciej Pieprzyca for I’m A Killer (Poland)
Produced by RE Studio
Coproduced by the National Audiovisual Institute, TVP, Agora S.A., Monternia
Supported by the Polish Film Institute

Best Actress: Marta Nieradkiewicz for Wild Roses

Best Actor: Miroslaw Haniszewski for I Am a Killer

Best Short Feature: Atlantis, 2003 (Slovakia)
Directed by Michal Blasko

Short Film Special Prize: Merry-go-round (Russia)
Directed by Ruslan Bratov

Best U 18 Youth Film: Breaking the Limits (Poland)
Directed by Łukasz Palkowski
Produced by Iron Films
Supported by the Polish Film Institute

DIALOGUE Prize for Intercultural Communication: Farewell Halong (Germany)
Directed by Duc Ngo Ngoc

Best Debut Film: Good Morning (Armenia)
Directed by Anna Arevshatyan

FIPRESCI Prize: Wild Roses

Audience Award: Barefoot (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Denmark)
Directed by Jan Sverak
Produced by Biograf Jan Svěrák Pictures
Coproduced by Novinski, Phoenix Film

Ecumenical Jury Award: Wild Roses