29-06-2025

DJ Ahmet Wins Big at IFF Art Film 2025

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    DJ Ahmet by Georgi M. Unkovski DJ Ahmet by Georgi M. Unkovski credit: Cinema Futura

    KOŠICE: Georgi M. Unkovski’s DJ Ahmet, a coproduction between North Macedonia, Czech Republic, Serbia and Croatia, won Blue Angels for best film, director and actor in the International Competition of the 31st  Art Film Fest.The festival took place in Košice, Slovakia 20 – 27 June 2025.

    Hungarian documentary I Was Born to Serve / Szolgának születtem by Attila Moharos won the main prize in the International Film Competition for Central and Eastern Europe, while young Slovak director Rebeka Bizubová was awarded the Short Film Competition prize for her documentary Confession.

    This year, a new FIPRESCI award was added to the three competitions, and it was awarded to the Austrian/Slovak coproduction Perla directed by Alexandra Makarová.

    FULL LIST OF WINNERS:

    International Competition:

    Best Film:
    DJ Ahmet (North Macedonia, Czech Republic, Serbia, Croatia)
    Directed by Georgi M. Unkovski
    Produced by Cinema Futura
    Coproduced by Sektor Film, Alter Vision, Backroom Productions, Baš Čelik Film House, 365Films
    Supported by the North Macedonia Film Agency, Film Center Serbia, the Czech Film Fund, the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, Eurimages, the South Eastern Europe Cinema Network (SEE Cinema Network)

    Best Director:
    Georgi M. Unkovski for DJ Ahmet (North Macedonia, Czech Republic, Serbia, Croatia)

    Best Actress:
    Vesta Matulyte and Ieva Rupeikaitė in Toxic / Akiplėša (Lithuania)
    Directed by Saulė Bliuvaitė
    Produced by Akisbado
    Supported by the Lithuanian Film Centre, the Lithuanian National Radio and Television

    Best Actor:
    Arif Jakup in DJ Ahmet (North Macedonia, Czech Republic, Serbia, Croatia)
    Directed by Georgi M. Unkovski

    Special Mention:
    Actress Rebeka Poláková in Perla (Austria, Slovakia)
    Directed by Alexandra Makarová
    Produced by Golden Girls Filmproduktion & Filmservices
    Coproduced by Hailstone, Ruth Beckermann Filmproduction
    Supported by the Slovak Audiovisual Fund, the Austrian Film Institute, ORF Film/Fernsehabkommen

    FIPRESCI Award:
    Perla (Austria, Slovakia)
    Directed by Alexandra Makarová 

    International Competition from Central and Eastern Europe:

    Best Film:
    I Was Born to Serve / Szolgának születtem (Hungary)
    Directed by Attila Moharos
    Produced by Andras Kisfaludy, Attila Moharos

    JOJ Cinema Audience Award:
    Lioness / Emalõvi (Estonia, Germany, Latvia)
    Directed by Liina Triškina-Vanhatalo
    Produced by Allfilm
    Coproduced by Heimathafen Film, Ego Media
    Supported by Eesti Filmi Instituut, Eesti Kultuurkapital, MOIN Film Fund Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, the National Film Centre of Latvia

    Short Film Competition:

    Best Short Film:
    Confession (Slovakia)
    Directed by Rebeka Bizubová
     
    Special Mentions:

    O (Island, Sweden)
    Directed by Rúnar Rúnarsson

    Obituary Service for You (Cuba)
    Directed by María Salafranca

    Other Awards:

    Actor‘s Mission Awards:
    Daniela Kolářová
    Milan Ondrík

    Golden Camera Award:
    Martin Štrba