FNE at the IFF 2021 in Ljubljana: Hit The Road Panah Panahi received the Kingfisher Award
LJUBLJANA: Iranian film of the road Go on your way director Panah Panahi, the son of acclaimed director Jafar Panahi, received the Kingfisher Award for Best Picture at 32. Ljubljana IFF. This directorial debut with a subtly humorous multi-layered portrait of a loving Iranian family on her unique journey has already won the 2021 London Film Festival and was screened at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
A special mention of Kingfisher was given to a Hong Kong / Chinese film A cloud in her room by Zheng Lu Xinyuan.
The members of this year’s jury for the Kingfisher Award were: Hungarian screenwriter Zsófia Ruttkay, Turkish director and producer Leyla Yilmaz and Slovenian actor Sebastian Cavazza.
Laura Samani received the FIPRESCI award for her feature debut Small body, an Italian / French / Slovenian co – production drama about a young woman seeking salvation for a stillborn child, which was also awarded two Vesna prizes on 24. Slovenian Film Festival.
Award-winning audience And then we danced Levana Akina for the best film of the festival. The Georgian / Swedish / French teenage drama about young love and growing up in conservative Tbilisi received the Dragon Award based on the highest audience rating (4.61 out of 5).
The festival screened 79 feature films and 16 short films representing 52 countries in Ljubljana and satellite locations in the cities of Maribor, Celje and Novo mesto, with a participation of around 24,000, including VOD viewers, who represent a 20% share.
The full list of winners is as follows:
Kingfisher Award for Best Picture: Get on the road / Jadde Khaki / Hike the gas! (Iran)
Directed by Panah Panahi
Production JP Productions (Iran)
Special mention 1: Cloud in her room / Ta fang jian li de yun / Cloud in her room (Hong Kong, China)
Directed by Zheng Lu Xinyuan
Produced by Blackfin Production (China)
Best Short Film: Steakhouse (Slovenia, Germany, France)
Directed by Špela Čadež
Produces Finta
Special mention: Game / Das Spiel / Match (Switzerland)
Directed by Roman Hodel
FIPRESCI award: Small Body / Small body / Telesce (Italy, France, Slovenia)
Directed by Laura Samani
Production Nefertiti Film (Italy)
Co-produces Dizziness (Slovenia), Tomsa Films (France), RAI Cinema (Italy)
Supported by Slovenian Film Center, Audiovisual Fund of Friuli Venezia Giulia, Creative Europa MEDIA,, Eurimages, General Cinema and Audiovisual Directorate of the Ministry of Culture DGCA-Mic (MIBACT)
Dragon Audience: And then we danced / Da chven vitsek’vet / And then we danced (Georgia, Sweden, France)
Directed by Levan Akin
Production French Quarter Film (Sweden)
Co-produced by Takes Film (Germany), AMA Productions (France), RMV Film (Sweden), Inland Film AB (Sweden)
Art Cinema Network of Slovenia Award: I am your man / Ich bin dein Mensch / A real man (Germany)
Directed by Maria Schrader
Production: Letterbox Filmproduktion (Germany)
Kinotrip Youth Jury Award: Happening / L’evenement / Event (France)
Directed by Audrey Diwan
Produced by Rectangle Productions
Co-produced by France 3 Cinema (France), Wild Bunch (France), Srab Films (France)