The Best Director award went to Slovak film maker Martin Sulik for his “Man with hare ears” a Slovak-Czech coproduction.
In the Free Spirit Competition , which sees independent, rebellious cinema, the jury granted the Free Spirit Award to “Tragic Jungle” by Yulene Olaizola from Mexico.
The jury of the International Film Critic Federation FIPRESCI gave the award for the best debut from Eastern Europe “Preparations to be together for an unknown period of time” by Lili Horvat from Hungary.
The festival winds up on Sunday evening with the closing film by Russian film director Andrei Konchalovsky “Dear Comrades” a film based on a true story , of a workers’ strike in 1962 in Soviet Russia and the massacre that followed. The story was made known to the public only in the 1990’s . “Dear Comrades” was awarded a Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film festival in September this year .
Opening the festival on October 9th , the festival's director, Stefan Laudyn, told reporters that films featured this year address a diverse range of social and political problems, including the global coronavirus pandemic.
The majority of the awards at this year’s event were granted online, however the festival took place in its regular venues in Warsaw, with safety protocols in place, allowing the theatres to be filled to only half capacity and requiring viewers to wear face masks and keep a safe distance.
The Warsaw Film Festival is organised since 1985, for the past 11 years it is part of the elite group of events recognised by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations, as an international film festival , next to Cannes, Karlovy Vary, Berlin or Venice.
Source PAP