Romanian director Emanuel Pârvu’s “Three Kilometers to the End of the World,” a Palme d’Or contender at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, took home the top prize at the Sarajevo Film Festival Friday night.
The third feature from the actor-turned-director was awarded by the jury headed by U.S. writer-director Paul Schrader (“First Reformed”) that included Swedish actor and producer Noomi Rapace (“Lamb”), Finnish director-writer Juho Kuosmanen (“Compartment No. 6”), Sarajevo-born, Paris-based director, writer and editor Una Gunjak (“Excursion”) and Slovenian actor Sebastian Cavazza (“Men Don’t Cry”).
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“Three Kilometers,” which follows a 17-year-old who’s the victim of a homophobic attack in a small town in Romania’s Danube Delta, examines the assault’s fallout on his rural community from multiple perspectives. Variety’s Guy Lodge described it as a “claustrophobic study of personal and institutional prejudice closing in on a community misfit,” praising the “cinematic heritage” of its formal accomplishments but adding that “there’s little about the film that feels idiosyncratic, either stylistically or in its surface-level human portraiture.”
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The award for best director went to Yorgos Zois for his fantasy-drama “Arcadia,” which had its world premiere in the Encounters section of the Berlin Film Festival. The film tells the story of a brilliant neurologist, Katerina, played by Greek standout Angeliki Papoulia (“Dogtooth,” “The Lobster”), and her husband, Yannis (Vangelis Mourikis), a once-respected doctor, who are called to identify the victim of a tragic car accident at an off-season seaside resort. Once there, Katerina is forced to confront her worst suspicions while making mysterious, nightly excursions to the titular seaside tavern.
The award for best actress went to Anab Ahmed Ibrahim for her performance in “The Village Next to Paradise,” from director Mo Harawe, which was the first feature from Somalia ever to screen on the Croisette when it bowed in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section this year. Ibrahim plays a woman trying to live on her own terms following a marriage that ended because of her infertility in what Variety’s Murtada Elfadl described as Harawe’s “poised” and “confident” debut.
Best actor honors went to Doru Bem for his lead role in Andrei Cohn’s “Holy Week,” a historical drama about the endless cycle of bloodshed in a 19th-century Romanian village. Bem plays a Jewish man named Leiba who runs the village inn, a meeting point for Christians and Jews alike, although the conviviality masks racism and antisemitism.
Here’s a complete list of the winners at the 30th Sarajevo Film Festival:
HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST FEATURE FILM
THREE KILOMETERS TO THE END OF THE WORLD
Romania
Director: Emanuel Pârvu
Producer: Miruna Berecsu
The monetary prize in the amount of €16,000 is co-funded by the Tourism Association of Canton Sarajevo.
HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST DIRECTOR
Yorgos Zois, ARCADIA
Greece, Bulgria, USA
The monetary prize in the amount of €10,000 is sponsored by the United Nations in Bosnia and Herzegovina in cooperation with UNESCO.
HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST ACTRESS
Anab Ahmed Ibrahim, VILLAGE NEXT TO PARADISE
Austria, France, Germany, Somalia
Monetary prize in the amount of €2,500.
HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST ACTOR
Doru Bem, HOLY WEEK
Romania, Switzerland
Monetary prize in the amount of €2,500.
COMPETITION PROGRAM – DOCUMENTARY FILM
HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM
A PICTURE TO REMEMBER
Ukraine, France, Germany
Director: Olga Chernykh
The monetary prize in the amount of €4,000 is sponsored by the Government of Switzerland.
HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY FILM
LIKE A SICK YELLOW
Kosovo
Director: Norika Sefa
Monetary prize in the amount of €2,000.
HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD
YOUR LIFE WITHOUT ME
Hungary, Switzerland
Director: Anna Rubi
The Human Rights Award is presented for the best film from the Competition Programme – Documentary Film that addresses human rights issues. The monetary prize in the amount of €3,000 is sponsored by the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
SPECIAL JURY AWARD
WHAT WE ASK OF A STATUE IS THAT IT DOESN’T MOVE
Greece, France
Director: Daphné Hérétakis
Monetary prize in the amount of €2,500.
COMPETITION PROGRAM – SHORT FILM
HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST SHORT FILM
ABSENT
Türkiye
Director: Cem Demirer
Qualifies the winning film for consideration for the Academy Award® for Best Short Film.
Monetary prize in the amount of €2,500.
SPECIAL MENTION
TAKO TSUBO
Austria, Germany
Director: Eva Pedroza, Fanny Sorgo
COMPETITION PROGRAM – STUDENT FILM
HEART OF SARAJEVO FOR BEST STUDENT FILM
THE SMELL OF FRESH PAINT
Serbia
Director: Nađa Petrović
The monetary prize in the amount of €1,000 is sponsored by the Regional Cooperation Council.
SPECIAL ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS AWARD
THE SKY ABOVE ZENICA
Denmark, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Director: Zlatko Pranjić, Nanna Frank Møller
Award in the amount of €5,000 sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme in BiH.
SPECIAL AWARD FOR PROMOTING GENDER EQUALITY
CENT’ANNI
Slovenia, Italy, Poland, Serbia, Austria
Director: Maja Doroteja Prelog
The monetary prize in the amount of €7,500 is sponsored by Mastercard.
