It’s Not the Time of My Life comes out on top at Karlovy Vary
- KARLOVY VARY 2016: The movie by Hungarian director Szabolcs Hajdu has taken home the Crystal Globe for Best Film, while Zoology by Russia’s Ivan I Tverdovsky pocketed the Special Jury Prize
After nine days of screenings, industry events and more, which began on 1 July, the 51st Karlovy Vary International Film Festival wrapped on Saturday with its closing ceremony, where all of the gathering’s awards were handed out. Following its enthusiastic welcome towards the end of the festival, the official competition jury, made up of Maurizio Braucci, Eve Gabereau, Martha Issová, George Ovashvili and Jay Van Hoy, opted to hand the Crystal Globe for Best Film to the low-budget drama (shot in the house of the director himself, with his friends and family members) It’s Not the Time of My Life [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Szabolcs Hajdu
film profile] by Szabolcs Hajdu, the emotional and sober portrait of a clash between two families. The director, who also played a lead role in the feature, bagged both the Crystal Globe and the Best Actor Award.
Meanwhile, the co-production between Russia, France and Germany Zoology [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ivan I Tverdovsky
film profile], a unique story about a woman who grows an animal tail, by young filmmaker Ivan I Tverdovsky, went home with the Special Jury Prize. Slovenian director Damjan Kozole received the Best Director Award for his work on the “anti-thriller” Nightlife [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Damjan Kozole
film profile], while the lead actress in The Teacher [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jan Hřebejk
film profile] by Jan Hřebejk, Zuzana Mauréry, picked up the Best Actress Award. The jury also decided to hand out two Special Mentions: one went to The Wolf from Royal Vineyard Street [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Tomáš Klein
film profile], the last film by Jan Němec, who passed away recently and was branded an enfant terrible among the filmmakers of the Czech new wave of the 1960s, and somewhat surprisingly, the other was for By the Rails [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Cătălin Mitulescu
film profile] by Romanian director Catalin Mitulescu.
As for the East of the West competition, in the end it was one of the most warmly received movies of the entire gathering that came out on top: Rusudan Glurjidze’s House of Others [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rusudan Glurjidze
interview: Salome Demuria
film profile], a co-production between Georgia, Russia, Spain and Croatia. The Estonian title The Days That Confused [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Triin Ruumet
film profile] by Triin Ruumet was honoured with a Special Mention.
Lastly, the documentary competition saw victory claimed by the US film LoveTrue by young director Alma Har’el (produced by Shia Labeouf), which was added to the Special Mention bestowed upon Ama-San [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Portugal’s Cláudia Varejão, co-produced by Portugal, Switzerland and Japan.
The ceremony, where brilliant US screenwriter and director Charlie Kaufman (who made a thank-you speech in Czech) and seasoned Czech actress Jiřina Bohdalová both received the honorary Festival President’s Award, was rounded off by the Audience Award, which went to the US feature Captain Fantastic by Matt Ross, starring Viggo Mortensen. Following its premiere at Sundance, the movie reached Europe via the Un Certain Regard selection at Cannes.
Here is the complete list of award winners:
Official competition
Crystal Globe for Best Film
It’s Not the Time of My Life [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Szabolcs Hajdu
film profile] – Szabolcs Hajdu
Special Jury Prize
Zoology [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ivan I Tverdovsky
film profile] – Ivan I Tverdovsky
Best Director
Damjan Kozole – Nightlife [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Damjan Kozole
film profile]
Best Actress
Zuzana Mauréry – The Teacher [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jan Hřebejk
film profile]
Best Actor
Szabolcs Hajdu – It’s Not the Time of My Life
Special Mention
The Wolf from Royal Vineyard Street [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Tomáš Klein
film profile] – Jan Němec
By the Rails [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Cătălin Mitulescu
film profile] – Catalin Mitulescu
East of the West competition
Best Film
House of Others [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rusudan Glurjidze
interview: Salome Demuria
film profile] – Rusudan Glurjidze
Special Jury Prize
The Days That Confused [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Triin Ruumet
film profile] – Triin Ruumet
Documentary competition
Best Film
LoveTrue – Alma Har’el
Special Mention
Ama-San [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Cláudia Varejão
Audience Award
Captain Fantastic – Matt Ross
(Translated from Spanish)
Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.
