Undaunted by the havoc caused by COVID-19, the eleventh edition of the Al Este Central and Eastern European Film Festival, held in Peru, bowed out last Saturday for another year. The awards ceremony marked the end of an unusual festival experience, filled with special moments from start to finish. The award for best film (the recently unveiled Jaguar Al Este) was shared by the Polish animated film Kill It and Leave This Town [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Mariusz Wilczyński
scheda film], directed by Mariusz Wilczynski, and the Ukrainian documentary The Earth Is Blue as an Orange [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Iryna Tsilyk
scheda film], by Iryna Tsilyk. Both films were given rave reviews by the Press Jury, which ultimately decided in Tsilyk’s favour for its best entry in the competition, with Wilczynski’s film receiving a special mention alongside the Hungarian drama Those Who Remained [+leggi anche:
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scheda film], directed by Barnabás Tóth and Hungary’s pick for this year’s Oscars.

In the Itinerant Competition section, a curated selection of films from all five of the festival’s host countries (Argentina, Colombia, France, Peru and Uruguay), it was the Argentinian film Mamá, mamá, mamá that took the top prize, to the delight of its director Sol Berruezo Pichon-Rivière. Also screening in this section, the French film Solo [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Artemio Benki
scheda film], by Artemio Benki, was rewarded with a special mention. Meanwhile, the Emerging Peru and ExperimentAlEste sections paid tribute to Peru’s short filmmakers. The winner of the former was La celebración, by Bryan Urrunaga, which also scooped the award for best documentary. The special mention went to 198451, by Valentín Falconi, while the mention for best director was presented to Carmen Rojas Gamarra for Cerquillo. Over in the experimental section, the competition also ended in a tie, with two films sharing the award for best experimental Sshort film: Paqarinanchismanta huk qillqa, by Jorge Castro, and Materia/l encontrado y/o idea de una casa, by Isaac Ernesto Ruiz.

Despite the exceptional circumstances surrounding this year’s edition, public participation remained a critical part of the festival’s ethos — including when it came to handing out prizes. Viewers gave the official audience award to Mare [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Andrea Staka
scheda film], by Swiss director Andrea Staka, while Cines de video, by Peru’s Wari Gálvez Rivas, was declared the audience favourite in the Itinerant Competition. Technology took on a fundamental role, allowing viewers to attend online screenings of the 60+ selected films using the platform elekran.com. Thanks to the success of the festival and agreements with directors and distributors, film fans will be able to continue exploring these titles on the platform.

Despite all the obstacles, Festival Al Este pulled off a true celebration of film, even finding time for virtual meet and greets with such cinematic masters as Tsai Ming-Liang, Abel Ferrara, Hubert Sauper, Olivier Assayas and Sergei Loznitsa. In parallel, ESTELAB, the laboratory for incipient audiovisual projects, returned for a second edition. Out of more than a hundred entries, seven were ultimately chosen to take part in the event. Professionals from all over Europe and Latin America enjoyed a rare opportunity to work collaboratively to push their respective projects to the next level.

The full winners’ list:

Al Este Official Competition

Best Film
Kill It and Leave This Town [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Mariusz Wilczyński
scheda film] – Mariusz Wilczyński (Poland)
The Earth is Blue as an Orange [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Iryna Tsilyk
scheda film] – Iryna Tsilyk (Ukraine/Lithuania)

Press Jury Award
The Earth is Blue as an Orange – Iryna Tsilyk
Special Mention
Kill It and Leave This Town – Mariusz Wilczyński
Those Who Remained [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] – Barnabás Tóth (Hungary)

Audience Award
Mare [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Andrea Staka
scheda film] – Andrea Štaka (Switzerland/Croatia)

Itinerant Competition

Best Film
Mamá, mamá, mamá – Sol Berruezo Pichon-Rivière (Argentina)

Special Mention
Solo [+leggi anche:
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trailer
intervista: Artemio Benki
scheda film] – Artemio Benki (France/Czech Republic/Argentina/Austria)

Audience Award
Cines de video – Wari Gálvez Rivas (Peru)

Emerging Peru Competition

Best Short Film
La celebración – Bryan Urrunaga (Peru)

Special Mention
198451 – Valentín Falconí (Peru)

Mention for Best Director
Cerquillo – Carmen Rojas Gamarra (Peru)

ExperimentAlEste Competition

Best Experimental Short Film
Paqarinanchismanta huk qillqa – Jorge Castro (Peru)
Materia/l encontrado y/o idea de una casa – Isaac Ernesto Ruiz (Peru)