SIFFA UK 2024:

A CULTURAL PLATFORM FOR PEACE AMID GLOBAL TENSIONS

SIFFA is proud to announce the winners of this year’s prestigious awards. The competition sections celebrate the most exciting international films and cinematic storytelling that reveal to viewers the diverse and unknown cultures of the globe. These films are creative, captivating, and often provocative, showcasing the power of cinema to inspire and educate.

The winning films, selected by our esteemed SIFFA juries in the shorts and documentary categories, delve into profound themes and narratives. These include an exquisite and powerful documentary exploring the philosophical concept of preserving oneself in love, emphasising that "the future of humanity largely depends on how it correctly chooses the goal and direction of movement towards it" (‘Altai’).

Other winners include compelling stories about the patience and resilience of mothers (‘Baluches’), as well as reflective films on the experience of growing up (‘Vovka’) and a Biblical narrative (‘From the Mouth of Babes’ – ‘From the Painter’s View’).

The winners of this year’s In Competition screenings are:

  • SIFFA President Award - Film: Altai the Grain of the Future. Director: Natalya Bondarchuk

  • SIFFA Award for the Best Documentary - Film: Little Baluches. Director: Raya Nasiri

  • Vera Glagoleva's SIFFA Award for the Best Debut Film - Film: Voiceless. Director: Zahra Mojahed

  • SIFFA Award for the Best Documentary Director - Film: The Human Side of Plastic: Babacar Thiaw. Directors: Andrew Lynch, Ben Ayers, Rush Sturges

  • SIFFA Award for the Best Short Film - Film: Going First. Director: Anna Lee

  • SIFFA Award for the Best Actor - Film: Don’t Worry About Me. Actor: Masoud Keramati

  • SIFFA Award for the Best Screenplay - Film: Sweet Sorrow. Director: Parisa Zandbaf

  • SIFFA Award for the Best Pictorial Art - Film: Alien. Director: Jurita Kalite

  • SIFFA Award for the Best Montage - Film: Shift Change. Director: Mark Hensley

  • SIFFA Award for the Best Montage - Film: Shift Change. Director: Mark Hensley

  • Mohy Quandour's SIFFA Award for the Best Youth Film - Film: From the Painter’s View. Director: Goli Zarei

    This year, for the first time, an award was given to perpetuate the memory of the legend of world cinema Mohy Quandour (Kandour),

  • SIFFA Award for the Best Short Film Director - Film: Vovka. Director: Oksana Stashenko

This year SIFFA’s Special Focus screening was on the Russian literature through the Camera lenses of the British and Russian film directors. Including the Academy award, The Palme d'or and other international awards winning films:

  • The Cranes are Flying (1957) Director: Mikhail Kalatozov

  • Moscow Doesn’t Believe in Tears (1980) Director: Vladimir Menshov

  • The Double (2013) Director: Richard Ayoade

  • Two Women (2014) Director: Vera Glagoleva

  • Vysotsky. Unknown... a true story (2018-2024) Director: Anatoly Balchev

  • Seven Moments of Robert Rozhdestvensky (2022) Director: Pavel Menyaylo

  • Khitrovka. The Sign of Four (2023) Director: Karen Shakhnazarov (inspired by the books of Conan Doyle, the essays of Gilyarovsky and the ideas of Stanislavsky).

  • Special screening of the shorts - The Place (2001) by the director Arkady Kogan.

Traditional SIFFA Awards for the partners returned back with the awards.

  • SIFFA Award for the Distinguished Patronage - Dear Darling management and team for the 3 years of exceptional commitment

  • Best SIFFA Partner of the Year - Anvar Turobov, Founder and CEO of ALNUR

  • SIFFA 2024 awarded Anastasia Ivanova for the Excellence in Digital Art and Design.