WINNERS

IRIDA Russian-British International Film Festival and Awards (SIFFA 2020)

SHORT FILM COMPETITION

The winner was chosen from the competition films by the following jury members:

photo of STEPHEN MAO

STEPHEN MAO

CHAIRMAN OF THE SHORT FILM COMPETITION JURY.

photo of OKSANA STASHENKO

OKSANA STASHENKO

MEMBER OF THE SHORT FILM COMPETITION JURY.

photo of KARL BARDOSH

KARL BARDOSH

MEMBER OF THE SHORT FILM COMPETITION JURY.

Best Short Film - Mommy’s Calf, director Victoria Runtsova.

Stephen Mao, producer, SKIN 2019 Academy Award winner, chairman of the Short Film Competition Jury: “I was happy to participate in this wonderful event. The festival went very well! I was also pleasantly impressed by the red carpet events, which took place even during press conferences. Film and music festivals went well and I am very impressed by their quality in these uncertain times. The film and music festivals give hope to all who participated, listened to us and watched us, which means that both festivals fulfilled their main mission – to provide light and hope for everyone’s well-being.”

DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

The winner was chosen from the competition films by the following jury members:

photo of TATIANA YAKOVLEVA

TATIANA YAKOVLEVA

CHAIRMAN OF THE DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION JURY.

photo of PETER FERRIS

PETER FERRIS

MEMBER OF THE DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION JURY.

Photo of NATALIA IVANOVA

NATALIA IVANOVA

MEMBER OF THE DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION JURY.

Best Documentary Film - Tears & Dreams, directorLia Beltrami Giovanazzi.

Special Documentary Jury Mention - Forbidden Children, director Evdokia Moskvina.

Special Documentary Jury Diploma - A Shroud of Incense, director Sasha Kretsan.

Tatiana Yakovleva, film scholar, professor at VGIK (Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography), PhD in Art History, chairman of the Documentary Film Competition Jury: “I said at the opening ceremony that we expect to see poetry and beauty in films and I believe that our decision reflects exactly what we wanted to see in the documentaries. The filmmaker’s unique interpretation, the combination of beauty and poetry – that’s what was important for us. The selection of films was wonderful and choosing the winner was no easy task but our decision was unanimous.”

MAIN COMPETITION

The winners were chosen from the competition films by the following jury members:

photo of Mohy Quandour

MOHY QUANDOUR

HONORARY HEAD OF JURY, PRODUCER.

photo of VLADIMIR КHOTINENKO

VLADIMIR КHOTINENKO

CHAIRMAN OF THE JURY (MAIN COMPETITION).

Photo of DEBBIE ARNOLD

DEBBIE ARNOLD

MEMBER OF THE JURY (MAIN COMPETITION).

Photo of ROSEITA ROYCE

ROSEITA ROYCE

MEMBER OF THE JURY (MAIN COMPETITION)

Photo of VALERY VORONA

VALERY VORONA

MEMBER OF THE JURY (MAIN COMPETITION).

VLADIMIR SHEVELKOV

MEMBER OF THE JURY (MAIN COMPETITION)

Best Full Feature Film - Overline, director and producer Vadim Dubrovitsky.

Best Directing - Faraway Land, director Erkan Yazici.

Best Screenplay - Love You Forever, director Tingting Yao.

Best Cinematography & Special Main Jury Prize- Beautiful in the Morning, director Flavia Casà.

Best Actress & Best Music - Palindrome, director Marcus Flemmings.

Best Actor - Brian Dennehy in Driveways (Produced by Maven Screen Media and Symbolic Exchange in association with Studio Mao), director Andrew Ahn.

Best Set Design - Siege Diary, director Andrey Zaytsev.

Posthumous Award - Brian Dennehy for his role in Driveways and Ruslan Firov for his role in Cherkess.

Vera Glagoleva SIFFA Award, the Best Debut - Mariam, director Sharipa Urazbayeva.

Best Film - CELL CINEMA Competition - The Green Dress, director Julia Solovieva.

Special Mention by CELL CINEMA Competition Jury - Grandma’s Tales, director Sati Balagova.

Special Main Jury Prize - Gando, director Teymour Ghaderi.

Media Diploma - The Story of a Painting, director Ruslan Magomayev.

IRIDA President’s Award-Russian-British Sochi International Film Festival and Awards, President Luba Balagova-Kandour - A Siege Diary for the best depiction of the strength of the human spirit and the bravery of the Soviet people in overcoming the humankind most horrific tragedy of the XXth century.

Kirill Razlogov, journalist, film scholar: “… I was especially pleased to present the award for this type of filmmaking, which will be the leading trend in the world now and in the near future and to present it to someone from the generation that will be at the forefront for the next 50 years, the generation that will be defining the development of the screen art not just at home in Russia but worldwide.”

Vladimir Shevelkov, theatre and film actor, film director, screenwriter, producer, television host, Honoured Artist of the Russian Federation: “An actor’s profession is rather unusual in that there is no criteria for judging the quality of their work other than the audience’s appreciation, the film director’s opinion or the awards, which makes it that much more pleasant to present awards to actors – because their lives are filled with doubt but there is no place for fear.”

Vladimir Khotinenko, director, screenwriter, actor, teacher, People’s Artist of the Russian Federation, chairman of the SIFFA 2020 Main Competition: “I can sincerely say that the program was very good. I am sure that all of the films are worthy of being screened at any high-level film festival. What made me happiest was the fact that they focused on people. I wouldn’t want to see humans take second place to action films and thrillers. Russian cinema has a tradition of focusing on the human being. And the festival took the right direction in choosing it’s path.”

Luba Balagova-Kandour, founder and president of the VIII IRIDA Russian-British Sochi International Film Festival and Awards: “Every year the President’s Award goes to the film that best fits the concept underpinning our festival. Our goal is to unite the cultures and the traditions of two countries – Russia and the UK. In England, in Europe so little is known about this immense tragedy, and I am ready to screen this film everywhere and to talk about the outstanding bravery of the Soviet people.”