FEST Award Contenders

In the only competition program in FEST - Europe out of Europe, six films will be screened this year from "non-mainstream" film industries, while being under major European influence: Azerbaijan, Russia, Georgia, Norway, Israel and Macedonia.

Just like every year, the decision about the award will be delivered by an international jury, consisting of Goran Markovic, Klaus Eder and Tomislav Kurelec.

Goran Markovic is a famous Serbian director, a representative of the Prague School and author of films such as Sabirni centar, Nacionalna klasa, Variola vera, Tito i ja and many others. Klaus Eder is a film critic from Munich, who has been writing about film from the mid-sixties. For 20 years, he was the programming director of the film festival in Munich and from 1987, he is the secretary general of the FIPRESCI association of film critics. Eder has also made several short films and hundreds of TV programs; he was the film program editor on HTV and published the book about Croatian movies.

That three-strong jury will award the 2000 euro prize to one of the following films:

Piano room is made by Macedonian director Igor Ivanov, in coproduction with Serbia and Slovenia, while the screening on FEST is the film's international premiere. The plot is set in an old hotel that's been put on sale; in the centre of the story are the guests staying in the piano room, their destinies, dreams and disappointments. Ivanov started his career 20 years ago and he has been awarded many prizes for his films, including the Golden Bear for the short film Bugs.  

Break loose is a film by Russian director Alexey Uchitel, described as an explosive drama about the members of the elite Russian police unit and a dangerous affair of one of them with the girlfriend of a well-known Russian mobster. Uchitel's  film has been screened worldwide and was awarded the Best Director Award in Karlovy Vary, the prize on the Moscow Festival and five awards on the Kottbus festival.

In bloom is a film about friendship of two girls, their growing up, relationship with their environment and life in Georgia after the breakup of the Soviet Union. Nana Ekvtimishvili  and Simon Gross have joined forces in making this film that has won many awards, including the award on the Berlinale Forum, the Sarajevo Heart Award, as well as the award for best actress on the Sarajevo film festival, the FIPRESCI award on the festival in Hong Kong and the award of the audience in Milan.

Bethlehem is a story about the complicated relationship between an Israeli secret service agent and his young Palestinian informant. Yuval Adler is a talented young Israeli director and this is his film debut. He's in for a bright future, since Bethlehem is in the Oscars race and it has already been shown on the festivals in Venice and Toronto.

I am yours  is a testimony about the life of second-generation immigrant in Norway, inspired by the experience of the director Iram Haq  (her debut film). The plot centres on a young single mother from Pakistan, who tries to be an actress and a good mother, while looking for romance.

The Steppe Man  is a story about the clash of tradition and the modern world, a man who has grown up in the steppe, far away from civilization, trying to adapt to the world. Directed by Shamil Aliyev, a writer, director and producer from Azerbaijan. The film has been screened on the festivals in Rome, Tbilisi and Cairo and he was Azerbaijan's candidate for the Oscar.