Cineast 2021: Murina declared winner

The jury has spoken!  Murina, by Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović (Croatia/USA/Brazil/Slovenia) won the Grand Jury Prize. Here is a brief overview of the prize list of this hybrid edition rich in emotions.

What a joy to be able to experience such a cinematographic event over 17 days! Because this year again, the CinEast festival has programmed great cinema on the country’s screens. Although 35 feature films and 35 shorts were on the programme, only seven films were nominated in the official competition: Celts by Milica Tomović, Forest – I See You Everywhere by Bence Fliegauf, Inventory by Darko Sinko, Miracle by Bogdan George Apetri, Never Gonna Snow Again by MaÅ‚gorzata Szumowska and MichaÅ‚ Englert, Saving One Who Was Dead by Václav Kadrnka, and Murina by Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović

Murina and Never Gonna Snow Again: the choice of the International Jury

“The main prize goes to Murina (Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović, editor’s note), a coming-of-age story told with graceful vigour and incredible detail”, decided Romanian director and screenwriter, Golden Bear winner Radu Jude, president of this 14th edition. A clear choice, despite a very high quality selection, which did not escape the jury, composed this year of Czech director Michaela Pavlátová, Nicolas Steil, Luxembourg producer and director, Larisa Faber, Luxembourg actress and director, and finally Céline Masset, co-director of the Brussels International Film Festival.

A jury that was also responsible for awarding the Special Jury Prize: Never Gonna Snow Again by MaÅ‚gorzata Szumowska and MichaÅ‚ Englert stood out. “The second prize goes to Never Gonna Snow Again for a well-crafted social critique, spellbinding cinematography and for its magical realism,” indeed explained Larisa Faber during the ceremony.

Miracle awarded by the Press Jury

This year, the press was once again invited, in the presence of Teresa Vena (Cineuropa), Tobias Keßler (Saarbrücker Zeitung) and Gabrielle Seil (Revue), to distinguish the best film of this edition. Miracle by Bogdan George Apetri (Romania/Czech Republic/Latvia) won the Critics’ Choice Award 2021. “We chose a film that immediately evokes a heavy atmosphere with its ambitious form, long shots, impressive images and dense direction. It tells the story of a young woman whose fate is in the hands of several enigmatic male characters. Through a detail like someone’s taste for music, the film unpretentiously evokes a sense of nostalgia for a supposedly better past – and an uncertain future. With precise dialogue, it deals with important issues such as religion and gender roles and shows that in personal relationships lies political relevance”, commented Teresa Vena in explaining the jury’s decision.

Love Lasting wins the Young Talent Award

Finally, this 2021 edition also shone by its avant-gardism, with the creation of the brand new Young Talents Award, with a dedicated jury composed of four students of the BTS Cinema and Audiovisual of the Lycée des Arts et Métiers. For this first edition, Alix Andries, Luca Mahnke, Nikola Ozimkiewicz and Elsa Schweitzer chose the film Love Lasting, by Dawid Nickel: “We decided to award the Young Talent Prize to the film Love Tasting, because in our hearts we have really felt and experienced the nuances of love and especially of love relationships. This film takes a subject, which has always existed, love, and modernises it through a wonderful aesthetic of image and sound. It opens up our perception of love with subtlety and humanity. We say “love is blind” but in this film we could say “love is hypnotic” thanks to its special rhythm, the music and above all its characters. We wish all the best in the future to all the films in the selection: Love Tasting, Sisterhood, #dogpoopgirl, Stop-Zemlia and Mirrors in the Dark.”

Finally, the film Love Around the World by Davor & Andjela Rostuhar (Croatia) received the highest scores in the public vote (in cinemas and online) and thus receives the Audience Award for Best Feature Film.

More information: www.cineast.lu

Picture: Dalboyne