The festival presented a total of 170 films from 55 countries from all over the world. Over 300 international guests came to Sofia in 2017, amongst them were directors, producers, festival directors as well as media and film experts.
The Award Ceremony took place on the 18th of March in Hall 1 of the National Palace of Culture.
THE INTERNATIONAL JURY FOR FIRST AND SECOND FEATURE FILMS
Cristi Puiu (Romania) – Director, Jury President
Manfred Schmidt (Germany) – Film Expert
Deborah Kara Unger (Canada) – Actress
Anjela Nedyalkova (Bulgaria) – Actress
Eliza Petkova (Bulgaria-Germany) – Director
DECIDED
SOFIA CITY OF FILM GRAND PRIX AWARD for best film in the International Competition for first and second films, amounted to 7 000 Euro provided by the Sofia Municipality, went to ‘Godless’ (Bulgaria-Denmark-France) by director Ralitza Petrova and producer Rossitsa Valkanova.
SPECIAL JURY AWARD went to ‘The Last Family’ (Poland) by director Jan P. Martuszynski.
AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTOR went to Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Gross for their film ‘My Happy Family’ (Germany-Georgia-France).
Special Mention went to Mia Petricevic for her role in the film ‘Quit Staring at My Plate’ (Croatia-Denmark).
JAMESON AWARD FOR BEST BULGARIAN SHORT FILM, amounted to 6 000 Euro, went to ‘Clothes’ (Bulgaria) by director Vesselin Boydev.
JAMESON Special Mention AWARD was awarded to the short film ‘Travelling Country’ (Bulgaria) by the directors Vessela Dantcheva and Ivan Bogdanov.
LIDL AUDIENCE AWARD was decided by the spectators’ vote! Bulgarian audience voted for films from the special selection of the Sofia Film Festival’s programme – and the winner was ‘Sing Street’ (Ireland-United Kingdom-USA), directed by John Carney.
LIDL AUDIENCE AWARD for Best Bulgarian Film was presented to ‘Lift for Patients’ (Bulgaria), directed by Iglika Trifonova.
AWARD FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY handed by the international jury president Tonislav Hristov (director, Bulgaria-Finland) and members Yevgeny Gindilis (producer, Russia) and Andrei Tanasesku (festival programmer, director, Romania), went to the film ‘Tempest’ (Mexico) by Tatiana Huezo.
The Documentary Jury handed SPECIAL MENTION to the film ‘Village People’ (Bulgaria) by Tsvetan Dragnev.
DOMAINE BOYAR AWARD FOR BEST BALKAN FILM handed by Balkan jury president Stefan Laudyn (Festival director, Poland) and members Stefan Uhrik (Festival director, Slovakia) and Stefan Vuldobrev (actor, composer, director, Bulgaria), went to ‘Glory’ (Bulgaria-Greece) by directors Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov.
The Balkan Jury handed SPECIAL MENTION to the film ‘Clair Obscur’ (Turkey-Germany-Poland-France) by Yesim Ustaoglu.
THE AWARD OF THE BULGARIAN GUILD OF FILM CRITICS for film from the Balkan Competition went to ‘Glory’ (Bulgaria-Greece) by Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov.
THE AWARD FOR BEST BULGARIAN FEATURE FILM handed by jury consisted of Kiril Razlogov (Russia, programming director of Moscow International Film Festival), Elma Tataragic (Bosnia and Herzegovina, programmer of Sarajevo Film Festival) and Roberto Cueto (San Sebastian Film Festival) went to ‘Godless’ (Bulgaria) by director Ralitza Petrova.
The FIPRESCI Jury members Christina Stojanova (Canada), Massimo Lechi (Italy), Boryana Mateeva (Bulgaria) handed out the FIPRESCI Award to the film ‘Requiem for Mrs. J’ (Serbia-Bulgaria-Macedonia) by the director Bojan Vuletic.
THE YOUNG JURY AWARD of the festival went to ‘Groom’s Block’ (Turkey-UK) by Ilker Savaskurt as the best film in the International Competition.
Within the framework of the 21st Sofia International Film Festival the SOFIA AWARD of Sofia Municipality for contribution to world cinema was presented to:
STOYANKA MUTAFOVA, actress (Bulgaria)
AGNIESZKA HOLLAND, director (Poland)
JOHN SAVAGE, actor (USA)
ADELA PEEVA, director (Bulgaria)
The main media partner co-organizer of the festival is Bulgarian National Television.
At the 14 edition of SOFIA MEETINGS the following awards were handed out:
Nu Boyana Film Studios presented for the second time Sofia Meetings Danny Lerner Grand Prix for Best Project in the main sections. Тhe largest film production studio in Eastern Europe will back up one of the projects with a prize of 50,000 Euro in services and a cheque for 5,000 Euro. The award went to the project THE TENTMASTER'S DAUGHTER (United Kingdom), presented by the director Isabel Anderton and the producer Christine Hartland.
For the first time in 2017 the general sponsor of Sofia Film Fest LIDL Bulgaria gave an award amounted to 3,000 Leva to the best Bulgarian project which was chosen by the professional jury comprised of Raimond Goebel (producer, Pandora Film, Germany), Zeynep Atakan (producer, Zeyno Film, Turkey) and Gabriele Brunnenmeyer (script consultant, Germany). The award was given to JANUARY (Bulgaria) presented by its director Andrey Paounov and producer Vanya Raynova.
Focusfox Studio (Hungary) Award equal to 10,000 Euro in post production services went to the project LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR (Israel), presented by the director Sharon Bar Ziv and the producer Marek Rozenbaum.
EastWest Filmdistribution Award – script consultancy with Steven Goldsmith, an Irish-American script doctor and writer (equal of 5,000 Euro) went to the project ONE AND A HALF PRINCE (Romania) by the director Ana Lungu and producer Raluca Paduraru.
Young Producer Award – Yapimlab (Turkey) will invite one producer for one week project consultancy in Istanbul or Antalya, during International Antalya Film Festival, and offer network possibilities within Turkish industry (equal of 5,000 Euro). The award went to the project DUST (Bulgaria), presented by the director Ralitza Petrova and the producer Poli Angelova.
The Award Ceremony took place on the 18th of March in Hall 1 of the National Palace of Culture.
THE INTERNATIONAL JURY FOR FIRST AND SECOND FEATURE FILMS
Cristi Puiu (Romania) – Director, Jury President
Manfred Schmidt (Germany) – Film Expert
Deborah Kara Unger (Canada) – Actress
Anjela Nedyalkova (Bulgaria) – Actress
Eliza Petkova (Bulgaria-Germany) – Director
DECIDED
SOFIA CITY OF FILM GRAND PRIX AWARD for best film in the International Competition for first and second films, amounted to 7 000 Euro provided by the Sofia Municipality, went to ‘Godless’ (Bulgaria-Denmark-France) by director Ralitza Petrova and producer Rossitsa Valkanova.
SPECIAL JURY AWARD went to ‘The Last Family’ (Poland) by director Jan P. Martuszynski.
AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTOR went to Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Gross for their film ‘My Happy Family’ (Germany-Georgia-France).
Special Mention went to Mia Petricevic for her role in the film ‘Quit Staring at My Plate’ (Croatia-Denmark).
JAMESON AWARD FOR BEST BULGARIAN SHORT FILM, amounted to 6 000 Euro, went to ‘Clothes’ (Bulgaria) by director Vesselin Boydev.
JAMESON Special Mention AWARD was awarded to the short film ‘Travelling Country’ (Bulgaria) by the directors Vessela Dantcheva and Ivan Bogdanov.
LIDL AUDIENCE AWARD was decided by the spectators’ vote! Bulgarian audience voted for films from the special selection of the Sofia Film Festival’s programme – and the winner was ‘Sing Street’ (Ireland-United Kingdom-USA), directed by John Carney.
LIDL AUDIENCE AWARD for Best Bulgarian Film was presented to ‘Lift for Patients’ (Bulgaria), directed by Iglika Trifonova.
AWARD FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY handed by the international jury president Tonislav Hristov (director, Bulgaria-Finland) and members Yevgeny Gindilis (producer, Russia) and Andrei Tanasesku (festival programmer, director, Romania), went to the film ‘Tempest’ (Mexico) by Tatiana Huezo.
The Documentary Jury handed SPECIAL MENTION to the film ‘Village People’ (Bulgaria) by Tsvetan Dragnev.
DOMAINE BOYAR AWARD FOR BEST BALKAN FILM handed by Balkan jury president Stefan Laudyn (Festival director, Poland) and members Stefan Uhrik (Festival director, Slovakia) and Stefan Vuldobrev (actor, composer, director, Bulgaria), went to ‘Glory’ (Bulgaria-Greece) by directors Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov.
The Balkan Jury handed SPECIAL MENTION to the film ‘Clair Obscur’ (Turkey-Germany-Poland-France) by Yesim Ustaoglu.
THE AWARD OF THE BULGARIAN GUILD OF FILM CRITICS for film from the Balkan Competition went to ‘Glory’ (Bulgaria-Greece) by Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov.
THE AWARD FOR BEST BULGARIAN FEATURE FILM handed by jury consisted of Kiril Razlogov (Russia, programming director of Moscow International Film Festival), Elma Tataragic (Bosnia and Herzegovina, programmer of Sarajevo Film Festival) and Roberto Cueto (San Sebastian Film Festival) went to ‘Godless’ (Bulgaria) by director Ralitza Petrova.
The FIPRESCI Jury members Christina Stojanova (Canada), Massimo Lechi (Italy), Boryana Mateeva (Bulgaria) handed out the FIPRESCI Award to the film ‘Requiem for Mrs. J’ (Serbia-Bulgaria-Macedonia) by the director Bojan Vuletic.
THE YOUNG JURY AWARD of the festival went to ‘Groom’s Block’ (Turkey-UK) by Ilker Savaskurt as the best film in the International Competition.
Within the framework of the 21st Sofia International Film Festival the SOFIA AWARD of Sofia Municipality for contribution to world cinema was presented to:
STOYANKA MUTAFOVA, actress (Bulgaria)
AGNIESZKA HOLLAND, director (Poland)
JOHN SAVAGE, actor (USA)
ADELA PEEVA, director (Bulgaria)
The main media partner co-organizer of the festival is Bulgarian National Television.
At the 14 edition of SOFIA MEETINGS the following awards were handed out:
Nu Boyana Film Studios presented for the second time Sofia Meetings Danny Lerner Grand Prix for Best Project in the main sections. Тhe largest film production studio in Eastern Europe will back up one of the projects with a prize of 50,000 Euro in services and a cheque for 5,000 Euro. The award went to the project THE TENTMASTER'S DAUGHTER (United Kingdom), presented by the director Isabel Anderton and the producer Christine Hartland.
For the first time in 2017 the general sponsor of Sofia Film Fest LIDL Bulgaria gave an award amounted to 3,000 Leva to the best Bulgarian project which was chosen by the professional jury comprised of Raimond Goebel (producer, Pandora Film, Germany), Zeynep Atakan (producer, Zeyno Film, Turkey) and Gabriele Brunnenmeyer (script consultant, Germany). The award was given to JANUARY (Bulgaria) presented by its director Andrey Paounov and producer Vanya Raynova.
Focusfox Studio (Hungary) Award equal to 10,000 Euro in post production services went to the project LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR (Israel), presented by the director Sharon Bar Ziv and the producer Marek Rozenbaum.
EastWest Filmdistribution Award – script consultancy with Steven Goldsmith, an Irish-American script doctor and writer (equal of 5,000 Euro) went to the project ONE AND A HALF PRINCE (Romania) by the director Ana Lungu and producer Raluca Paduraru.
Young Producer Award – Yapimlab (Turkey) will invite one producer for one week project consultancy in Istanbul or Antalya, during International Antalya Film Festival, and offer network possibilities within Turkish industry (equal of 5,000 Euro). The award went to the project DUST (Bulgaria), presented by the director Ralitza Petrova and the producer Poli Angelova.