Awards Ceremony Marks the Closing of the Interaction Festival
The third Interaction: Short Documentary Film Festival concluded with an awards ceremony held in the Garden of the City Cultural Center in Užice on Monday, August 26. Three awards were presented: the Best Film of the Festival, the Youth Jury Award, and the Audience Award. Additionally, as part of the Festival’s closing programme, documentary films created during the 19th edition of Interaction: Student Film Camp were screened. On the same day, four mini-documentaries filmed and produced as part of the Interaction: Teen Doc Workshop, which this year included 24 young and aspiring filmmakers, were also shown. The following day, August 27, the same programme was held at the Belgrade Cultural Center, where films from the Camp participants and the festival’s winning film were screened for the Belgrade audience.
During the festival, 15 short documentaries carefully selected by the Festival’s artistic director, director Dejan Petrović, and programme advisor Andrew Mohsen, an Egyptian film critic and programmer for numerous festivals, were shown in the competitive programme.
The award for Best Film, decided by a jury comprising Chris Filippone, Doris Bauer, and Nadica Denić, was given to the film 1001 Nights by Rea Rajčić. The jury’s statement described the film as a refreshing homage to melodramas, which often dominate our daily experiences.
“Between the unusual cries of peacocks and an overly dramatic soap opera, there exists a creative little world that evolves into a strange, comedic, yet uniquely human conflict. It’s a moment depicted with perfectly timed transitions from a double shot to a close-up,” the jury’s explanation read.
The Best Film award includes a statue created by sculptor Marko Crnobrnja, a diploma, and a cash prize provided by Sirogojno Company, a long-time partner of the Festival.
The film Aqueronte by Manuel Muñoz Rivas received a Special Jury Mention as a “stunning atmospheric film that, with great skill and rich detail, creates a liminal space and a transitional journey.”
On the same evening, the Youth Jury Award, comprised of participants from the Interaction Teen Doc Workshop, was presented. The award went to directors Alec Green and Finbar Watson for their film Teacups.
“The reality depicted through animated images, the emotional connection with the audience, the directors’ courage to address important life themes, and the touching story conveyed through a deep and mature voice profoundly moved us and made us reflect on the irony of human existence. That’s why we decided to give the Youth Jury Award to the film Teacups by Alec Green and Finbar Watson,” stated the youth jury in their explanation.
The Youth Jury Award includes a cash prize provided by the Government of Switzerland through the Culture for Democracy programme, implemented by the Heartefact Foundation in Serbia.
The film Teacups also won this year’s Audience Award.