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Ilyas Salman as the farmer in Karlovy Vary’s top award winner Corn Island. The eagerly anticipated second feature Corn Island (Simindis Kundzuli) by already acclaimed Georgian filmmaker George Ovashvili (who made The Other Bank (Gagma Napiri)) has taken the top prize at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, announced this evening (July 12).

The film is a true example of European co-production, involving the resources and talents of Georgia, Germany, France, Czech Republic, and Kazakhstan. The director uses captivating imagery and visuals to present a highly topical subject – the intense relationship between man and nature.

Stunningly set on the border between Georgia and the breakaway republic of Abhazia which is on a renowned geological fault-line, Ovashvili centres on a peasant farmer (Ilyas Salman) and his teenage daughter (Mariam Buturishvili) who build a shelter on an island which has sprung up after flooding.

The film which also received $25,000 (£14,600) in prize money,...

Those compiling their best of the year lists would do well to consult the roll-call of gong-winners handed out by an august band of international critics

Any perspicacious film festival-goer or festival-watcher will have noticed that one of the prizes awarded at most festivals, in addition to the Golden Palms, Golden Lions or Golden Leopards etc, is the Fipresci (Federation International de la Presse Cinematographic) – aka the international film critics' award. In principle, this should be the most prestigious and sought-after prize of all, because the juries are made up of professional film critics (usually five, each from a different country) who are paid to tell the public what is good or bad and why.

Unfortunately, the Fipresci prize does not carry with it any money but, in theory, it does help the film gain a distributor. However, on one occasion, I remember that a director, who had just won the Fipresci prize,...

The European Film Academy have nominated five films for the Discovery Award - which recognises a director’s first full length feature film. Previous winners include Bruno Dumot's La vie de Jésus (1997), Laurent Cantet's Human Resources (2000), Andrey Zvyagintsev's The Return (2003) and last year the award went to the very deserving Steve McQueen's Hunger. - The European Film Academy have nominated five films for the Discovery Award - which recognises a director’s first full length feature film. Previous winners include Bruno Dumot's La vie de Jésus (1997), Laurent Cantet's Human Resources (2000), Andrey Zvyagintsev's The Return (2003) and last year the award went to the very deserving Steve McQueen's Hunger. The favorite among this year's batch would be the just selected Israeli film from Scandar Copti & Yaron Shani. Ajami received a special mention at Cannes. Here are the five noms.: Ajami, Germany / Israel written...

At the Zurich Film Festival, the European Film Academy has announced this year’s nominations for the European Discovery Award, an award presented as part of the European Film Awards to a young and upcoming director for a first full-length feature film. All co-productions, the nominees are Scandar Copti & Yaron Shani’s “Ajami,” from Germany and Israel; George Ovashvili’s “Gagma Napiri” (The Other Bank), from Georgia and Kazakhstan; Peter Strickland’s “Katalin Varga,” …...

George Ovashvili's "The Other Bank" was awarded the grand jury's New Directors Showcase Award and Barbara Schroeder's "talhotblond" was the documentary grand jury winner at the 35th International Seattle Film Festival, which concluded Sunday.

The doc jury also awarded a special jury prize to Yoshio Harada's "Manhole Children."

The Golden Space Needle Audience Award for best film went to Scott Sanders' "Black Dynamite." First runner-up was Benoit Pilon's "The Necessities of Life," with runner-up awards also going to: second runner-up: Marc Webb's "(500) Days of Summer"; third (tie): Kevin Hamedani's "Zmd: Zombies of Mass Destruction" and Lucy Akhurst's "Morris: A Life with Bells On"; and fourth: Philipp Stolzl's "North Face."

Louie Psihoyos' "The Cove" took home the Golden Space Needle Award for best documentary.

Runners-up were: Sandy Cioffi's "Sweet Crude"; Sarah Kunstler and Emily Kunstler's "William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe"; James D. Stern...