Two honorary awards were bestowed upon German director Christian Petzold and Italian actress Alba Rohrwacher for their exceptional film careers, and a total of nine additional prizes were handed out on the pre-closing day of the Bolzano Film Festival Bozen (4-13 April). The international jury included Diagonale Film Festival director Dominik Kamalzadeh, Italian critic Fabio Frezzetti, Italian producer Nadia Trevisan, Swiss distributor-producer Pascal Trächslin, German director Eva Trobisch (who won the festival’s main prize in 2024 with her feature Ivo [+lire aussi :
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interview : Eva Trobisch et Adrian Cam…
fiche film]) and, finally, Barbara Weis from the IDM Film Commission South Tyrol.

The main Award for Best Film at the festival, sponsored by the autonomous region of South Tyrol and endowed with €7,000, was given to a feature that feels like “a poem in which nature reunites mankind” – Wind, Talk to Me [+lire aussi :
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bande-annonce
fiche film] by Serbian director Stefan Djordjevic, which is an homage to the director's mother, who passed away a few years ago. Next up was the Special Prize of the Jury, endowed with €3,000, which went to the love story Viet and Nam [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
fiche film] by Vietnamese director Tru'o'ng Minh Quý. The foundation of the South Tyrolean Sparkasse Bozen sponsored the Award for Best Artistic Performance, endowed with €5,000. The jury gave it to the black-and-white Italian-Filipino feature Where the Night Stands Still [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Liryc Dela Cruz from the Philippines. The Distribution Prize, worth €10,000, provided by the autonomous region of Trentino-South Tyrol, went to Our Time Will Come [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
fiche film] by Austrian filmmaker Ivette Löcker. This is a new prize that aims to support a film in its distribution beyond its festival run, particularly in Italy. Finally, a Special Mention went to My Boyfriend El Fascista by Italian director Matthias Lintner.

For the €2,000 Audience Award, the jury (ie, the viewers themselves) was particularly numerous for this edition, according to festival director Vincenzo Bugno. Since the accolade is sponsored by the city of Bolzano, it fell to the city's mayor to serve as its ambassador. The winner was the aforementioned My Boyfriend El Fascista by Matthias Lintner.

As for the “Dolomites UNESCO World Cultural Heritage” Special Prize, endowed with €1,000, it was given for the fifth time to a film from one of the regions forming the Dolomites cultural heritage area. The choice was made by a jury of four, and the prize had to go to a movie that embraces the universal values of UNESCO. The winning title was the documentary Karuara, la gente del rio by Stephanie Boyd and Miguel Araoz Cartagena, which tells of the struggles of indigenous people in Peru.

The Euregio Young Jury was composed of nine young people, who also had the chance to take part in a special film-criticism workshop. Their winner, receiving prize money of €1,000 and described as “original, artistic and rich in contrasts”, was Last Swim [+lire aussi :
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interview : Sasha Nathwani
fiche film] by UK-based director Sasha Nathwani. The director thanked the festival via video message: “The film is a celebration of youth; it seeks light in a moment of darkness. It means a lot to us that it made an impression on the audience.”

For the second year, MASO took place, which is a format composed of a series of workshops, which filmmakers from Europe can apply to participate in. A project in progress was awarded the PFX Prize for Best MASO Pitch, which is valued at €5,000 for post-production. It went to I'm Not Nearly Cool Yet by director Anastazja Naumenko and producer Maks Pilasiewicz.

A Special Prize sponsored by the IDM Film Commission South Tyrol, represented by its director, Birgit Oberkofler, was given to both a feature-length and a short film coming from the Euregio area. A jury of six, selected by Filmclub Bozen, decided on the winners. The feature-length winner, receiving prize money of €2,000, was Worüber man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man reden by Karl Prossliner, and the short film, in receipt of €1,000, was Moving Mountains by Andrea Costa.

Here is the full list of award winners:

Best Film
Wind, Talk to Me [+lire aussi :
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bande-annonce
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Special Prize of the Jury
Viet and Nam [+lire aussi :
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bande-annonce
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Award for Best Artistic Performance
Where the Night Stands Still [+lire aussi :
critique
fiche film] – Liryc Dela Cruz (Italy/Philippines)

Distribution Award
Our Time Will Come [+lire aussi :
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bande-annonce
fiche film] - Ivette Löcker (Austria)
Special Mention
My Boyfriend El Fascista - Matthias Lintner (Italy)

Audience Award
My Boyfriend El Fascista - Matthias Lintner

Dolomites UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Special Prize
Karuara, la gente del rio - Stephanie Boyd, Miguel Araoz Cartagena (Peru)

Young Jury Award for Best Euregio Region Film
Last Swim [+lire aussi :
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interview : Sasha Nathwani
fiche film] – Sasha Nathwani (UK)

IDM Film Commission Award for Best Feature-length Film from the Euregio Region
Worüber man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man reden – Karl Prossliner (Italy)

IDM Film Commission Award for Best Short from the Euregio Region
Moving Mountains – Andrea Costa (Italy)

PFX Prize for Best MASO Pitch
I'm Not Nearly Cool Yet - Anastazja Naumenko (Ukraine)

Honorary Awards for an Exceptional Career
Alba Rohrwacher
Christian Petzold