The biggest children and young people film festival in Europe,
Olympia International Film Festival has come to an end with an awards ceremony for its coming of age, 18th edition. As it does every year, the festival took place in the Peloponnesian city of Pyrgos, near to ancient Olympia.
"Today [...] when Mediterranean seas are becoming a cold watery grave for children and the elderly, for men and women and walls and fences are erected to prevent the passage of the desperate, [...] this festival becomes even more significant.", commented, among others, in his greeting message artistic director Dimitris Spyrou.
14+ by Andrey Zaytsev, Best Feature film award
This year΄s Competition section included 68 films (102 amounting the Tributes and Special Screenings) from 45 countries across the world, fiction, animation and documentaries. Alongside the films, dozens of film workshops, seminars, events were held, as well as the festival’s beloved younger sibling, the 15-year-old Camera Zizanio, with more than 100 selected audiovisual creations from Greece, Europe, and the rest of the world.
Fiction and Animation International Jury Awards
Best Feature film
14+ by Andrey Zaytsev (Russia, 2015)
For portraying in a delicate, sensitive and emotional way the power of first love.
Βest short fiction film
Milky Brother by Vahram Mkhitaryan (Poland/Armenia, 2014, 30΄)
For giving through cinema powerful insight to an archaic world, where the survival of every being is valued.
Βest animated short film
Of Shadows and Wings by Elice Meng & Eleonora Marinoni (Switzerland, 2015, 13΄)
A poetic and masterly crafted film that reflects the age-old conflict between uniformity and freedom.
Best feature film director
Flocking by Beata Gårdeler (Sweden, 2015)
The director was able to guide a diverse ensemble of characters building a truthful and realistic community.
Best feature film screenplay
Flocking by Beata Gårdeler (Sweden, 2015)
For dealing with a difficult topic in a brilliantly constructed manner.
Flocking by Beata Gårdeler, Best feature film director & Best feature film screenplay award
Βest young actor in a feature film
To Gleb Kalyuzhny for 14+ by Andrey Zaytsev
For bringing to life a delicate and identifiable character, which was powerful both in action and silent moments.
Βest young actress in a feature film
To Fatime Azemi for Flocking by Beata Gårdeler
For her impressive ability to bring across emotions of a character in crisis with excellent control and refined acting skills.
Special Mention for a feature film
The film gives in a cinematographic way, a universal story, where the young characters carry the hope of change.
Special Mention for a short film
Agg by Ståle Stein Berg (Norway, 2015, 11΄)
For dealing with a serious subject in a challenging and powerful cinematography.
Special Mention for an animated short film
The Elephant and the Bicycle by Olesya Shchukina (France/Belgium, 2014, 9΄)
For a cheerful, delicate and colourful story with basic truths, that every audience can relate to.
Fiction and Animation Children Jury Awards
Βest animated short film
The Present by Jacob Frey (Germany, 2014, 4΄)
Βest short fiction film
An Amertican Piano by Paul Leeming (Japan, 2014, 20΄)
Best Feature Film
Labirynthus by Douglas Boswell (Belgium/Netherlands, 2014)
Labirynthus by Douglas Boswell, Best Feature film award (Fiction and Animation Children Jury)
Kids and Docs Jury Awards
Best Feature Documentary
The Living Fire by Ostap Kostyu (Ukraine, 2014)
Best Short Documentary
To School by Soe Moe Aung (Myanmar, 2015, 15΄)
Special Mention for a feature documentary
Coming of Age by Teboho Edkins (Lesotho/South Africa/Germany, 2015)
Special Mention for a short documentary
Agri and the Mountain by Hasan Serin (Turkey, 2013. 14΄)
Kids and Docs Children Jury Awards
Best Short Documentary
Brave Bunch: Children of Warsaw Uprising by Tomasz Stankiewicz (Poland, 2015, 30΄)
Best Feature Documentary
No Candies from Heaven by Vangelis Kalambakas (Greece, 2014)
Hellenic Parliament Human Values Award
Blanka by Kohki Hasei (Italy/Japan/Philippines, 2015)
Centre International du Film pour l’ Enfance et la Jeunesse (CIFEJ) Award
Birds of Passage by Olivier Ringer (Belgium/France, 2015)
European Children’s Film Association (ECFA) Award
Seven Ravens by Alice Nellis (Slovakia/Czech Republic, 2015)
Greek Film Clubs’ Association Award & Hellenic National Committee for UNICEF Award
Enclave by Goran Radovanovic (Serbia, 2014)