Zlin Film Festival Award Winners

The 51st International Film Festival for Children and Youth Zlin, one of the oldest and most prestigious devoted to films for the youth market, announced its winners on Saturday evening at a gala awards ceremony at ultramodern Congress Centre. A total number of 76 competitive films were judged by seven juries and 15 awards were handed out. The awards ceremony was broadcast live on Czech television station ČT 1.

Two Scandinavian films won top prizes in their category, with a local Czech film winning an animation prize. Winning the Golden Slipper Award: Best Feature Film for Children was the Norwegian film THE LIVERPOOL GOALIE. The film is the feature film debut of director Arild Andresen, a former advertising film director who has moved into short films in the past decade. THE LIVERPOOL GOALIE is a warm comedy, in which both girls and boys play football, worship their idols, and are frustrated by complicated friendships, young love, anxious mothers and overambitious football coaches. At the heart of the events, we find twelve year old Jo, who tries to avoid potential girlfriends, mothers and football coaches, as he is hunting desperately for a rare football card which he believes will solve all his problems.

 Taking The Golden Slipper Award: Best Feature Film For Youth was the Danish film HOLD ME TIGHT, the feature film debut of director and screenwriter Kaspar Munk. He is a graduate of the National Film School and studied Film Studies at the University of Copenhagen. Munk has made nearly a dozen short films that have been seen at major film festivals around the world. HOLD ME TIGHT is his feature-length debut. The skillful film explores teenage peer pressure and taking responsibility for one's own life. The story revolves around Sara, Mikkel, Hassan and Louise, four teenagers, who are searching for their own identity and an anchor in their lives. One ill-fated day in the classroom a misunderstanding is thrown out of proportion and creates a wave of chaos. Suddenly they are the guilty ones and the victims of a game that has got out of hand. 

The Czech animated film LARGHETTO won the Golden Slipper as Best Animated Film. The 4 minute film about a pianist and a musically gifted flea inspired by the music of the famous composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was directed by the veteran animator Jaroslav Nykl. The director, aged 63, is the artist, animator, cameraman and director on all his films. He is inspired by the work of Jiří Trnka and has been working with cartoon film with success for the past 40 years. He worked for many years in Prague's Krátký Film company, where he has created such celebrated film as A WET TALE (2003) and GRAY STORY (2011).

The Europe Award - The Czech Minister of Culture Prize for Best European Debut was given to the French film LOVE LIKE POISON by writer/director Katell Quillévéré. She graduated in film and philosophy from the University of Paris, where she organized the first three years of the European Medium-Length Film Meetings. She has directed a number of impressive short films but makes her feature debut with LOVE LIKE POISON. In the film, a young teenage girl comes home from her Catholic boarding school for the holidays and discovers her father has left. Her mother is devastated and confined to the company of the local priest, who is also a childhood friend. The despondent girl clings to her beloved grandfather while also growing close to Pierre, a free-spirited teenager who cares little about God. Anna is preparing for her confirmation, but her budding desire for Pierre shakes her faith. She longs to give herself over, body and soul... but doesn't know if it is to God, or something else. The provocative film had its world premiere at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.

In all, this 51st edition of the Zlin Film Festival presented 244 films during 431 screenings. The screenings took place at 9 locations in Zlín and 4 other cinemas in the  Czech partner cities of Kroměříž, Otrokovice, Vyškov and Mladá Boleslav. The films shown at the 51st ZFF represented 44 countries from all continents.  The supporting program consisted of nearly 120 events, among which were concerts, a talk show, exhibitions, interactive events for children and workshops. Other highlights were daily outdoor screenings of recent film hits, a survey of new Hungarian films and a classic and contemporary review of the best Italian films of the past 70 years. For a complete list of the winners, visit: www.zlinfest.cz/en

Sandy Mandelberger, Zlin Festival Dailies Editor