Over one hundred films screened during the festival, with almost as many distinguished festival guests • Audience numbers exceed last year’s figures
In the beautiful surroundings of Fužine and the festival’s customarily informal atmosphere, with the traditional toast and awards ceremony, another edition of Cinehill has drawn to a successful close. Despite the cool weather of Gorski Kotar, this year’s edition attracted more visitors than the previous year.
After a week of patient viewing of titles in the official competitions – whose themes ranged from the hypocritical bureaucratisation of war and the uncertainties faced by younger generations in wealthy countries, to the importance of chosen families, maturity, and forgiveness – the festival juries carefully selected their winners. The awarded works confirmed a preference for formally and narratively layered treatments of difficult subjects, and for the skilful interweaving of politics with intimate everyday life.
The Main Competition jury awarded the Cinehill Propeller for best film to the intimate dramedy Flies by Mexican director Fernando Eimbcke. The jury noted that possessed of “a cinematic vision, combining simplicity, boldness, and profound humanity”, Eimbcke had transformed a story about the unexpected friendship between the embittered, solitary Olga and a nine-year-old boy into “a deeply universal reflection on loneliness, connection, compassion, and the acceptance of loss.”
“In the current trend of closing borders and expelling immigrants, this film shows what happens when we open our hearts to one another just a little”, said director Fernando Eimbcke in an emotional video message on the occasion of winning the main award.
The Special Mention in the Main Program went to the feature comedy 15 and the Half, the directorial debut of well-known Montenegrin actor Milivoje Obradović, praised for his “witty and intimate portrayal of an actor facing professional, existential, and personal crises”.
The CineCorto jury awarded the prize for best short film to L’avant-Poste 21 by Swiss director Camille Surdez, citing the film’s courageous, sensitive, and clear approach to the subject of abortion, “demanding an open and meaningful discussion”.
The CroCorto Prize for best Croatian short went to Remember That I Carry You by director Ana Predan, whose “minimalist yet precise direction builds filmic poetry around two lonely souls who forge communication through the sea and water”.
The FIPRESCI jury awarded their prize to the drama The Meltdown by Chilean director Manuela Martelli, highlighting her subtle yet powerful cinematic language in this “quiet, chamber-piece story about the multilayered relationship between mothers and daughters set against a backdrop of both social and individual corruption”.
“I am extremely happy that this award comes from Croatia, a country I fell in love with while making the film God Will Not Help”, said director Manuela Martelli in a video message.
The evening concluded with a screening of Mother, Teona Strugar Mitevska’s punk-spirited biography of Mother Teresa.
“When you make a film, there can be frustration and anger, but that didn’t happen with this project. We managed to make exactly the film we wanted – it was pure enjoyment and love”, said Strugar Mitevska at the close of another Cinehill edition.
Audiences will have the opportunity to see the award-winning and most acclaimed titles from this year’s festival on Sunday, when the bust of director Krešo Golik – born precisely in this picturesque Gorski Kotar town – will be unveiled on the Fužine promenade. A special screening will also present archival film footage from the history of Gorski Kotar and Kvarner.
This year’s edition offered over one hundred films and almost as many festival guests – directors, actors, producers, and artists – who took part in screenings, audience conversations, panels, and numerous side events over six festival days. Among them were Oscar-winning director Edward Berger and regional acting legend Zijah Sokolović, both recipients of honorary Cinehill awards.
Also in attendance were numerous filmmakers from the program and leading regional film figures including directors Goran Marković, Rajko Grlić, Teona Strugar Mitevska, Damjan Kozole, Igor Šeregi, and Vinko Brešan, with a particularly sizeable delegation from Montenegro, this year’s partner country.
Cinehill was co-organised with the Municipality of Fužine and held with the support of the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, the Kvarner Tourist Board, and the Croatian Audiovisual Centre.
