After a week of tirelessly viewing the titles in the official competitions \u2013 whose themes ranged from the hypocritical bureaucratisation of war and the uncertainties faced by millennials in wealthy countries, to the importance of chosen families, maturity, and forgiveness \u2013 Cinehill juries carefully selected this year\u2019s award recipients. \nThe winning titles bear witness to a clear preference for formally and narratively layered treatments of difficult subjects, and for the intelligent weaving of politics into stories drawn from intimate everyday life.<\/p>\n\n
The Main Competition jury consisted of award-winning Palestinian film producer Baher Agbariya<\/strong>, the driving force behind the drama The Sea<\/em>; Serbian producer Sne\u017eana van Houwelingen<\/strong>; Montenegrin director Marija Perovi\u0107<\/strong>; and Igor \u0160eregi<\/strong>, the Croatian director of this year\u2019s record-breaking hit The Wedding.<\/em> The CineCorto jury was comprised of Italian director Aldo Iuliano<\/strong>, Slovenian screenwriter and director Damjan Kozole<\/strong>, and Montenegrin screenwriter Ana Vujadinovi\u0107 Tomi\u0107<\/strong>. Finally, the International Federation of Film Critics, FIPRESCI, was represented at this year\u2019s festival by Italian film critic Gabriele Barrera<\/strong>, Croatian film theorist and critic Petra Belc<\/strong> Krnjai\u0107<\/strong>, and Ukrainian film critic Nataliia Serebrjakova<\/strong>. After a week of tirelessly viewing the titles in the official competitions \u2013 whose themes ranged from the hypocritical bureaucratisation of war and the uncertainties faced by millennials in wealthy countries, to the importance of chosen families, maturity, and forgiveness \u2013 Cinehill juries carefully selected this year\u2019s award recipients.
The winning titles bear witness […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":67651,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_view_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[712,40,773],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cinehill-2026","category-news","category-press"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
They awarded the Cinehill Propeller<\/strong> for best film in the Main Competition to the intimate dramedy Flies<\/em><\/strong> by Mexican director Fernando Eimbcke<\/strong>. The jury cited Eimbcke\u2019s \u201cexceptional cinematic vision, combining simplicity, boldness, and profound humanity\u201d <\/em>which transforms a story about the unexpected friendship between the embittered, solitary Olga and the nine-year-old son of her lodger into \u201ca deeply universal reflection on loneliness, connection, compassion, and the acceptance of loss\u201d.<\/em>
The Special Mention went to the comedy 15 and the half<\/em><\/strong>, the directorial debut of well-known Montenegrin actor Milivoje Obradovi\u0107<\/strong>, with the jury highlighting Obradovi\u0107\u2019s \u201cwitty and intimate portrayal of an actor facing professional, existential, and personal crises\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n
After viewing all titles in our CineCorto and CroCorto short film programs, they presented the Corto Award for best international short to L’avant-Poste 21<\/em><\/strong> by Swiss director Camille Surdez<\/strong>. Their statement noted that the film \u201cconfronts issues of abortion with courage, sensitivity, and clarity, demanding an open and meaningful discussion\u201d<\/em>.
The CroCorto Award for best Croatian short film went to Remember That I Carry You<\/em><\/strong> by director Ana Predan<\/strong>, whose \u201cminimalist yet precise direction builds filmic poetry around two lonely souls who forge communication through the sea and water\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n
Their award went to the drama The Meltdown<\/em><\/strong> by Chilean director Manuela Martelli<\/strong>, citing its \u201csubtle yet powerful cinematic language\u201d, that weaves \u201ca chamber-piece story about the multilayered relationship between mothers and daughters, set against a backdrop of both social and individual corruption\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"