The SUMMER edition of the festival presented a total of 111 films from 48 countries. There are 51 films planned with screenings at the Cinema House and at different open spaces. 88 films can be screened ONLINE from everywhere in Bulgaria till July 19 on online.siff.bg.
The Awards Ceremony took place at Platform A6 (National Palace of Culture) on the 6th of July 2020.
THE INTERNATIONAL JURY FOR FIRST AND SECOND FEATURE FILMS
Peter Webber (UK) – Director, Jury President
Jim Stark (USA) – Producer
Irmena Chichikova (Bulgaria) – Actress
Nicolás Celis (Mexico) – Producer
DECIDED
SOFIA CITY OF FILM GRAND PRIX AWARD for best film in the International Competition for first and second films, amounted to 7 000 Euro provided by the Sofia Municipality, went to ‘SISTER’ (Bulgaria-Qatar) by director Svetla Tsotsorkova and producers Svetoslav Ovtcharov and Svetla Tsotsorkova.
SPECIAL JURY AWARD went to ‘NOCTURNAL’ (UK) by director Nathalie Biancheri.
AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTOR went to Eva Cools for her film ‘CLEO’ (Belgium).
SPECIAL MENTION for best screenplay was awarded to Massoud Bakhshi for the film ‘YALDA, A NIGHT FOR FORGIVENESS’ (Iran-France-Germany-Switzerland-Luxembourg) by director Massoud Bakhshi.
SPECIAL MENTION for best production design was awarded to the late László Rajk for his work on the film ‘THOSE WHO REMAINED’ (Hungary) by director Barnabás Tóth.
The BEST BULGARIAN SHORT FILM AWARD, amounted of 9 500 Euro (1 500 euro cash prize and 8 000 euro in postproduction services), provided by Doli Media Studio went to ‘NINA’ (Bulgaria) by director Hristo Simeonov.
BEST BALKAN FILM AWARD, provided by Domaine Boyar, handed by Balkan jury president Mira Fornay (director, Slovakia) and members Benedikt Erlingsson (director, Iceland) and Simona Kostova (director, Germany-Bulgaria), went to ‘A TALE OF THREE SISTERS’ (Turkey-Germany-Netherlands-Greece) by director Emin Alper.
The Balkan Jury handed SPECIAL MENTION to the film ‘STITCHES’ (Serbia) by Miroslav Terzic.
BEST DOCUMENTARY AWARD handed by the international jury with president Vitaly Manski (director, Latvia) and members Andreas Horvath (director, Austria) and Svetoslav Draganov (director, Bulgaria), went to the film ‘THE CAVE’ (Syria-Denmark-Germany-USA-Qatar) by Feras Fayyad.
The Documentary Jury handed SPECIAL MENTION to the film ‘COLLECTIVE’ (Romania-Luxembourg) by Alexander Nanau.
THE AWARD FOR BEST BULGARIAN FEATURE FILM handed by jury of festival programmers Gaia Furrer (artistic director, Venice Days, Venice IFF), Stefan Laudin (director, Warsaw IFF) and Ahmed Shawky (artistic director, Cairo IFF), consisted of 3 000 euro cash prize provided by Bulsatcom, went to ‘CAT IN THE WALL’ (Bulgaria) by directors Mina Mileva and Vesela Kazakova.
THE FIPRESCI AWARD handed by jury members Petra Meterc (Slovenia), Héctor Llanos Martínez (Spain) and Rossen Spassov (Bulgaria) went to the film ‘THOSE WHO REMAINED’ (Hungary) by director Barnabás Tóth.
THE AWARD OF THE BULGARIAN GUILD OF FILM CRITICS for a film from the Balkan Competition went to ‘GOD EXISTS, HER NAME IS PETRUNIA’ (North Macedonia-Belgium-France-Croatia-Slovenia) by Teona Strugar Mitevska.
Sofia Film Festival AUTUMN is coming soon with more than 80 films!
Sofia International Film Festival is a part of the Calendar of Cultural Events of the Sofia Municipality for 2020.
THE INTERNATIONAL JURY FOR FIRST AND SECOND FEATURE FILMS
Peter Webber (UK) – Director, Jury President
Jim Stark (USA) – Producer
Irmena Chichikova (Bulgaria) – Actress
Nicolás Celis (Mexico) – Producer
DECIDED
SOFIA CITY OF FILM GRAND PRIX AWARD for best film in the International Competition for first and second films, amounted to 7 000 Euro provided by the Sofia Municipality, went to ‘SISTER’ (Bulgaria-Qatar) by director Svetla Tsotsorkova and producers Svetoslav Ovtcharov and Svetla Tsotsorkova.
SPECIAL JURY AWARD went to ‘NOCTURNAL’ (UK) by director Nathalie Biancheri.
AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTOR went to Eva Cools for her film ‘CLEO’ (Belgium).
SPECIAL MENTION for best screenplay was awarded to Massoud Bakhshi for the film ‘YALDA, A NIGHT FOR FORGIVENESS’ (Iran-France-Germany-Switzerland-Luxembourg) by director Massoud Bakhshi.
SPECIAL MENTION for best production design was awarded to the late László Rajk for his work on the film ‘THOSE WHO REMAINED’ (Hungary) by director Barnabás Tóth.
The BEST BULGARIAN SHORT FILM AWARD, amounted of 9 500 Euro (1 500 euro cash prize and 8 000 euro in postproduction services), provided by Doli Media Studio went to ‘NINA’ (Bulgaria) by director Hristo Simeonov.
BEST BALKAN FILM AWARD, provided by Domaine Boyar, handed by Balkan jury president Mira Fornay (director, Slovakia) and members Benedikt Erlingsson (director, Iceland) and Simona Kostova (director, Germany-Bulgaria), went to ‘A TALE OF THREE SISTERS’ (Turkey-Germany-Netherlands-Greece) by director Emin Alper.
The Balkan Jury handed SPECIAL MENTION to the film ‘STITCHES’ (Serbia) by Miroslav Terzic.
BEST DOCUMENTARY AWARD handed by the international jury with president Vitaly Manski (director, Latvia) and members Andreas Horvath (director, Austria) and Svetoslav Draganov (director, Bulgaria), went to the film ‘THE CAVE’ (Syria-Denmark-Germany-USA-Qatar) by Feras Fayyad.
The Documentary Jury handed SPECIAL MENTION to the film ‘COLLECTIVE’ (Romania-Luxembourg) by Alexander Nanau.
THE AWARD FOR BEST BULGARIAN FEATURE FILM handed by jury of festival programmers Gaia Furrer (artistic director, Venice Days, Venice IFF), Stefan Laudin (director, Warsaw IFF) and Ahmed Shawky (artistic director, Cairo IFF), consisted of 3 000 euro cash prize provided by Bulsatcom, went to ‘CAT IN THE WALL’ (Bulgaria) by directors Mina Mileva and Vesela Kazakova.
THE FIPRESCI AWARD handed by jury members Petra Meterc (Slovenia), Héctor Llanos Martínez (Spain) and Rossen Spassov (Bulgaria) went to the film ‘THOSE WHO REMAINED’ (Hungary) by director Barnabás Tóth.
THE AWARD OF THE BULGARIAN GUILD OF FILM CRITICS for a film from the Balkan Competition went to ‘GOD EXISTS, HER NAME IS PETRUNIA’ (North Macedonia-Belgium-France-Croatia-Slovenia) by Teona Strugar Mitevska.
Sofia Film Festival AUTUMN is coming soon with more than 80 films!
Sofia International Film Festival is a part of the Calendar of Cultural Events of the Sofia Municipality for 2020.