Darko Bratina award ceremony
At the cross-border film festival Tribute to a Vision, on Thursday in the Slovenian National Theater Nova Gorica, we awarded the Darko Bratina award for the 24th time in a row. This year, it was awarded to the Bulgarian director, producer and screenwriter Stephan Komandarev for his in-depth film opus of documentaries and feature films, which in the past three decades marked not only Bulgarian but also European cinema with the recognizable narration of a critical contemporary thinker.
Komandarev was very honored to receive the award. Among other things, he said: "For me, this is a big and important award, as it is the first one I receive for my entire oeuvre. I think this is a moment when I can look at myself and question what I have done so far and chart a path for the future." He is glad that he had the opportunity to learn about a very special festival that takes place in two cities, although they look like one, and that during his interventions and masterclass he was able to meet a very intelligent audience. A particularly valuable moment for him was when he was able to present one of his films to young high school students who are the same age as his son.
We also announced the winning short films from the First Crossings section. The jury prize went to the film Electra, directed by Daria Kashcheeva, who, with an extremely creative and unpredictable narration, was able to present a very simple story in a way that is far from simple. A special mention goes to the film Sprouting by the Slovenian director Ivana Vogrinc Vidali, which gave us perhaps the most important message in these times, "that's enough, we've had enough of this," the jury wrote. The audience award went to the short film Miracasas, created by Raphaëlle Stolz in collaboration with Augusto Zanovello. Congratulations to all the winners!