The jury picked Cvitkovic's third feature film because of what they called an unexpected experience of pure film. "This is a film that you might like or you might not like, but nobody can says that it is an unfinished piece or that it violates any film rules," the jury wrote.

Meanwhile, Nika Rakovec earned the award for the best female performance and Jure Henigman for the best male performance, both for appearances in Nejc Gazvoda's debut "Izlet" (Outing), which was picked as the best film by Slovenian film critics.

The Vesna award for the best short film went to Miha Mazzini for his film "Obisk" (Visit), and the award for the best screenplay to writer and director Gazvoda for "Izlet".

"Arheo" also bagged the award for best photography, which was provided by Jure Cernec, while "Izlet" clinched two more Vesnas, for best music score and for editing.

Director Metod Pevec won in the documentary films section, convincing the jury with his film about Slovenian women who left for Egypt in the late 19th and early 20th century "Aleksandrinke" (Alexandrinians).

A total of 67 films were screened in Portoroz in the past three days, 53 of which were in the running for awards.

The Metod Badjura Award for lifetime achievement in film was already conferred at the outset of the festival. It went to Ljubo Struna, a 81-year old filmmaker who dedicated his whole life to film.