Greek film Mikrovioma wins Grand Prix at Short Film Festival
Ljubljana - The Grand Prix of the 8th annual Short Film Festival (FeKK) that closed the past weekend went to the Greek film Mikrovioma directed by Stavros Petropoulos. It is about the clash of two worlds - the people living on a Greek island and the scientists researching their long life.
The jury said the film "created such a classical cinema verite that enters the private life of people through a small door of something so intimate as their stool".
"Using a camera as a microscope we're invited to analyse and watch very closely the intricacies of Ikarians' long and healthy lives. The film witnesses the clash of two worlds - the inhabitants of a Greek island and the scientists who investigate their longevity but also all the frictions between young and older generations presented in such a subtle, warm and engaging way," the three-member jury said.
The FeKK SLO award went to Sutherland by Matjaž Jamnik and Gaja Naja Rojec "for an interesting portrayal of Christianity among the inhabitants of an African village that the authors framed into a painting that symbolizes their path".
"The concept and referentiality of the film and its honest, unconstrained and subtle realisation make this film uniquely complex and distinctive," the jury noted.
The FeKK SLO special mention went to Babičino Seksualno Življenje (Granny's Sexual Life) by Urška Djukić and Émilie Pigeard and Musical by Žiga Krajnc.
The jury picked Croatian film Dok Smo Bili Tu (While We Were Here) by Sunčice Fradelić for the FeKK BAL award, and Four Pills at Night by Leart Rama from Kosovo earned the FeKK BAL special mention.
More than 160 shorts from 35 countries were screened at various venues in the capital between Monday and Saturday last week.
The best of contemporary short-film production from the Balkan countries was showcased in the international competition programme FeKK BAL, while domestic production was shown in the competitive programme FeKK SLO, which has been selected from a record 170 entries this year.
Serbian director Želimir Žilnik was presented with a programme of shorts dubbed Political Lessons From West Germany, which had been considered lost until recently.