KARLOVY VARY – The 53rd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival came to an end with another spectacular ceremony where Robert Pattinson took home the President’s Award, Barry Levinson accreted his Outstanding Contribution to World Cinema honor and Rada Jude’s Romanian drama “I Do Not Care If We Go Down In History As Barbarians” took the top prize, the Grand Prix – Crystal Globe.
READ MORE: “I Do Not Care If We Go Down In History As Barbarians” [Review]
Pattinson, who was also on hand for a screening of his film “The Rover” at the fest, noted, “So many filmmakers have told me this festival was so much fun and if you really want to party this is the place to do it. That’s one way to get me to come, prizes and parties.”
On a more serious note, he thanked the festival for programming films that “don’t fit in the margins and are not just big studio movies.” Over the past few years, Pattinson has focused on less studio work starring in “Good Time,” “The Lost City of Z” and most recently, “Damsel.” He’s expected to be seen on the upcoming fall festival circuit with Clair Denis’ “High Life.”
Levinson had the unexpected honor of not only receiving a lifetime achievement award but also having his 1989 Best Picture winner, “Rain Man,” take the overall audience prize (and the festival may want to consider what that means in the context of all the other new films they programmed). In his own remarks, Levinson said he could never have believed a kid from Baltimore, Maryland would earn a “Contribution to World Cinema” in the Czech Republic.
The competition jury was lead by Mark Cousins who noted the winner of the Grand Prix was so impressive it could have been directed by Jean Luc-Godard or Orson Wells. Universally celebrated by critics, “Barbarians” director Jude seemed very humbled by the win and his producer, Ada Solomon, commented on the continuing struggle of filmmakers and artists in Russia and made a show of support for director Oleg Sentsov who is currently on a hunger strike protesting his 20-year sentence for unproven allegations by Valdimir Putin’s regime.
The complete rundown of this year’s winners are as follows:
GRAND PRIX – CRYSTAL GLOBE ($25,000 USD)
“I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians”
Directed by: Radu Jude
Romania, Czech Republic, France, Bulgaria, Germany, 2018
SPECIAL JURY PRIZE ($15,000 USD)
“Sueño Florianópolis”
Directed by: Ana Katz
Argentina, Brasil, France, 2018
BEST DIRECTOR AWARD
Olmo Omerzu for the film “Winter Flies”
Czech Republic, Slovenia, Poland, Slovakia, 2018
BEST ACTRESS AWARD
Mercedes Morán for her role in the film “Sueño Florianópolis”
Argentina, Brasil, France, 2018
BEST ACTOR AWARD
Moshe Folkenflik for his role in the film “Redemption”
Israel, 2018
SPECIAL JURY MENTION
“Jumpman”
Directed by: Ivan I. Tverdovskiy
Russia, Lithuania, Ireland, France, 2018
SPECIAL JURY MENTION
“History of Love”
Directed by: Sonja Prosenc
Slovenia, Italy, Norway, 2018
EAST OF THE WEST – COMPETITION
EAST OF THE WEST GRAND PRIX ($15,000 USD)
“Suleiman Mountain”
Directed by: Elizaveta Stishova
Kyrgyzstan, Russia, 2017
EAST OF THE WEST SPECIAL JURY PRIZE ($10, 000 USD)
“Blossom Valley”
Directed by: László Csuja
Hungary, 2018
DOCUMENTARY FILMS – COMPETITION
GRAND PRIX FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM ($5,000 USD)
“Putin’s Witnesses”
Directed by: Vitaly Mansky
Latvia, Switzerland, Czech Republic, 2018
DOCUMENTARY SPECIAL JURY PRIZE
“Walden”
Directed by: Daniel Zimmermann
Switzerland, Austria, 2018
PRÁVO AUDIENCE AWARD
“Rain Man”
Directed by: Barry Levinson
USA, 1988
CRYSTAL GLOBE FOR OUTSTANDING ARTISTIC CONTRIBUTION TO WORLD CINEMA
Tim Robbins, USA, Barry Levinson, USA
FESTIVAL PRESIDENT’S AWARD
Robert Pattinson, United Kingdom
FESTIVAL PRESIDENT’S AWARD FOR CONTRIBUTION TO CZECH CINEMATOGRAPHY
Jaromír Hanzlík, Czech Republic