Dum Spiro Spero, directed by Pero Kvesić, produced by Factum, is the best film of 14th Liburnia Film Festival, according to the jury of this documentary film festival.
Festival jury, consisting of Tiha K. Gudac, Carolina Mancini, Dragan von Petrović, Marko Njegić and Zoran Medved, gave its most important award to Dum Spiro Spero because „it celebrates life by resembling life in its cyclicality, subjectivity, beauty, sadness and simple pleasures“ and dedicated the award to the protagonist, a „special character“, as they put it – dog Babl.
Audience award was given to The Thin Line by Nina Mimica and Paola Sangiovanni (Doclab, Altreforme, Kinematograf). By giving this film the average grade of 4,65, LFF's audience showed once again that it recognizes important topics and displays sensitivity to social injustice.
The festival will award both films with a prize of 7.000,00 Kn, and Restart with a formation of DCP.
The jury awarded a special mention to film A Two-way Mirror, produced by Factum, elaborating its decision by stating that it „mirrors both life and film as an intertwined mirror image in reflection of an introspective documentary essay“, adding that it is a really special film.
Author from Rijeka Igor Bezinović received an award for best regional film – Short Family Film (HRT) and got a direct entry to the workshop BDC Discoveries, with a 50% discount on the entry fee, courtesy of Balkan Documentary Center. „With a specific director approach, stylistically similar to earlier works of Karpa – Ačimović Godina and Srđan Karanović, Short Family Film deals with a serious topic of cause and effect of a crime in a way that is formally entertaining and credible“, states the explanation of the jury.
Professional awards were also handed out. Tomislav Žaja was named best director for his film Free (Gral Film) due to „skillful usage of cinematic tools in condensing an intimate tale of a great number of extraordinary characters and ethics that contributed to setting protagonists free from the stigma imposed by sciety“. Award includes author's participation in Ex Oriente Film workshop by Institute of Documentary Film from Prague, to which Žaja was invited with his next project.
Jan Klemsche was named best editor for Tourism! (Academy of Dramatic Arts, Kino Klub Split) for „great selected fragments that are knowingly and skillfully structured into an entertaining puzzle of tourist life, shown from the perspective of different characters, united by good rhythm and black humour.“
Vjeran Hrpka was awarded for best photography for A Two-way Mirror. Tje jury described his photography as „hypnotic magnetism that conveys the director's emotion in a splendid way“. Vesna Biljan Pušić and Ivan Zelić were awarded for best sound designers for the same film, for the „magical art work, almost unprecedented in recent Croatian cinematography“.
Festival's awards are original work by artist Saša Jantolek.
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14th LFF presented 32 recent Croatian documentaries, 22 of them in competition, in Opatija's locations – Summer stage and Villa Antonio. Educational and entertainment programs were held in Caffe bar Eugenian and Old School Pub. Opatija hosted this festival for the first time, and its 14th edition was closed with a concert by This Connection from Rijeka. New location brought along a richer program (Coffee with the Author and Off Program), larger number of foreign visitors and made Liburnia, once again, a documentary center of Croatia.
