The 39th INTERFILM and 16th KUKI Festival came to a close on Sunday, November 19, having welcomed more than 18,000 visitors and more than 500 accredited international guests from the film industry to the Berlin double competition and industry-targeted InterForum event.
During an intimate awards ceremony at the at the Volksbühne’s Roter Salon, INTERFILM awarded the festival’s Best Film top prize to the 2D animated short Eeva (Croatia/Estonia), by Lucija Mrzljak and Morten Tšinakov. The film about a woman who continues to suffer because of her husband, even after his death, received €6,000 in prize money from Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg.
Jury statement:
“A grieving lady gives us an inside look into her world in this whimsical film with lots of funny twists that make us giggle. The feathered creatures are a lovely red line throughout the short, keeping us glued to the screen from the beginning to the end. The filmmakers have succeeded in making this beautifully stylized 2D animated short on such a high level that we were happily convinced the Berlin – Brandenburg Short Award for the Best Film worth €6,000 cash, sponsored by Medienboard Brandenburg should go to Eeva by Lucija Mrzljak and Morten Tsinakov.”
Another festival favorite, Nienke Deutz’s meditation on childlessness The Miracle (Belgium/France/Netherlands), received the Oscar-qualifying Best Animation award.
Jury statement:
“Belonging and the search for one’s own happiness lie at the core of this beautifully crafted animation in which a woman‘s loneliness and deep yearning for a family are in high contrast to her perfect holiday surroundings. The film’s strength emanates from its meticulous and distinctive artistry seamlessly blending hand-drawn 2D animation with stop-motion techniques. For its loving character portrait, very unique animation style and sensitive storytelling, the award for best animation worth €3,000 cash, sponsored by SAE Institue goes to The Miracle by Nienke Deutz.”
See the full list of INTERFILM winners here.
At the for-kids KUKI .16 Young Short Film Festival Berlin, five prizes were awarded at the lively ceremony at Filmtheater am Friedrichshain.
The Best Short Film for Young Children award (€1,000 prize, sponsored by Ampelmann) went to the ESMA 3D student film Swing to the Moon (France), directed by Marie Bordessoule, Chloé Lauzu, Adriana Bouissié, Vincent Levrero, Nadine De Boer, Solenne Moreau and Elisa Drique. Already the winner of the Best Student Project Award at SIGGRAPH earlier this year, the CG project follows the adventures of a little spider, Témi, who tries by all means to reach the Moon.
Animation also featured in the Special Mentions selected by the KUKI jury, which included Seungbae Jeon’s Battery Mommy (S. Korea), Ainslie Henderson’s Shackle (Scotland) and Filip Diviak’s My Name Is Edgar and I Have a Cow (Czechia/Slovakia).
All the KUKI 2023 winning films can be found here.
INTERFILM Festival | KUKI Festival
