Jump to content

Motovun Film Festival

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Motovun Film Festival
LocationMotovun, Croatia
Founded1999
LanguageInternational
Websitehttp://www.motovunfilmfestival.com

The Motovun Film Festival is an annual film festival established in 1999 and held in the small town of Motovun, Croatia until 2023, when it moved to a new location, Petehovac in Gorski Kotar.[1] It usually takes place over five or six days in late July or early August.

Overview

[edit]
Festival logo

Motovun Film Festival is entirely dedicated to films made in small studios and independent film productions. Founded by film director Rajko Grlić and producer Boris T. Matić, it was first organized in the late 1990s to fill the gap in cinema repertoire as there were almost no non-Hollywood films in wide distribution in Croatia at the time. Every year, the festival program consists of around 70 titles from all over the world, from documentaries to feature films, short and feature-length films, from guerrilla-made films to co-productions.

Over time the festival has become widely popular, especially among young people both locally and abroad. Every year during the festival, a camp for visitors is organized next to the festival site. The festivalgoers' camp has become one of the hallmarks of the festival. In January 2007, the British newspaper The Guardian described the festival as "a cross between Glastonbury and Sundance."[2] It is often referred to as "a Woodstock of film festivals".[3]

The festival also grew in status on the festival circuit. From an event that was once considered a "backpacker's film festival," by 2007 it was recognized as one of the two most important film festivals held on the territory of the former Yugoslavia, along with the Sarajevo Film Festival.[4]

The 2011 festival, which was supposed to be its 13th edition, was re-numbered by organizers as the 14th, in order to skip the unlucky number 13.[5] The skipped year was maintained in all later festival editions, until 2021 (officially the 24th edition). For the 2022 festival, the last one held exclusively in Motovun, the skipped numbering was abandoned, so that it was officially designated 24th as well. And the 2023 edition - held in both Motovun and in Gorski Kotar, was officially designated as the "25th."

In 2023 it was announced that the festival would expand to another location, the mountain lodge settlement of Petehovac near Delnice in the mountainous region of Gorski Kotar, some 80 kilometers east of Motovun. That year the festival was held in both locations.[1] The screenings at Petehovac were branded "Cinehill," in reference to the informal nickname given to the original MFF event, as the "hill of films." In 2024 the festival, now called Cinehill, was entirely moved to Petehovac, and is no longer held at Motovun.

Awards

[edit]

The main award at the festival is called Propeler Motovuna (English: The Propeller of Motovun, inspired by the prominent wind turbines located near Motovun).

Other awards at the festival are the Motovun Online award for best short film, the odAdoA (From 'A' to 'A') award for best film in the regional competition (the name of the award is short for From Austria to Albania, roughly describing the region covered), and the film critics' FIPRESCI Award.

In 2008, the Motovun Maverick Award was introduced, given to notable filmmakers for lifetime achievement. Its first recipient was Ken Russell. In 2013, Mohsen Makhmalbaf and The Gardener were given the award.

Award winners

[edit]

Cinehill Propeller

[edit]

Known as Propeller of Motovun from 2000 to 2022, in reference to windmills dotting the festival's former location at Motovun, this is the main award of the festival, given to the best film screened in the main feature film program. Renamed Cinehill Propeller after the festival's rebranding in 2023 and move to its new location in the Gorski Kotar mountains in 2024.

Year International title Director Country
002000 (2nd) Billy Elliot Stephen Daldry  United Kingdom
002001 (3rd) Last Resort Paweł Pawlikowski  United Kingdom
002002 (4th) Bloody Sunday Paul Greengrass  United Kingdom
002003 (5th) Punch-Drunk Love Paul Thomas Anderson  United States
002004 (6th) Ae Fond Kiss… Ken Loach  United Kingdom
002005 (7th) The Death of Mr. Lazarescu Cristi Puiu  Romania
002006 (8th) Look Both Ways Sarah Watt  Australia
002007 (9th) Sweet Mud Dror Shaul  Israel
002008 (10th) Silent Light Carlos Reygadas  Mexico
002009 (11th) Fish Tank Andrea Arnold  United Kingdom
002010 (12th) October Daniel and Diego Vega Vidal  Peru
002011 (14th) Bullhead Michaël R. Roskam  Belgium
002012 (15th) The Delay Rodrigo Plá  Uruguay
002013 (16th) The Plague Neus Ballús  Spain
002014 (17th) The Tribe Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy  Ukraine
002015 (18th) The Wakhan Front Clément Cogitore  France
002016 (19th) Viva Paddy Breathnach  Ireland
002017 (20th) Western Valeska Grisebach  Germany
002018 (21st) Killing Jesus Laura Mora  Colombia
002019 (22nd) A White, White Day Hlynur Pálmason  Iceland
002020 (23rd) My Morning Laughter Marko Đorđević  Serbia
002021 (24th) Pleasure Ninja Thyberg  Sweden
002022 (24th) War Pony Riley Keough and Gina Gammell  United States
002023 (25th) Falcon Charlotte Le Bon  Canada
002024 (26th) When the Light Breaks Rúnar Rúnarsson  Iceland

FIPRESCI Prize

[edit]
Year International title Director Country
002001 (3rd) No Man's Land Danis Tanović  Bosnia and Herzegovina
002002 (4th) Grill Point Andreas Dresen  Germany
002003 (5th) Margarette's Feast Renato Falcão  Brazil
002004 (6th) The Five Obstructions Lars von Trier and Jørgen Leth  Denmark
002005 (7th) Day and Night Simon Staho  Sweden
002006 (8th) We Feed the World Erwin Wagenhofer  Austria
002007 (9th) Hallam Foe David Mackenzie  United Kingdom
002008 (10th) Blind Loves Juraj Lehotský  Slovakia
002009 (11th) Fish Tank Andrea Arnold  United Kingdom
002010 (12th) The Four Times Michelangelo Frammartino  Italy
002011 (14th) Martha Marcelino Islas Hernández  Mexico
002012 (15th) Play Ruben Östlund  Sweden
002013 (16th) The Daughter Thanos Anastopoulos  Greece
002014 (17th) Force Majeure Ruben Östlund  Sweden
002015 (18th) Magical Girl Carlos Vermut  Spain
002016 (19th) A Good Wife Mirjana Karanović  Serbia
002017 (20th) Western Valeska Grisebach  Germany
002018 (21st) Birds of Passage Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra  Colombia
002019 (22nd) God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya Teona Strugar Mitevska  Macedonia
002020 (23rd) My Morning Laughter Marko Đorđević  Serbia
002021 (24th) Factory to the Workers Srđan Kovačević  Croatia
002022 (24th) The Sacred Spirit Chema García Ibarra  Spain
002023 (25th) Blaga's Lessons Stephan Komandarev  Bulgaria
002024 (26th) When the Light Breaks Rúnar Rúnarsson  Iceland

Notable guests

[edit]

People who visited the festival include:

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Cinehill Motovun: Moving farewell & new beginning". www.motovunfilmfestival.com. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  2. ^ Bryan, Tim (6 January 2007). "Diaries at the ready..." The Guardian. London. Retrieved 8 March 2008.
  3. ^ "The Scent of Cinema: A Democratized Film Experience at Motovun | The Moving Arts Film Journal". www.themovingarts.com. Archived from the original on 6 August 2010.
  4. ^ "Modest Ambitions and Big Successes". Fipresci.org. 27 July 2007. Archived from the original on 28 February 2008. Retrieved 8 March 2008.
  5. ^ "Irska, Istra, 25. srpnja i umjesto 13. = 14. Motovun film festival". Moj-Film.hr (in Croatian). 10 March 2011. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  6. ^ a b Young, Deborah (6 August 2003). "Motovun moviegoers arrive in force". Variety. Retrieved 8 March 2008.
[edit]