Border Post

Sunday, June 10------The 23rd edition of FESTROIA: Festival Internacional de Cinema came to a dramatic close last evening as awards were announced in a dozen categories at the concluding ceremonies of the Festival in the Forum Luisa Todi in the coastal resort of Setubal, Portugal. BORDER POST, a wry political satire set in a small border post on the Yugoslav-Albanian border in 1987, won the Golden Dolphin as Best Film of the Festival. The film, written and directed by Rajko Grlic, also won a Silver Dolphin for its director as well as the FIPRESCI International Critics Prize. A co-production of Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Serbia, France and the UK, the film is represented for worldwide sales by French company Wide Management (www.widemanagement.com). The film's official website: www.karaulafilm.com.

After The WeddingAFTER THE WEDDING, the Oscar-nominated film from Danish director Susanne Bier, won the Silver Dolphin Special Jury Prize, as well as winning Best Actor honors for Rolf Laasgard, who plays the wealthy father of the bride. Fellow Danish director Peter Schonau Fog won the CICAE Catholic Film Jury prize for his film THE ART OF CRYING, a hard-hitting drama on child abuse that has made the rounds of international festivals in the past few months. The film also won a Special Mention in the First Works section. Best Actress honors were shared by Swedish actresses Helena Bergstrom and Maria Lundquist for their performances as recent divorcees in the film HEARTBREAK HOTEL.

Boy CultureWinner for Best Script was Ongjen Svilivic, the Croatian director of ARMIN. The Silver Dolphin for Best Cinematography was won by Raul Perez Ureta for the Cuban-Spanish co-production MADRIGAL. The Audience Award, chosen by Festival audiences, was awarded to THE OPTIMISTS by veteran Serbian director Goran Paskaljevic, who will have a career retrospective at New York's Museum of Modern Art later this year. The highly competitive First Works section saw a winner in the German girl gang drama PRINCESS, directed by Birgit Grosskopf. BOY CULTURE, a provocative comedy/drama about a gay male hustler who unexpectedly longs for love, won the City of Setubal Prize in the American Independents Competition. Winners in the Festival's Man And His Environment documentary section included CHERNOBYL: THE INVISIBLE THIEF by German director Christoph Boekel, with Special Mentions awarded to French documentarian Sylvain Rigollot's CLANDESTINO and Norwegian director Margreth Olin's LULLABY.

Following the Awards Ceremony, the Festival lauded veteran Czech director Jiri Menzel, a giant of the Czech New Wave of the 1960s, who vaulted into international fame with his Oscar-winning film CLOSELY WATCHED TRAINS (1968). In a forty year career, Menzel has been an inspiration to European directors and to humanist directors all over the world. His latest film I SERVED THE KING OF ENGLAND, set in a glamorous Prague hotel on the eve of World War II, was screened following the awarding of the Golden Dolphin Lifetime Career Achievement Award to the veteran director. The director attended the special screening in his honor and gave a short, modest speech thanking the audiences for remembering him, in a country far away from his native Czech Republic.

The Festival continued on Sunday to showcase some of its most celebrated titles, including a special encore screening of BORDER POST. The Festival ended with its Closing Night attraction, the Ibero premiere of the Sundance sleeper THE GOOD NIGHT, written and directed by Jake Paltrow, and starring his sister Gwyneth Paltrow, Penelope Cruz, Danny DeVito and Michael Gambon. In this multi-character quirky drama, Gary Shaller is at a crossroads in his life: his job is going nowhere, his wife, Dora, drives him crazy, and he passed his thirtieth birthday four years ago. Add to that his best friend Paul seems to become more successful every time he breathes. Gary is feeling depressed and dejected... until he meets Anna. She's beautiful and smart; she's sexy and funny. Best of all, she's crazy about Gary. Anna is the girl of Gary's dreams...literally. And that's the problem. Gary can only see Anna in his dream life, so he's got to find a way to carry on the most satisfying relationship of his life, in his dreams. His quest for lucid dreaming techniques introduces Gary to some crazy characters who ultimately give him a new perspective on life.

Sandy Mandelberger, Awards Watch Editor