Motovun Film Festival, founded in 1999, is located in Motovun, a small but beautiful town in Istria - the region of Croatia. This is a mediaeval, colorful little town settled on its specific position and ambience. The setting for the Festival, by it’s character informal and layback atmosphere, contents additional programs and workshops based on the streets and squares of a beautiful fortified medieval town that basically dominates the green valley of the river Mirna.

Motovun Film Festival is a favorite meeting place for students and artists and is a 5 days movie marathon of 80 short and features. The festival attracts a huge audience - a thousands of people travel to Motovun each year to be a part of it. This festival is entirely dedicated to films made in small cinematography and independent productions, innovation, ideas, powerful stories... Basically Motovun Film Festival is a five-day film marathon in which film screenings alternate all day to an evening outdoor screenings. Festival program consists of around 70 titles from all over the world, from documentaries to feature films, shorts to long forms, selected by criteria of an open-minded atmosphere. The festival program included the most successful independent films, with the intention to exhibit global film industry as well. This year a special a-side program was given to a Japanese horror phenom.


AWARDS

Motovun Film Festival has an international and competitive character, with organization and selection that is oriented on the individual story, extremely popular among film lovers, actors and young audience. The festival itself focus on a small cinematography films and international independent production, including Croatian film. Director of the festival is Olinka Vistica and art director Rajko Grlic, guests of the festival were: Istvan Szabo, David Mackenzie, Jamie Bell and Stephen Daldry. The main Award Motovun Propeler to a Best Film of main program was selected by the official jury of the festival: Misha Radivojevic (Serbian film director), Kujim Casku and Ognjen Svilicic (Croatian film director). Motovun Film Festival 2007 presented another ex Yugoslavian region now part of Serbia, Vojvodina, with the guest of honor, Serbian actress Mira Banjac.

The competition part of the festival contains 4 awards: PROPELER MOTOVUN – Main Award for The Best Film From A DO A – Award for The Best Film produced in the region Albania till Austria, FIPRESCI – International Award Jury of film critics and program MOTOVUN ON LINE as the part of festival that presents international selection of short films. An international jury awarded Israeli director Dror Shaul's conflicted portrait in "Sweet Mud" the main prize. A separate jury gave the best regional to a Bulgarian Andrey Paounov's witty doc "The Mosquito Problem and Other Stories." Mahamet-Saleh Haroun won the Amnesty International Award with "Dry Season," while FIPRESCI critics voted for David Mackenzie's Scottish film "Hallam Foe." While Croatian youth voted for a most popular feature "Sing Love Songs" by Croatian Goran Kulenovic.

Well known film screenings included “Red Road” directed by Andrea Arnold, Danish-British Co-production, Cannes Jury Award, Serbian “FILM NOIR”, directed by D. Jud Jones and Risto Topaloski, Scottish film *HALLAM FOE”, directed by David Mackenzie awarded with Berlin’s Silver Bear. Spanish Mexico Co-production (EL LABERINTO DEL FAUNO), by Guillermo del Toro, “MAMA I TATA”, directed by Faruk Lončarević film awarded on Sarajevo Film Festival last year etc…



by Radmila Djurica