Vilnius International Film Festival
The Vilnius International Film Festival (VIFF) Kino pavasaris is a film festival held annually in March in Vilnius, Lithuania since 1995, and is the largest film festival in the nation in number of films and audience. It is one of the most anticipated annual cultural events in Lithuania.
Location | Vilnius, Lithuania |
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Founded | 1995 |
Language | Lithuanian & English |
Website | http://www.kinopavasaris.lt/en/ |
Vilnius International Film Festival Kino Pavasaris is the biggest and most important cinema event in Lithuania. Over more than 20 years, the festival has become a highly attended cultural phenomenon. In 2017, it attracted 114 250 members of audience in 5 Lithuanian cities. This year, Vilnius IFF will take place in 11 cities over two weeks.
The festival's main venue is Forum Cinemas Vingis, with additional screenings taking place at the local art film theatre SKALVIJA, cinema boutique "Pasaka" and at the shopping mall "Akropolis" at "Forum Cinemas Akropolis". Some screenings are shown in the second largest city of Lithuania - Kaunas at local "Forum Cinemas" centre. And from 2018 Vilnius IFF took place in 11 cities over two weeks.
History
The festival was founded in 1995 at the cinema Lietuva.[1] Festival director Vida Ramaškienė.
After the 2002 festival the venue Lietuva was sold to private investors. As a result, the festival did not happen in 2003.
In 2004 the festival got the first donation from the European Commission. Festival's programme becomes more independent and Edvinas Pukšta with Jurga Stakėnaitė started making festival's film programme.
In 2006 the festival changed its location to Forum Cinemas Vingis in Naujamiestis.
In 2018, Vilnius IFF presented 112 feature and 56 short films, including 12 Lithuanian premieres. Like always, the festival has selected strong debuts and works from masters of film. The large programme has been divided into 5 categories: Discoveries, Festivals' Favourites, Masters, Critics' Choice, and Competition of European Debuts.
Programmes
Since 2009, the festival's competition programmes have become our phenomenal calling card for international film industry professionals, and a great educational tool for festivalgoers. This year, films from debuting European directors will take part in the Competition of European Debuts.
Vilnius International Film Festival is organised in various sections:
Competition programmes:
- New Europe – New Names (since 2009), the films are assessed by an international jury of cinema industry professionals: actors, directors, programme directors, cinematographers and producers. The jury selects the best film of the festival and awards it two special prizes.
- Baltic Gaze (since 2014), the idea of this competition programme is to satisfy growing interest of Baltic region cinematography. The films are assessed by the international jury of the cinema industry professionals. The jury will select the best film of this programme and award it with solid monetary prize.
Other programmes:
- Short films. Competition
- Discoveries
- Festivals' favourites
- Masters
- Critics' choice
- VIASAT comedies
- Documentaries
- Retrospective, each year a different director or/and a topic is selected.
- American Independents
- New Russian Cinema
- Culinary films
- Films for Family
- Lithuanian films. Premiers
- Lithuanian films
- Lithuanians Abroad
- Short films
2018 Vilnius IFF will also be the first Lithuanian festival to welcome members of the prestigious FIPRESCI association, who will award one director from the Baltic region their prize. The FIPRESCI Prize is significant proof of the festival's quality being recognized on an international level.
Industry event "Meeting Point - Vilnius"
International film industry professionals meet in Vilnius to discuss hot topics of today's and tomorrow's audiovisual world. The highlight of the industry event is the presentation of Lithuanian and Baltic film industry.
Awards at Vilnius International Film Festival
The Audience Award
The oldest and one of the most important award of VIFF.
- 2004: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring, directed by Kim Ki-duk
South Korea - 2005: 3-Iron (Bin-jip), directed by Kim Ki-duk
South Korea - 2006: The Method, directed by Marcelo Piñeyro
Argentina - 2007: The Lives of Others, directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Germany - 2008: 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days, directed by Cristian Mungiu
Romania - 2009: Camino, directed by Javier Fesser
Spain - 2010: Departures, directed by Yōjirō Takita
Japan - 2011: Incendies, directed by Denis Villeneuve
Canada - 2012: The Intouchables, directed by Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano
France - 2013: Searching for Sugar Man, directed by Malik Bendjelloul
Sweden - 2014: Omar, directed by Hany Abu-Assad
Palestine - 2015: Mommy, directed by Xavier Dolan
Canada - 2016: Truman, directed by Cesc Gay
Spain - 2017: Perfect Strangers, directed by Paolo Genovese
Italy - 2018: Loving Vincent, directed by Dorota Kobiela
Poland and Hugh Welchman United Kingdom - 2019: Capernaum, directed by Nadine Labaki
Lebanon
The Audience Award (Lithuanian film)
Introduced in 2011.
- 2011: Book smuggler, directed by Jonas Trukanas
- 2012: The Last Day of the Honeymoon, directed by Rokas Eltermanas
- 2013: The Swimmer, directed by Gabrielė Urbonaitė
- 2014: The Invisible Front, directed by Vincas Sruoginis and Jonas Ohman
- 2015: Life Is Sacred, directed by Andreas Dalsgaard, Nicolas Servide and Vivana Gomez
- 2016: Junction, directed by Nathan Jurevicius
- 2017: Woman and the Glacier, directed by Andrius Stonys
- 2018: 100 Years Together, directed by Edita Kabaraitė
- 2019: Summer Survivors, directed by Marija Kavtaradzė
The Audience Award (Short film)
Introduced in 2013.
- 2013: Buzkashi Boys, directed by Sam French
United States - 2014: Kush, directed by Shubhashish Bhutiani
India - 2015: - no award
- 2016: Otto, directed by Marieke Blaauw
Netherlands, Joris Oprins Netherlands, Job Roggeveen Netherlands - 2017: Running Lights, directed by Gediminas Šiaulys
Lithuania - 2018: Mother, directed by Rodrigo Sorogoyen
Spain - 2019: Family Unit, directed by Titas Laucius
Lithuania
Short Film Competition
Best short film, selected by a jury from short competition programme. Introduced in 2012.
- 2012: Beast (Csicka), directed by Attila Till
Hungary - 2013: The Whistle (Gwizdek), directed by Grzegorz Zariczny
Poland - 2014: Pandas, directed by Matus Vizar
Slovakia - 2015: Symphony No. 42, directed by Réka Bucsi
Hungary - 2016: Fear, directed by Michal Blaško
Slovakia - 2017: Close Ties, directed by Zofia Kowalewska
Poland - 2018: By The Pool, directed by Laurynas Bareiša
Lithuania - 2019: In Between, directed by Samir Karahoda
Kosovo
European Debut Competition
Introduced in 2018
Jury
- 2018: Homayoun Ershadi, Audrius Stonys, Dagnė Vildžiūnaitė, Elad Samorzik, Kathleen Mclnnis
- 2019: Cosima Finkbeiner, Eglė Vertelytė, Marcin Pienkowski, Mark Peranson, Takeo Hisamatsu
Best Actress
Best Director
- 2018: Bertrand Mandico
France, film The Wild Boys - 2019: Zsófia Szilágyi
Hungary, film One Day
Best Actor
- 2018: Elliott Crosset Hove
Denmark, film Winter Brothers - 2019: Paulius Markevičius
Lithuania, film Summer Survivors
Best Film
- 2018: Winter Brothers, directed by Hlynur Pálmason
Denmark - 2019: Ray & Liz, directed by Richard Billingham
United Kingdom
CINEUROPE Prize
- 2019: Animus Animalis (A Story About People, Animals And Things), directed by Aistė Žegulytė
Lithuania
Retired Awards
Competition programme "New Europe – New Names"
Introduced 2009 - 2018 Retired The main awards at Vilnius International Film Festival. Introduced in 2009. Chosen by the international jury of the cinema industry professionals: actors, directors, programme directors, cinematographers and producers. The jury will select the best film of the festival and award it with two special prizes.
Best Film
- 2009: The World Is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner, directed by Stefan Kitanov
Bulgaria - 2010: Eastern Plays, directed by Kamen Kalev
Bulgaria - 2011: Outbound (Periferic), directed by Bogdan George Apetri
Romania - 2012: Courage, directed by Grzegorz Zgliński
Poland - 2013: Loving (Miłość), directed by Slawomir Fabicki
Poland - 2014: Japanese Dog, directed by Tudor Cristian Jurgiu
Romania - 2015: Koza, directed by Ivan Ostrochovský
Slovakia - 2016 >1: I, Olga Hepnarová, directed by Petr Kazda
Czech Republic and Tomáš Weinreb Czech Republic - 2016 >2: Thirst, directed by Svetla Tsotsorkova
Bulgaria - 2017: The Last Family, directed by Ostatnia Rodzina
Poland
Best Director Introduced 2009 - 2018 Retired
- 2009: Javor Gardev
Bulgaria - 2010: - no award
- 2011: - no award
- 2012: Adrian Sitaru
Romania, film Best Intentions - 2013: Mira Fornay
Slovakia, film My Dog Killer, - 2014: Levan Koguashvili
Georgia, film Blind Dates (Brma paemnebi) - 2015: Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy
Ukraine, film The Tribe - 2016: Agnieszka Smoczyńska
Poland, film The Lure - 2017: Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov
Bulgaria, film Glory,
Best Actors Introduced 2009 - 2018 Retired
- 2009: Miki Manojlovic
Serbia, film The World Is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner - 2010: Vlad Ivanov
Romania, film Police, Adjective - 2011: Bartu Kucukcaglayan
Turkey, film Majority - 2012 >1: Anjela Nedyalkova
Bulgaria, film Avé - 2012 >2: Ada Condeescu
Romania, film Loverboy - 2012 >3: Isidora Simijonovic
Serbia, film Clip - 2013: Dan Chiorean
Romania, film Rocker - 2014: Actor: Igor Samobor
Slovakia, film Class Enemy. Actress: Michaela Bendulova Slovakia, film Miracle - 2015: Actor: Márton Kristóf
Hungary, film Afterlife. Actress: Margita Gosheva Bulgaria, film The Lesson - 2016: Actor: Uliks Fehmiu
Serbia, film Our Everyday Life. Actress: Monika Naydenova Bulgaria, film Thirst - 2017: Actor: Marius Repšys
Lithuania, film The Saint. Actress: Mia Petričević Croatia, film Quit Staring at My Plate
CICAE jury film award Introduced 2009 - 2018 Retired
- 2009: - no award
- 2010: Eastern Plays, directed by Kamen Kalev
Bulgaria - 2011: On the Path, directed by Jasmila Žbanić
Bosnia and Herzegovina - 2012: director Adrian Sitaru
Romania, film Best Intentions - 2013: Keep Smiling (Gaigimet), directed by Rusudan Chkonia
- 2014: director Rok Biček
Czech Republic, film Class Enemy - 2015: Ivan Ostrochovský
Slovakia, film Koza - 2016: Mirjana Karanović
Serbia, film A Good Wife - 2017: film Glory
Bulgaria
Special award
- 2010: Protector, directed by Marek Najbrt
Czech Republic (for creative excellence) - 2011: The House, directed by Zuzana Liová
Slovakia
Competition programme "Baltic Gaze"
Introduced 2014 - 2018 Retired
Best Film
- 2014: The Hope Factory, directed by Natalia Meshaninova
Russia - 2015: Victoria, directed by Sebastian Schipper
Germany - 2016: Under the Sun, directed by Vitaly Mansky
Ukraine - 2017: Woman and the Glacier, directed by Andrius Stonys
Lithuania
Best Director
- 2014: Paweł Pawlikowski
Poland, film Ida - 2015: Joshua Oppenheimer
United States, film The Look of Silence - 2016: Mantas Kvedaravičius
Lithuania, film Mariupolis - 2017: Sergei Loznitsa
Germany, film Austerlitz
Best Actor
- 2014: Lauri Lagle
Estonia, film Free Range - 2015: Janusz Gajos
Poland, film Body - 2016: Oleg Maximov
Russia, film Don Juan - 2017: Petr Skvortsov
Russia, film The Student
Best Actress
- 2014: Alexandra Finder
Germany, film The Police Officer's Wife - 2015: Bianca Kronlöf
Sweden- Finland, film Underdog (Svenskjävel) - 2016: Trine Dyrholm
Denmark, film The Commune - 2017: Lene Cecilia Sparrok
Norway, film Sami Blood
Special mention
- 2014: - no mention
- 2015: Rocks in My Pockets directed by Signe Baumane
Latvia - 2016: Granny's Dancing on the Table directed by Hanna Sköld
Sweden - 2017: - no mention
Best Lithuanian Actress
Introduced by L'oreal Paris in 2007 as "Lithuanian star", discontinued after 2010. Revived in 2012 as "Best Lithuanian Actress" with new sponsor Bourjois.
- 2007: Nelė Savičenko
- 2008: Larisa Kalpokaitė
- 2009: Gabija Ryškuvienė
- 2010: Edita Užaitė
- 2011: - no award
- 2012: Toma Vaškevičiūtė
- 2013: Valda Bičkutė
- 2014: Jurgita Jurkutė
- 2015: Aistė Diržiūtė
- 2016: Viktorija Kuodytė
Best Lithuanian Actor
Introduced in 2014.
- 2014: Giedrius Savickas
- 2015: Marius Repšys
- 2016: Juozas Budraitis
Lithuanian debut
Introduced in 2010.
- 2010: Lernavan, directed by Marat Sargsyan
- 2011: Barzakh, directed by Mantas Kvedaravičius
- 2012: A Place We Call Home, directed by Albina Griniūtė
- 2013: The Bomb, directed by Robertas Nevecka
- 2014: The Etude, directed by Austėja Urbaitė
- 2015: Fellow Travelers (Pakeliaiviai), directed by Linas Mikuta
- 2016 - no award
Special award. Since 2013 award of Saulius Macaitis
- 2012: Infinite Minutes (Vegtelen percek), directed by Cecilia Felméri
Hungary - 2013: No, directed by Pablo Larraín
Chile - 2014: Norte, the End of History, directed by Lav Diaz
Philippines - 2015: Timbuktu, directed by Abderrahmane Sissako
Mauritania - 2016: The Pearl Button, directed by Patricio Guzmán
Chile
Special award for best film translations
- 2014: Ieva Mažeikaitė and Goda Lūčiūnienė
- 2015: Andrius Patiomkinas
References
- "Festivalio "Kino pavasaris" 20 metų istorija". 15min. March 11, 2015. Retrieved October 29, 2017.