PHOTO: Last Night of the Libertas Film Festival

Dubrovnik’s Libertas Film Festival ended last night with the assigning of the Awards. The ceremony was accompanied by the projection of the Austrian-German movie “Free Rainer” and a cocktail in the Sponza city palace with the performance of the Austrian-Croatian jazz duo Klaus Paier and Asja Vlasic. 

From June 27 to July 2, the fourth edition of the Libertas Film Festival offered the Croatian and foreign public many independent film titles from all around the world. The films were divided in categories: action, documentary and short films. Most of the films projected during the Festival had their Croatia, regional, European, and even world premiere! After Portugal and Norway, whose national cinematography were presented throughout two years, this year the programme Focus Libertas presented the cinematography of exotic Cuba!

Stjepan Hundic, director of the programme Libertas FF, and his collaborator Vanja Vascarac allowed a series of interesting movies, some of which can only be seen in prestigious film festivals such as Cannes, Sundance, Berlin, Montreal and Shanghai. Horror film lovers enjoyed in the films showed in the programme “Midnight Madness”, and as a present to the audience and the citizens of Dubrovnik, Libertas and HBO organised a few free movie projections!

An international jury composed by Steve Rothenberg – president of the film distribution company  Lionsgate Entertainment, Grégory Valens – vice president of the international film critics association FIPRESCI  and Croatian film, television and theatre actress, Kristina Krepela, chose the winners of the fourth Libertas Film Festival in the action and documentary movies categories. The winner of the short film category was chosen by the visitors of T-portal through on-line voting.

The audience award was assigned to the German film “Die Welle” by Dennis Gansel. The audience could vote in the action movie category through a special festival voting ballot paper. All though who voted the films took part in a special project of the festival’s partner Visa and Libertas FF. The prize includes a trip to Beijing on occasion of the Olympic Games. The VISA prize was gained by Ana Bajurin, who personally went to receive it.

During the festival, a special award was assigned for live achievements. The festival assigns this award to honourable people from the film and theatre industry who, through their world, unselfishly supported the promotion of the film and theatre art in all its levels. This years the award was assigned to film, television and theatre actor Mustafa Nadarevic.

The awarded film authors received the Libertas FF award Statue. The author of the award sculpture, a female fairy figure, is the young artist Pero Mrnarevic from Dubrovnik, presently studying at the Martin’s College of Art in London.

Apart form many film projections, the Festival organised day and evening events like the Cuban night, part of the Focus Cuba programme.

On the closing ceremony of the fourth Libertas Film Festival, director Mirjana Mia Pecina held a speech. “Tonight we celebrate twice. We celebrate the end of the six days of films of the fourth Libertas Film Festival, but in a precise way, and we also celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Festival. Because only a few days after the lights of the fourth Libertas Film Festival are turned off, film copies will movie towards their next destinations, we will move towards the preparation of the new, fifth Festival” said Ms Pecina, announcing the next Libertas Film Festival in July 2009.

The following awards were assigned last night:

Best short film: ‘Rastanak’ (Croatia, 2008) by Irena Skoric

Best documentary film: 'Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired” (USA/Great Britain, 2008) by Marina Zenovich.

Best action film: ‘The Edge of Heaven’ (Germany, 2007) by Fatih Akina.

See the photos HERE and HERE