On Friday, 19th October, we have closed the 9th MikroFAF, the annual international festival of short films devoted to promotion and development of the independent and DIY film production. This competitive festival spotlights a different theme every year, and this years’ festival was titled Caged Edition.
The award ceremony was held in the Museum of Yugoslav Cinematheque after the screening of the last competitive program. This year, 78 short films were competing for the MikroFAF’s awards, with many of them, in accordance with the chosen theme, dealing with the subjects of non-freedom and limitations, war or political cages, psychological slavery or artistic blocks.
In the non-competitive program, we have screened the films made during the workshops organized by the “Satibara” Association throughout 2018 in several villages and towns, when the young participants from Banatska Dubica and Jarkovac visited Belgrade and attended the premiere of their debut film Aurela.
The decisions about the awards were brought by the three-member Jury: Senka Domanovic, Mina Stanikic and Marko Backovic. The Jury unanimously decided to give the following main festival awards:
– MIKROPOLIS AWARD for the best Serbian do-it-yourself film was given to Jelena Novakovic’s film LOPOVKA (Serbia), for its “humorous narration, spontaneous and plausible acting and the skill of representing the disrespectable trade of stealing in a positive light. The lighthearted atmosphere among the authors while creating the film is prominent.”
– MIKROPOLIS AWARD for the best foreign do-it-yourself film was given to Ali Erfan Farhadi’s film I You We 2 (Iran) for its “atypical directorial expression in an attempt to raise the awareness about the ecologically correct behavior. Auto-critical, funny and effective.”
– MIKROPOLIS AWARD for the best independent film was given to Behzad Khodaveisi’s film A Gift for a Gloomy Day (Iran) for its “contemporaneous existentialist story with an effective, unexpected and humorous twist, as well as the successful incorporation of the comical element of surprise into the dark state of the protagonist.”
– MIKROPOLIS AWARD for the best CAGED film was given to Dragana Jovanovic’s film Le Foyer (Germany) for its “suggestive depiction of the anxious atmosphere of the prison cell where the protagonists don’t manage to reconcile with the least idea of the possibility of freedom.”
Beside the main festival awards, the Jury has also given several special awards:
– Special award for animation: Ana Sagadin for Saturn u Lavu (Hrvatska)
– Special award for documentary film: equally awarded to films Seobe by Danilo Stanimirovic (Kosovo/Serbia) and Mrtvi kapital by Ivana Janosev (Serbia)
– Special award for family filmmaking: the award was given to the Backonja brothers, Petar (12) and Lazar (15) for their films 2D zamka – Kako nacrtati brata and Kuvanje sa čudovištem (Serbia)
– Special jury mention for a fetishist film was given to Logan Fry’s film Ro-Boob: The Farting Robot Monster (USA)
Besides the awards given by the festival Jury, this years edition of MikroFAF included the unofficial awards by the Knjigoskop blog, a platform devoted to children’s and youth literature. Knjigoskop gave its awards in the following categories:
– Knjigoskop’s award for the best children’s role: Varvara Novikova for her debut role in Vasiliy Kiseljev’s film Mother (Russia)
– Knjigoskop’s award for the best teenage role: Katarina Stanojlovic for her role in Poljubi me filmski nestvarno (Serbia) by Katarina Stanojlovic, Andjela and Neda Zivanovic.
– Knjigoskop’s award for the best screenplay written by a teenager: Damjan Petrovic, for his film Nova godina s porodicom (Serbia).
– Knjigoskop’s award for the best film made by a teenager: animated film The Look by Shayan Naghibi (Iran).
The Academic Film Centre of Student City Cultural Centre awarded the winners from Serbia with their publications.
The organization of the 9th MikroFAF was supported by the Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Serbia, the Museum of the Yugoslav Cinematheque, the Association Independent Cultural Scene of Serbia, Academic Film Centre of Student City Cultural Centre, Gomex, Cabinet brewery, Knjigoskop and MKC Kombinat.
