’A Gentle Creature’ wins Batumi Art-House Film Fest Grand Prix

Ukrainian filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa triumphed at the Batumi International Art-House Film Fest (BIAFF) on Georgia’s Black Sea coast by taking the Grand Prix of the event for his feature A Gentle Creature.

Loznitsa’s 2017 work was named the winner of the international competition on Sunday, the closing day of the festival.

The co-production between Ukraine, Germany, the Netherlands, Russia and Lithuania follows a woman in Russia who has received a parcel she had sent to her imprisoned husband.

The protagonist of the drama sets out to learn why the parcel was returned to her, embarking on a personal quest for the truth in a remote Russian town.

Loznitsa’s work was unveiled among winners of the festival in a closing ceremony hosted at the Batumi State Musical Centre venue.

Ziad Kalthoum’s 2017 documentary Taste of Cement was selected by the judges as the Best Documentary of the festival, while Gentle Night by Qiu Yang claimed the Best Short Film award to round off the principal production prizes.

Director Ziad Kalthoum was distinguished for his documentary ‘Taste of Cement’. Photo: Taste of Cement film Facebook page.

In individual awards, Turkish filmmaker Yesim Ustaoglu was named Best Film Director for his 2016 work Claire Obscure, while Ezem Ucun received the Best Actress award for her part in the film.

Georgia’s Merab Ninidze was honoured with the Best Actor actor prize for his character in Kornel Mundruczo’s latest feature Jupiter’s Moon.

The Special Mention for the international competition section went to the Acting Ensemble in Sally Potter’s 2017 comedy The Party, and to Mariam Khatchvani’s feature Dede.

Merab Ninidze took home the Best Actor Award of the festival. Photo: Merab Ninidze actor Facebook page.

Rati Oneli’s award-winning City of the Sun was picked for the Documentary Special Mention along with the 2016 film Liberation Day by Ugis Olte.

The Special Mentions in the short film competition went to Ana by Margo Zubashvili, Valparaiso by Italian director Carlo Sironi and Three Steps by Ioseb Bliadze.

The Batumi festival also singled out filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf, composer Giya Kancheli and actor Vakhtang Kikabidze for the Lifetime Achievement Awards in cinema.

The BIAFF festival ran in Batumi from September 17.