Film stories that left their traces on the 12th STIFF – one award stays in rijeka, the others travel the world

After the audience and jury spent three days watching the best student films from as many as 15 countries, the jury of the 12th STIFF selected the best of the best – three films received the main award and three received special mentions in the categories of fiction, documentary, and animated film. As every year, the audience also chose its favorite film, which took home the Audience Award. The festival’s friend Cinehill presented its Cinehill Award for the second year in a row: the winning film will be screened at the next edition of the Cinehill festival in Fužine.

The winners of the 12th edition of STIFF come from different parts of the world – Croatia, Germany, China, the USA, France, and Argentina – and each of them left a unique trace on the festival, its visitors, and the jury. It is also important to highlight that one of the awards remains in the city where STIFF originated – Rijeka.

The documentary film jury, consisting of Barbara Babačić, Izidor Bistrović, and Katja Galunić, gave the Best Documentary Film Award to Dry Goods by Rijeka director Toni Jelenić. According to the jury, the film successfully conveys a painful human theme in a fairly simple manner, one that is highly socially relevant for Croatia and beyond. They emphasized that the author uses stylistic and poetic expression to create a rounded whole, and through a single letter addresses very profound issues of the present day. “The film breaks the stereotype of generational insensitivity towards difference and restores faith in human kindness. Through several visual techniques and a single protagonist, it creates a coherent whole that does not distract from the film’s core,” the documentary jury stated.

The fiction film jury, composed of Jelena Lopatić, Luka Ešler, and Marcin Kluczykowski, gave the Best Fiction Film Award to Ashes by German director Dingding Jiang. According to the jury, “the film deserves the main award for its well-thought-out, detailed, and creative direction, and for its subtle portrayal of a story about healing from loss and maturing towards forgiveness.”

The animated film jury, consisting of Milana Trenc, Jalal Maghout, and Lucia Ilić, gave the Best Animation Film Award to Braided by Chenxi Zhang, a Chinese director based in the USA. According to the jury, the film earned the main award because “it is an exceptional film about female growth that sensitively explores personal yet universally recognizable themes. With a unique technical approach, the film follows the unspoken emotions between mother and daughter and makes them visible through powerful metaphors: braids become family ties; they form a path. Hair becomes time.”

A special mention for documentary film went to Their Eyes by French director Nicolas Gourault. The documentary jury awarded the mention to a film “that gives us insight into one of the many hidden worlds behind technological progression. Through its exceptional, meticulously crafted visual approach, it connects virtual locations with real people and their environments, revealing the invisible exploitation of the modern era.”

A special mention for fiction film went to the Argentine-German film Our Shadows by Agustín Sánchez Gavier “for creating a world that merges metaphysics with socio-ecological threats through a unique cinematographic and directorial language.”

A special mention for animated film went to the German animation The Relentless Pain of Existence by director Oscar Jacobson. The animation jury emphasized that “with a powerful visual approach, the film creatively visualizes invisible emotions, playing with our perception of time by stretching and compressing it to convey feelings. At the same time, the film subtly conveys the author’s vision of breaking free from norms and traditions in order to reach a creative, orgasmic climax.”

The Relentless Pain of Existence by Oscar Jacobson also won the Audience Award of the 12th STIFF. This year’s audience gave the highest rating to the animated film in which a model poses for a nude study until a mosquito bite throws him out of self-control, placing him between strict rules, the pursuit of perfection, and a basic, uncontrolled, animal impulse.

The Cinehill Award goes to the directing duo Adriana Mrnjavac and Nicole Stigler for the fiction film Caught in 4K. The Cinehill team highlighted the film because “through a combination of classic filmmaking techniques and dynamic, immersive recreations of social media, the directors build a vivid landscape of a parallel digital world whose explosion of colors and sounds often conceals the dark side of social networks. Through intense audio-visual stimuli, the film shows how this world lures, hypnotizes, and anesthetizes, while its anonymity creates an ideal environment for potential predators. Through a dual perspective – the child in a fantasy land and the adult viewer aware of the dangers – the film masterfully builds tension in this familiar yet fresh story about the importance of timely education and raising awareness to protect the most vulnerable members of society.”

The International Student Film Festival — STIFF is organized by Filmaktiv and the Student Cultural Center of the University of Rijeka, in co-organization with Art-kino and with the support of the Croatian Audiovisual Centre (HAVC), the City of Rijeka, Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, the Rijeka Tourist Board, the Serbian National Council, the Council of the Serbian National Minority, and the Goethe-Institut Kroatien. The work of Filmaktiv is supported by the Kultura Nova Foundation and the National Foundation for Civil Society Development.