Filmul de Piatra #11: The winners

     The 11th edition of the Filmul de Piatra short film festival came to an end after four days of films, concerts, masterclasses and unforgettable parties. On Saturday evening, the jury of this edition, made of the film director Daniel Sandu, the actor Mircea Postelnicu and the producer Alina David, alongside the  festival director, Andrei Dăscălescu, revealed the 8 winning films of this edition, chosen out of the 23 projects that entered the official competition.
     The recipient of the award for Best Fiction Film is Bestia (directed by Andreea-Elena Lăcătuș). The story starts from the infamous incident of the bear cub that got shot in Sibiu in October 2016, trying to explore in a comic key the story of those involved in the event.
     The trophy for the Best Documentary and the Audience Award was received by Szerestely Szilard from Cluj whose film, Poftiți vă rog!, explores the life and death of a few people without shelter who spend their days near the bus station from Piața Mărăști in Cluj-Napoca.
     The award for Best Animated Film went to Brain Chatter, the debut short film of the Neamț-born artist Ana Iuteș. By means of the visual language the film explores the concept of lack of inspiration. Last, but not least, the jury gave the Best Experimental Film award to Simona Constantin`s fashion film Slow Forge.
     The four special mentions of the festival went to Aprilie, vis (directed by Andrei Inizian; fiction), Alegretto (directed by Ionuț Popa, Francesca Della Setta, Teresa Satta; documentary), Lazarus Syndrome (directed by Eugen Damaschin; fiction) and Sterne (directed by Bianca Rotaru; fiction).
     This year, the festival viewers had the chance to choose their favorites from the competition and to choose the best video during a special screening event, where the organizers measured with a special software the duration and the intensity of the audience applauses. The Best Video award went to Jurjak – Vântul (directed by George Petroșel, Daniel Olteanu) and the favorite films from the competition were: Soldat (directed by Cristian Ionuț Necula, experimental, 3rd place), Acum, în Deltă, se lasă seara (directed by Andrei Tache Codreanu, documentary, 2nd place) and Poftiți, vă rog! (directed by Szerestely Szilard, 1st place).
     More than 350 viewers took part in the opening event, in an unexpected venue: the Ceahlăul Stadium. The screening of Corneliu Porumboiu`s documentary  Infinite Football / Fotbal infinit was followed by a football match played by the rules mentioned in the film; the match was commented by the film protagonist, Laurențiu Ghinghină. The final day of the festival was another opportunity to spend time in a special environment – by the Bâtca Doamnei lake, at the concerts of the jazz bands Andra Botez Band and Trei de Jazz, then listening to the indie-rock sounds of the band Dimitri’s Bats and a DJ set The Rabbit King. the evening ended with the documentary Virgo (directed by Vlad Săcăleanu and Lise Hendrix) and with the awards ceremony that took place at the Dacia Cinema.
     The figures that defined the 11th edition of the Filmul de Piatra festival are: over 60 guests, 77 volunteers, 54 films, 12 screenings and 5 different venues.
     Filmul de Piatra is the only local film festival dedicated entirely to the short film productions made in Romania and in the Republic of Moldova. The purpose of the festival is to promote young talents in the film area. The director and founder of the festival is the film director Andrei Dăscălescu.
     The 11th edition of the festival was supported by Ursus retro, Farmacia Ardealul and HBO Romania. The screenings were made with Epson video projectors offered by Epson Romania and the two evenings of Silent Dance were supported by Tatratea. The media partners were: Radio Guerrilla, Radio România Actualități, TVR Iași, Realitatea Nemțeană, Aarc.ro, Acoperișul de Sticlă, Film Menu, Sub25, Revista Ok.
     Details: www.filmuldepiatra.ro