Motovun, 29 July, 2015 – The 18th edition of Motovun Film Festival ended with the award-presentation ceremony on Wednesday. The main award, Propeller of Motovun, went to the French-Belgian film The Wakhan Front and the Special Mention went to Icelandic actor Gunnar Jónsson for his role in Virgin Mountain. The introduction of the Veterans' Jury was the special surprise of the evening and Džambo Agušev Orchestra thrilled the audience during the traditional toast.
The winner in the Motovun Shorts lineup is the Estonian-Croatian-Danish animated production The Life with Herman H. Rott by Chintis Lundgren. As usual, the winner was decided on by the last year's winner Martin Raith. As for the FIPRESCI Award, the jury of the International Association of Film Critics (Josip Grozdanić, Mihai Fulger and Dieter Wieczorek) gave the award to Spanish film Magical Girl by Carlos Vermut, explaining that: "… using a set of psychologically and morally complex characters, [the film] suggests that… good intentions could be a straight way to a catastrophe".
The main jury (Tihana Lazović, Petr Lom and Mira Fornay) gave a Special Mention to Icelandic actor Gunnar Jónsson for his role in Virgin Mountain. The jury awarded him for "… creating [a character] with an extraordinary empathy, making all of us aware of our loneliness". Jónsson received the award himself and thanked the Motovun audience.
The main jury unanimously decided to give the main festival award, Propeller of Motovun, to the French-Belgian film The Wakhan Front by Clément Cogitore. According to the jury, it is "a war film that avoids all stereotypes about war. Instead, it speaks with magical and original cinematic language, telling a story of the soldiers of a French unit in Afghanistan, far from their families. A film about faith, beliefs and searching for truth while questioning what is right and what is wrong".
The Veterans' Jury consisting of Karpo Godina, Rajko Grlić and Srđan Karanović took care of the surprise of the 18th Motovun Film Festival's closing night. Its chairman, Karpo Godina, gave a special mention to the plastic festival chair, which had its additional role as an umbrella at this year's festival edition. The main award went to Mrs. Snježana Mikić, a loyal festival viewer who has been sitting in the festival audience since the festival's beginnings.
The festival was officially wrapped up with the sounds of the acclaimed Roma brass band Džambo Agušev Orchestra and with the joint toast of the audience and staff, followed by the screening of Tour de Force.
