| Motovun Film Festival | |
|---|---|
| Location | Motovun, Croatia |
| Founded | 1999 |
| Language | International |
| Official website | |
Motovun Film Festival is an annual film festival established in 1999 and held in Motovun, Croatia. It usually takes place over 5–6 days in late July or early August. Motovun Film Festival is also the name of the company organizing the festival.
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Motovun Film Festival is entirely dedicated to films made in small cinematographies and independent productions (on 10 August 1999, the day of opening of first Motovun Film Festival, there was not even one non-Hollywood film being shown in Croatian cinemas). In everything, except for the ambition and the quality, Motovun wants to be a small festival showing small films, small in the warmest sense of the word. Festival program consists of around 70 titles from all over the world, from documentaries to feature films, from short to long films, from guerilla made films to co-productions. The only criteria in their selection is that they fit in the open-minded atmosphere of the festival with their innovations.
In years since the festival first started it became widely popular among Croatian youth, especially students. Every year during the festival a camp for visitors is organized on the foothills of Motovun, where anybody can put up their tent almost for free (the daily fee of 5 kn (roughly 1 USD) is paid to the local tourist office). The visitors' camp has become one of its hallmarks. In January 2007 The Guardian described the festival as "a cross between Glastonbury and Sundance" in its travel section. [1]
The festival also gained in status. From what was once a backpacker's film festival, it is today widely recognized as being the most important film festival held on the territory of the former Yugoslavia, along with the Sarajevo Film Festival. [2]
The main award at the festival is called Propeler Motovuna (English: The Propeller of Motovun, inspired by the prominent wind turbines located near Motovun).
Other awards at the festival are the Motovun Online award for best short film, the odAdoA (From 'A' to 'A') award for best film in the regional competition (the name of the award is short for From Austria to Albania, roughly describing the region covered), and the film critics' FIPRESCI Award.
In 2008, the Motovun Maverick Award was introduced, given to notable filmmakers for lifetime achievement. Its first recipient was Ken Russell.
| Year | English title | Original title | Director(s) | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Billy Elliot | N/A | Stephen Daldry | United Kingdom |
| 2001 | Last Resort | N/A | Paweł Pawlikowski | United Kingdom |
| 2002 | Bloody Sunday | N/A | Paul Greengrass | United Kingdom |
| 2003 | Punch-Drunk Love | N/A | Paul Thomas Anderson | United States |
| 2004 | Ae Fond Kiss... | N/A | Ken Loach | United Kingdom |
| 2005 | The Death of Mr. Lazarescu | Moartea domnului Lăzărescu | Cristi Puiu | Romania |
| 2006 | Look Both Ways | N/A | Sarah Watt | Australia |
| 2007 | Sweet Mud | Adama Meshuga'at | Dror Shaul | Israel |
| 2008 | Silent Light | Stellet Lijcht | Carlos Reygadas | Mexico |
| 2009 | Fish Tank | N/A | Andrea Arnold | United Kingdom |
| 2010 | October | Octubre | Daniel and Diego Vega Vidal | Peru |
| 2011 | Bullhead | Rundskop | Michaël R. Roskam | Belgium |
| Year | English title | Original title | Director(s) | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | No Man's Land | Ničija zemlja | Danis Tanović | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| 2002 | Grill Point | Halbe Treppe | Andreas Dresen | Germany |
| 2003 | Margarette's Feast | A Festa de Margarette | Renato Falcão | Brazil |
| 2004 | The Five Obstructions | De fem benspænd | Lars von Trier and Jørgen Leth | Denmark |
| 2005 | Day and Night | Dag och natt | Simon Staho | Sweden |
| 2006 | We Feed the World | N/A | Erwin Wagenhofer | Austria |
| 2007 | Hallam Foe | N/A | David Mackenzie | United Kingdom |
| 2008 | Blind Loves | Slepé lásky | Juraj Lehotský | Slovakia |
| 2009 | Fish Tank | N/A | Andrea Arnold | United Kingdom |
| 2010 | The Four Times | Le quattro volte | Michelangelo Frammartino | Italy |
| 2011 | Martha | N/A | Marcelino Islas Hernández | Mexico |
People who visited the festival include: