Prague Independent Film Festival

Prague Independent Film Festival

Location	Prague, Czech Republic
Website	prague-film-festival.com

Prague Independent Film Festival (PIFF) is an international film festival held annually in August in Prague, the capital of Czech Republic. The festival focuses on independent cinema.

History

2016

Prague Independent Film Festival was held for the first time on 15–18 August 2016 in the cinemas Kino Evald, Kino Atlas and Kino Lucerna. The festival program consisted of 33 films. Opening film of the festival was Rocco has Your Name by Angelo Orlando. Angelo Orlando won the Best Screenplay award and the leading actor Michele Venitucci won the Best Actor award.

Grand Prix of the festival – The Golden Eagle – was awarded to the Bulgarian film Sinking of Sozopol by Kostadin Bonev.^[1][2][3][4] This philosophical film depicts a middle aged man caught in between past and future, lost in his memories and feelings of guilt.

Shamim Sarif received the Best Feature Film award for her film Despite the Falling Snow.^[5][6] Rebecca Ferguson was awarded Best Actress and Anthony Head received the Best Supporting Actor award.^{[7][8] [9]} The film is an espionage story about love and betrayal set against the Cold War based on the best selling novel by Shamim Sarif.

Best Animated Film was awarded to The Snow Queen 2 from the Russian animation company Wizart Animation.^{[10][11][12][13]} The film was written and directed by Aleksey Tsitsilin and produced by Timur Bekmambetov.

Best Short Film award was given to the short film Cora made by Kevin Maxwell, a student of Santa Monica College who was supervised by Salvador Carrasco.^[14][15]

2017

Opening film of the festival was Collector by Alexei Krasovsky. Alexei Krasovsky won the Best Director, Gustav Meyrink Prize and Konstantin Khabensky won the Best Actor award.^[16][17][18]

The film Maya Dardel, written and directed by Magdalena Zyzak and Zachary Cotler won the Best Screenplay award and Lena Olin received the Best Actress award.^[17][19]

Train Driver's Diary directed by Milos Radovic received the Grand Prix, Best Feature Film and Lazar Ristovski received the Best Actor prize.^[20][21][22]

Gallery

• 
  Actor and producer Lazar Ristovski at the presentation of Train Driver's Diary
• 
  Lazar Ristovski presenting the film Train Driver's Diary
• 
  Directors Magdalena Zyzak and Zachary Cotler presenting the film Maya Dardel
• 
  Director Angelo Orlando and musician Saro Cosentino presenting the film Rocco Has Your Name
• 
  Angelo Orlando presenting the film Rocco Has Your Name
• 
  Sinking of Sozopol screening
• 
  Kostadin Bonev with the Grand Prix

Winners

2017

Grand Prix

• Train Driver's Diary – Directed by Milos Radovic

Best Feature Film

• Train Driver's Diary – Directed by Milos Radovic

Best Director

• Alexei Krasovsky – Collector

Best Screenplay

• Zachary Cotler and Magdalena Zyzak – Maya Dardel

Best Cinematography

• Rana Kamran – Mah e Mir

Best Actor

• Lazar Ristovski – Train Driver's Diary
• Konstantin Khabensky – Collector

Best Actress

• Lena Olin – Maya Dardel

Best Short Film

• The Light Thief – Eva Daoud

Best Experimental Film

• Time – Retrograde — Directed by David Ellis

Best Art Direction

• Ghosts on the Road to Camalt – Directed by Jason Tovey

Best Music Video

• God Came 'Round – Directed by Derek Frey

Best Student Film

• Muñecas – Directed by Ozzy Ozuna

Gustav Meyrink Prize (Jury Prize)

• Collector – Directed by Alexei Krasovsky

2016

Grand Prix

• Sinking of Sozopol — Directed by Kostadin Bonev

Best Feature Film

• Despite the Falling Snow — Directed by Shamim Sarif

Best Director

• Kostadin Bonev — Sinking of Sozopol

Best Screenplay

• Angelo Orlando — Rocco Has Your Name

Best Cinematography

• Konstantin Zankov — Sinking of Sozopol

Best Actor

• Michele Venitucci — Rocco Has Your Name

Best Actress

• Rebecca Ferguson — Despite the Falling Snow

Best Supporting Actor

• Anthony Head — Despite the Falling Snow

Best Short Film

• Cora — Directed by Kevin Maxwell

Best Experimental Film

• NO SIGNAL — Directed by David Ellis

Best Animated Film

• The Snow Queen 2 — Directed by Aleksey Tsitsilin

Best Comedy Film

• Seth — Directed by Zach Lasry

Best Horror Film

• Woods — Directed by Sean van Leijenhorst

Best Art Direction

• Forgiveness — Directed by Rima Irani

Best Special Effects

• Forgiveness — Directed by Rima Irani

Best Music Score

• Green Lake — Directed by Derek Frey

Best Music Video

• FIRE by The Winery Dogs — Directed by Steven Lyon

References

• Pražský festival nezávislých filmů | atlasceska.cz (Czech)

External links

• Official website of the Prague Independent Film Festival
• PIFF 2016 Press Release