Saulė Bliuvaitė’s “Toxic” is the winner of the Trieste Award for Best Feature Film at the 36th edition of the Trieste Film Festival, the story of two young girls in a rural village in Lithuania, their friendship as they take part in a modeling casting that puts their teenage women’s bodies to the test, a reflection on toxic beauty standards and harmful relationships. This year’s edition of Italy’s first and leading event dedicated to Central and Eastern European cinema closed with an awards ceremony on Friday, January 24, at the Politeama Rossetti in Trieste.
“It was a splendid nine days, with more than 130 films and hundreds of guests from all over Europe,” say Monica Goti, president of the organizing association Alpe Adria Cinema, and Nicoletta Romeo, artistic director of the Trieste Film Festival. “We are very happy and satisfied to have seen so many theaters full with lots of young people, students and accredited, film enthusiasts, and the local audience that once again responded enthusiastically. You can feel so much desire to be at the cinema, and experience it as a place of community, the energy of an ever-growing festival. Thank you to those who followed the festival, from near and far, and thank you to all the staff, those who collaborated to conceive and organize the many initiatives. See you next year!”
The Trieste Film Festival in Tour project is renewed again this year with the proposal to Italian theaters of a selection of representative titles from the 36th edition of the festival. Lo Scrittoio, which is responsible for the selection of works and their circulation, announces the first titles: the Greek MEAT by Dimitris Nakos and the Polish UNDER THE VOLCANO by Damian Kocur.
The Trieste Prize (€5,000) was. awarded by the jury consisting of Sabine Gebetsroither, Ilinca Manolache, and Paolo Moretti, with the following motivation: “This is an authentic and raw debut about the transition to adulthood: an uncompromising, incisive and authentic teenage story that explores the search for self-esteem and friendship between two girls, both somehow lost and neglected by their families. The talented director does not offer, here, glittering friendship bracelets, but rather a fragile, hard-won affection. The award goes to a powerful new voice in European cinema.” TOXIC is Saulė Bliuvaitė’s first feature film and also won the Golden Leopard at the 77th Locarno Film Festival.
The jury also awarded a special mention to “FEKETE PONT/LESSON LEARNED” by Bálint Szimler (Hungary, 2024) with the following motivation: “The director, whom we wish to celebrate, presents a school as a microcosm of a larger society – that of contemporary Hungary – laying bare its prevailing values and political tendencies. The authenticity of the classroom situations and the dynamics between students, teachers and parents makes the injustices depicted all the more evident and the social commentary all the more urgent.”
The Alpe Adria Cinema Award to the Best Documentary in Competition offered by Opificio Neirami (euro 2,500), awarded by the jury consisting of Chiara Liberti, Simon Popek, Annina Wettstein, went instead to TATA by LINA VDOVÎI and RADU CIORNICIUC (Romania, Germany, Netherlands, 2024), with the following motivation: “The Jury unanimously decided to award the prize to a film that impressed us with its compelling, and, at the same time, disturbing, journey of forgiveness and healing; a film that masterfully explores the delicate territories of intergenerational trauma, violence and repression in patriarchal societies, and modern slavery, while always maintaining a balanced and never moralizing gaze. This portrait of an abusive father and husband, intertwined with three generations of women finding their own resilience strategies, impressed us with its intelligence, honesty, and confidence, which characterize both the cinematography and layered approach of the film.”
TSFF Corti Prize offered by the Osiride Brovedani Foundation (€2,000) awarded by the jury composed of Valentina Bronzini, Lia Furxhi and Damian Kocur goes to “NIGHT OF PASSAGE” by Reza Rasouli (Austria, 2025) with the following motivation: “For the simple but precise structure of the story, the masterful direction of the actors, which makes the emotions portrayed so believable, and for the poignant portrait of a human fate that could happen to any of us.”
The jury also awarded two special mentions: to “LEFT-HANDED PEN” by Adas Burkšaitis (Lithuania, 2024): “An expertly crafted film that explores profound questions about ethics and parenting, addressing them with an engaging and unrelenting sense of tension”; and to “RRUGËS/On the way” by Samir Karahoda (Kosovo, 2024) with the motivation: “for its ability to portray with simplicity, irony and a delicate realism the relationship between a father and his 12-year-old son. A recognition to the director who, through few scenes and essential dialogues, manages to give the audience a vivid and authentic portrait of an entire nation.
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The films in the three competitions were also “judged” by the audience and their votes decreed the winners of the Audience Awards :
Best Feature: THREE KILOMETERS TO THE END OF THE WORLD/THREE KILOMETERS PÂNA LA CAPĂTUL LUMII by Emanuel Pârvu (Romania, 2024)
Best Documentary: TATA by Lina Vdovîi, Radu Ciorniciuc (Romania – Germany – Netherlands, 2024)
Best Short Film: THE MAN WHO COULD NOT REMAIN SILENT/ ČOVJEK KOJI NIJE MOGAO ŠUTJETI by Nebojša Slijepčević (Croatia, Bulgaria, France, Slovenia, 2024).
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Below is the list of other awards given.
The CEI (Central European Initiative) Prize to the film that best interprets contemporary reality and dialogue between cultures (3,000 euros) goes to Damian Kocur ‘s “POD WULKANEM/UNDER THE VOLCANO” (Poland, 2024) with the following motivation: “For the indirect account of the Russian invasion of Ukraine through the point of view of a teenage girl, in a coming-of-age film about human fragility and family ties in times of crisis, touching also on issues related to immigration. Peoples seemingly distant but united by the same refugee condition.”
The Corso Salani 2025 Prize (2,000 euros), awarded by the jury composed of Luca Mosso, Barbara Sorrentini and Paolo Vidali, to the best film of the section goes to “IL CANTO DI ALINA” by Ilaria Braccialini and Federica Oriente (Italy, 2024) “for its ability to give body and energy to a dramatic and topical story, enhancing its firm and empathetic female gaze in the story of a character desperately searching for a future.”
Special mention to actress Linda Olsansky of “CHARLOTTE, EINE VON UNS” (CHARLOTTE, ONE OF US) by Rolando Colla (Switzerland, Italy, 2024) for outstanding performance.
The Eastern Star 2025 Prize is awarded to one of Europe’s leading filmmakers, Sergei Loznitsa, a Belarus-born author of Ukrainian origin, now stateless, who uniquely finds his nationality and identity as an artist in film, across geographic and cultural borders.
The Cinema Warrior 2025 Award recognizes the persistence, sacrifice and madness of those “warriors” – individuals/associations/festivals – who work or rather fight behind the scenes for Cinema. This year’s Cinema Warrior 2025 is awarded to Ado Hasanović, for his cinema that is both intimate and militant, where family memories join the collective memory of a country, and for starting a festival, Silver Frame, in the heart of Srebrenica, bringing beauty and dialogue between peoples back to an emblematic place in the Balkans.
The Transeuropa Balkans and Caucasus Observatory Award to the best documentary in competition goes to “THE SKY ABOVE ZENICA” by Nanna Frank Møller and Zlatko Pranjić (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Denmark, 2024) with the following motivation: “Because it addresses one of the most pressing issues facing all of us and at the same time denounces the intolerable inequalities that accompany it; because it is a tribute to the courage and determination of those who fight against the Goliaths of our time; because it tells about an unusual generation of activists from whom you do not expect protagonism; because in addition to its artistic qualities this documentary has a strong political value by calling us all to contribute to the struggle for climate justice despite the immense challenge we face.”
The Cineuropa Prize to best feature film in competition goes to “FEKETE PONT/LESSON LEARNED” by Bálint Szimler (Hungary, 2024). Cineuropa juror Viktor Toth chose this film because it is: “a refined first feature, which in its microcosm counterbalances the angst of the themes to the serenity and sense of humor emanating from the form, thus overcoming the financial and political difficulties of production.”
The PAG Youth Jury Prize – Progetto Area Giovani del Comune di Trieste, awarded by a jury of young people between the ages of 18 and 35, representatives of youth associations, to the Best Short Film in Competition goes to MAJONEZË by GIULIA GRANDINETTI (Italy, 2024) with the following motivation: “With its stylistic strength in telling through narrative, social and visual contrasts an act of revolution, which breaks the chains of obedience, the short conveys the theme of freedom by highlighting all its facets, positive and negative, simple and complex, showing with a pressing rhythm how the conquest of it brings with it unpredictable outcomes.”
The SNCCI Award for Best Critics’ Film 2024 goes to Jonathan Glazer‘s “THE ZONE OF INTEREST” (USA, UK, Poland, 2023) while Best Italian Critics’ Film 2024 goes to Maura Delpero ‘s “VERMIGLIO” (Italy, France, Belgium, 2024).
The Laser Film Award given by an international jury composed of Gaia Furrer, Caterina Mazzucato, Pascale Ramonda goes to the Italian-Romanian co-production “ON THEIR OWN” by Tudor Jurgiu.
TheHBO Europe Award given by an international jury consisting of Maria Bonsanti, Sarah Dawson, Carmen Vicencio) goes to “MY DAD’S LESSONS,” a Croatian project by director Dalija Dozet and producer Dana Budisavljević.
The Film Center Montenegro Award given by an international jury (Maria Bonsanti, Sarah Dawson, Carmen Vicencio) goes to the Moldovan-Romanian co-production “ELECTING MS SANTA” by Raisa Razmerita and producer Ion Gnatiuc.
Arte Video prize awarded by an international jury (Maria Bonsanti, Sarah Dawson, Carmen Vicencio) goes to “DIVIA,” a Polish-Ukrainian-Low Countries co-production by director Dmytro Hreshko and producers Polina Herman, Glib Lukianets, Richard Valk.
The Oubliette Prize awarded to one of the Corso Salani Award films will be announced on the platform itself on Sunday, Jan. 26.
Born on the eve of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Trieste Film Festival is Italy’s first and most important appointment with Central and Eastern European cinema: for more than thirty years a privileged observatory on cinematographies and authors often little known-if not unknown-to Italian, and more generally to “Western” audiences.