At the 25th Festival of East European Cinema in the German city of Cottbus (November 3-8, 2015), the Critics Prize went to “The High Sun” (Zvizdan) by Dalibor Matanic (Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, 2015, 123 min). Motivation: “The film deals with the wounds of the Balkan wars in three different stories following a couple played by the same actors in 1991, 2001, and 2011 respectively. At once realist in style and metaphorical in subject, the film addresses the difficulties to overcome past traumas and rebuild human relationships. Emotionally convincing and visually playful, this exceptional work reflects historical memory through individual tragedies.”
Jury members were: Anita Skwara, Poland (“Kino”), Moritz Pfeifer, France (“East European Film Bulletin”), Holger Twele, Germany (“film-dienst”).
Festival: www.filmfestivalcottbus.de