"Trapped Balloon" is the big winner of the "27th International Meetings of Cinema, Television, Video and Multimedia - AVANCA 2023", closing the 10 days of a film festival whose focus was AI - Artificial Intelligence.
Directed by Japanese filmmaker Hiroyuki Miyagawa, this film won the Cinema Award for Best Feature Film. A movie that marks a reunion with his father and an island.
Special Mentions were also awarded to the feature films "The Ballad of Piargy" by Ivo Trajkov (Slovakia) and "Nargesi" by Payam Eskandari (Iran). The Slovak film was also awarded the prize for best cinematography (Peter Bencsik) and best actress (Judit Bardos). Actor Hossein Eskandari from the film "Nargesi" was awarded a special mention.
The Short Film Award went to the film "Mate" by George-Alex Nagle (Australia), which was also awarded Best Screenplay and Best Actor to Jeremy Blewitt. The short film "Vivir toda la vida" by Marlén Ríos-Farjat (Mexico) received a Special Mention.
The actor Max Pemberton also received an Honorable Mention for his role in the film "Trinou" by Nejib Kthiri (Tunisia).
The animation prize was awarded to "Koerkorter Dog - Apartment" by Priit Tender (Estonia).
The film jury was chaired by French Portuguese filmmaker António Amaral, and also included filmmakers Issaad Salah (Algeria), Guenny K. Pires (Cape Verde), Eva Libertad and Nuria Muños (Spain).
The film "Nargesi" by Payam Eskandari (Iran) was the winner of the D. Quixote Award of the FICC - International Federation of Film Clubs, of which the jury was Günther Kinstler (Germany), K.P Pathak (Nepal) and Isa Mateus.
"Capa de Honras" by Rui Falcão, received the Avanca Competition Award and World Premiere Award, while the films "Mil Pássaros no Bairro Padre Cruz" by Luís Margalhau and "O Resgate da Cor" by the students of the Monsenhor Miguel de Oliveira School in Válega, coordinated by João Católico, received a Special Mention.
Shot in the region of Miranda do Douro, the film is entitled in Mirandese "Capa de Honras La Cuonta de L Garotico I L Bielh".
The jury was composed of actor José Neto, director Luís Moya and researcher Katrin Pieper.
The video prize was awarded to "Alex Stein Show" by Carlos Cruz (China/Portugal), by film critics Germano Campos and Nuno Reis.
Together with director João Cayate, this jury awarded the Television Series Prize to the French program "Tutopique #Slogan" by Maurice Huvelin.
The documentary "Carpenter" by Xelîl Sehragerd (Iran) won the Television Award and "Dioses de México" by Helmut Dosantos (Mexico) and "Guarnicê - uma história pra contar" by Fernando Baima (Brazil) were distinguished by Special Mentions.
The jury consisted of photographer Mike Haydon (UK), poet António Souto, journalists Fernando Pinho, Manuel Freire, actor Carlos Rico, painter Henrique Vaz Duarte and professor Fátima Cabral.
The film "Na berma" by César Santos was distinguished with the Filmmakers <30 years Award, for directors under 30 years old. In this category, an Honorable Mention was also awarded to "The uplands" by Yvonne Kerekgyarto (Hungary).
The Senior Prize was awarded to "Nargesi" by Payam Eskandari, and the short film "Horário em Branco" by Bernardo Cabral received an Honorable Mention.
The jury of these awards was composed by researcher Cláudia Martins and film club member Pedro Medeiros.
The "Trailer in Motion" competition distinguished the trailer for the film "The ballad of Piargy" by Ivo Trajkov (Slovakia) and the video clip "Velhote do Carmo - Será Romeu?" by Pedro Filipe Lopes. The trailer "Segunda Via" by Tiago Roma Almeida and the video clip "Sidus Taurus - Zeitgeist" by Viktoria Yudina, Alexander Perkov (Russia) received Special Mentions.
The jury was composed of musician Sérgio Ferreira, filmmaker Francisco Ávila and researcher Artur Barros Moreira.
The Debatevolution prize, awarded for the first time to works with a relevant scientific and/or historical context, went to "Invisible World" by Manuel de Coco (Greece), with "Galileo chini a Montecatini" by Marcello Zeppi (Italy) receiving a Special Mention.
Meanwhile, at the "AVANCA|CINEMA, International Conference Cinema - Art, Technology, Communication", the Eng. Fernando Gonçalves Lavrador Award, in posthumous tribute to one of the most relevant Portuguese researchers in the field of semiotics, aesthetics and film theory, distinguished the researcher Daniel Oliveira Silva from the University of Beira Interior. With an Honorable Mention was also distinguished the communication of Ricardo Braga Silva, José Alberto Rodrigues and Ivan Roberto Gouveia.
The jury for this award was composed of academics José Ribeiro (ID+), Glória Moreno (Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Spain), Manoela Rodrigues (Universidade Federal de Goiás, Brazil), Susana Lozano (Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Spain), Liliana Rosa (Instituto Politécnico de Tomar) and Jochen Dietrich (GSK, Germany).
In total, 11 juries made up of 30 individuals from 9 countries awarded 18 prizes and 15 special mentions.
AVANCA takes place every year in Avanca and is organized by the Cine-Clube de Avanca and the Municipality of Estarreja with the support of ICA/Ministry of Culture, Portuguese Institute of Sport and Youth, Turismo Centro, Parish Council and Parish of Avanca, Estarreja School Group, in addition to several international organizations and local entities.
