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Bad Luck Banging Or Loony Porn
Photo: Silviu Ghetie/Micro Film 2021
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The third edition of the East - West. Golden Arch Awards on October 25 saw Romanian filmmaker Radu Jude's satire Bad Luck Banging Or Loony Porn win the top prize. On a good night for Romanian cinema, Alexander Nanau's Oscar-nominated documentary about a healthcare scandal, was also named Best Documentary.
The awards, held at the newly restored Khudozhestvenny Cinema in Moscow and opened by screenwriter and chairperson of the Confederation of Cinematographic Unions Rustam Ibragimbekov, who founded the Award, are run by the International Confederation of the Filmmakers Unions and the Alexander Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund. It aims to celebrate Eurasian films and the awards are voted for by a panel of 23 international film critics and academics.
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Rustam Ibragimbekov opens the awards
Photo: Amber Wilkinson
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Georgian writer/director Dea Kulumbegashvili took home the prize for Best Debut for her dark drama Beginning, which also won a clutch of awards at San Sebastian Film Festival, including Best Film.
The Best Director prize was shared by Russian director Andrey Konchalovsky's crisp black and white drama Dear comrades! and Jasmila Žbanić, for her piercing look at the Srebrenica genocide Quo Vadis, Aida? - her star Jasna Djuricic also snagged the Best Actress award.
It was also a good night for Konstantin Khabensky's Persian Lessons, which saw Nahuel Pérez Biscayart and Lars Eidinger named Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, though as was noted on the night, those prizes could easily have been reversed in what is, essentially, a two-hander of a film set against the backdrop of a Nazi Death Camp. It also won a special prize for unique international film project with an original screenplay idea and talented artistic solution". The prize was accepted in person by screenwriter Ilja Zofin, although due to the pandemic, many of the awardees sent video messages of acceptance.
The Best Supporting Actress prize was shared by Agathe Bosch for her role in Cristi Puiu's dinner party drama Malmkrog and Olga Lapshina for Ivan I Tverdovskiy's Conference, which considers the lasting trauma of a Moscow terror attack.
A Special Prize for Contribution To Cinema was presented by Andrey Plakhov, programme director of the Award, to animation director Garri Bardin, whose films include Grey Wolf And Little Red Riding Hood, The Ugly Duckling, Choo-Choo and Adagio.
The awards in full:
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The Golden Arch Awards
Photo: Amber Wilkinson
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- Best Feature Film: Bad Luck Banging Or Loony Porn, director Radu Jude (Romania, Luxemburg, Croatia, Czech Republic)
- Best Documentary: Collective, director Alexander Nanau (Luxembourg, Romania)
- Best Debut: Beginning, director Déa Kulumbegashvili (Georgia, France)
- Best Director: Andrey Konchalovsky, Dear Comrades! (Russia) shared with Jasmila Žbanić, Quo Vadis, Aida? (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria, Romania, Netherlands, Germany, Poland, France, Norway, Turkey)
- Best Screenplay: Cristi Puiu, Malmkrog, director Cristi Puiu (Romania)
- Best Lead Actress: Jasna Djuricic, Quo Vadis, Aida?
- Best Lead Actor: Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, Persian Lessons, director Vadim Perelman (Russia, Belarus, Argentina)
- Best Supporting Actress: Agathe Bosch, Malmkrog, director Cristi Puiu (Romania) shared with Olga Lapshina, Conference, director Ivan I Tverdovskiy (Russia, Estonia, UK, Italy)
- Best Music: Dmitri Shostakovich, Andrey Khrzhanovskiy for The Nose Or The Conspiracy Of Mavericks, director Andrey Khrzhanovskiy (Russia)
- Best Cinematography: Jürgen Jürges, Dau. Degeneration, directors Ilya Khrzhanovskiy, Ilya Permyakov (Germany)
- Best Art Director: Nina Vasenina, Sergey Fevralev, The North Wind, director Renata Litvinova (Russia)
- Special Prize of the Award for The Contribution To Cinema: Garri Bardin
- Special Prize for the unique international film project with an original screenplay idea and talented artistic solution: Persian Lessons by Konstantin Khabensky
