Terribly Happy takes grand prize at Karlovy Vary
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Danish director Henrik Ruben Genz received the Crystal Globe for Best Feature Film and a cash prize of $30,000 for his film Terribly Happy at the gala closing ceremony of the 43rd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival on July 12.
At times resembling a Western or a Coen brothers farce, Terribly Happy tells the story of a Copenhagen police officer who transferred to a small, remote town on the Jutland peninsula. "This film was shot in the landscape of my childhood," Genz said, accepting his award. "It just goes to show that you don't have to travel far to reach far."
At the festival, TrustNordisk sold Czech rights to the film to Cinemart.
Russian director Alexey Uchitel was named Best Director for his work on Chechen-war drama Captive, while Czech entry Night Owls picked up awards for Best Actress (Martha Issova) and Best Actor (Jiri Madl).
A Special Jury Prize went to Nan T. Achnas' film The Photograph, a co-production between Indonesia, France, Netherlands, Switzerland and Sweden. Special mentions went to Czech director Petr Zelenka for his film The Karamazovs and to Hungarian director Atilla Gigor for The Investigator.
The Award for Best Documentary went to UK title Man on Wire, from director James Marsh. Hungarian director Gyula Nemes's Lost World was named Best Documentary under 30 minutes long.
Best Film in the East of the West competition, and $10,000, went to Sergey Dvortsevoy's film Tulpan. "It's a pity my actors aren't here because I want them to see that film is more than dust, wind and a bloody director," Dvortsevoy said.
The festival 2008 was attended by 10,872 accredited visitors, of whom 423 were foreign film professionals. The festival sold 143,781 tickets.
The 44th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival will be held July 3-11, 2009.
Theodore Schwinke