The jury of the Banja Luka International Animated Film Festival 2015, which was held from October 23rd to 28th, consisting of Jelena Bešir (Serbia), Melina Alagić (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Božidar Trkulja (Croatia) awarded the Grand Prix to the film Wiener Blut by Zlatko Bourek and Pavao Štalter, and produced by Zagreb Film. ‘It is a film that courageously tackles a historic, but also personal, trauma. It is marked by strong coloration, many metaphors and symbols, but mostly a consistency of the author’s artistic expression which has been going strong for more than half a century,’ the jury concluded.

The Award for Creativity and Artistic Expression went to Levitation by Marko Meštrović and produced by Kreativni Sindikat. The jury stated that the film ‘is hypnotic, with its visual and sound clarity inviting repeated viewings and meditative pleasure.’ A special award was also give to the Estonian-Croatian film Life with Herman H. Rott directed by Chintis Lundgren, and produced by the Estonian Chintis Lundgreni Animatsioonstuudio and coproduced by Adriatic Animation in Pula, the Artistic Organisation Anima in Zagreb, and Danish GoodJobStudios. ‘This is a very humorous film which uses style and caricature to address male-female relationships, maturity and character growth, and questions of compromise and identity,’ the jury said. 

It is worth noting that along with these awards, Lea Vidaković has also been recognized at the 19th International Video Festival Videomedeja 2015, held in Novi Sad. Her film, The Vast Landscape – Porcelain Stories, produced by Zagreb’s Autonomous Cultural Center, was awarded for individual artistic contribution for stop-motion animation using manually constructed sets. The festival ran from October 23rd to 25th in Novi Sad, and more details can be found here.