The jury stated that Quit Staring at My Plate was a virtuoso feature debut. The jury’s president was Latvian film director Laila Pakalnina and included members: Estonian-Russian producer Max Tuula, British producer Sam Taylor, German actor Jakob Diehl, and Bosnian-Herzegovinian film director Igor Drljača.

Commenting on the awards, the festival’s director Gaby Babić said she is, 'very pleased to see that this year's focus on strong female characters in cinema and female filmmakers from Central and Eastern Europe is also reflected in the selected films.'

The FIPRESCI International Film Critics Prize was awarded to Ivan Ramljak for his meditative documentary film Islands of Forgotten Cinemas. The jury stated that the film, 'with simple means and a minimalist style shows in wonderful manner how the cinema is part of the natural landscape.'

A number of other Croatian productions were screened at the festival: Goran, a feature film by Nevio Marasović, along with three feature Croatian co-productions, Train Driver’s Diary by Miloš Radović (Interfilm), Sieranevada by Cristi Puiu (Spiritus Movens), and A Good Wife by Mirjana Karanović (Nukleus Film).

The goEast International Festival of Central and Eastern European Film is organized by Deutsches Filminstitut. 12 000 viewers attended this year’s screenings, lectures and discussions. A total of 111 films from 29 countries were featured during the seven-day event. For more on the winners and the festival, please click here.

Photos: Hana Jušić at awards ceremony (*from filmfestival-goeast.de), scene from Islands of Forgotten Cinemas