The Winner of the Jury Award for Feature Drama is Steppe Man, a beautifully made film on the life, death and love of Camel herders in Azerbaijan, check it out at https://www.worldfilm.com/films/steppe-man/

The Winner of the Jury Award for Art House Film is The Last Vermouth, a clever French take on how to much drinking can awake the dead, check it out at https://www.worldfilm.com/films/the-last-vermouth/

The Winner of the Jury Award for Short Drama is Rreze, a gripping piece from Kosovo  reflecting on the war that gripped these people and how a young girls deals with it. Check it out at https://www.worldfilm.com/films/rreze/

The Winner of the Jury Award for best Animation goes to A flash of a second, a sweet reflection on the life of a girl and a cat in a classic animation style.  Check it out at https://www.worldfilm.com/films/a-flash-of-a-second/

Winner of the Jury Award for Documentary is John Cousins and The University of the Waves, an intricate look at a musical innovator, whose explorations covered almost anything musical. Check it out at https://www.worldfilm.com/films/john-cousins-university-of-the-waves/

It’s impossible to provide too much detail without spoiling this quirky, creative comedy with a strong element of a genre you’d never expect. The film is set in the beautifully, mountainous Savoy region of France. It follows the exploits of senior farmers who all love a drink. Hungover, they make their way into town, only to enter a grisly and comically disturbing scenario. We’ll have to stop there, though I can say the acting is exceptional, the scenery stunning and … a priest provides a supremely useful ally to our protagonists.  That last hint might help you guess where it all leads.

This 20-minute mediation on the conditions of female prisoners in Brazil provides a devastatingly candid insight into their reality. It’s no surprise the director, Allisson Sbrana, is a journalist as well as film maker.  The film has all the marks of social realism as it tackles the weighty topic: the subdued colour, bleak tone and location provide a sense of claustrophobia, in which this stark human drama unfolds. As if poverty is a crime, having your new born child snatched from you is a drastic punishment. This film is as heavy going as it’s worthwhile. It offers a profoundly humane portrayal of women harshly melded by an inhumane system.

The Art House category has revealed some interesting and bizarre gems, where reality and imagination collide. The nominations are:

• Brief Encounter, Greece
• What Remains, Brazil
• Amoled, Spain
• Last Vermouth, France

It is always a pleasure to see interesting animation, and this festivals nominations are no exception:

• Feminam, Belgium
• Here, USA
• A Flash of a Second, USA

The Documentary Nominations all have interesting insights into other worlds that we would rarely get access to

• Escape to Costa Rica-Jungle!, a beautifully shot nature documentary
• Where It All Began, an uncanny history of football
• John Cousins and the University of the Waves, an intricate look at a true musical innovator