Awards

Prix UIP Berlin

"This prize was unusual among juries because it was a unanimous decision between all the members of our team." International Competition's jury president, director Arturo Ripstein (Mexico), actress Kate Moran (France), filmmaker Rafi Pitts (Iran), producer Rodrigo Teixeira (Brasil), filmmaker WANG Bing (China).

"The prize for Best Film goes to an astonishing masterpiece. This is filmmaking of the highest order and marks the arrival of a new great within cinema. A film that will forever live in the hearts and minds of viewers. It is a true work of art and, simply put, is one of the finest films ever made. Best film goes to Ralitza Petrova's GODLESS."

"For daring to take us into the heart of darkness, where she looks with great tenderness at the hope inherent in desperation, for her precise use of sound and economy of imagery, and for her portrait of human dignity, the jury awards the Special Jury Prize to Ralitza Petrova for GODLESS." Jury members filmmaker Elia Suleiman (Palestine), producer Zeynep Atakan (Turkey), actor Nikola Duricko (Serbia), programmer Berlin International Film Festival Thomas Hailer (Germany), actress Angeliki Papoulia (Greece)

"We were looking for a film-maker and talent who is not afraid to grab the world with the possibilities of cinema itself and use all its means to invite us inside this process. In such kind of cinema, there is no hierarchy: a scene of eating a soup is shot with the same intensity as a scene of a sex orgy. That is why we have decided to award the New Talent Grand PIX to the daring and interesting voice whose future films we are looking forward to - Ralitza Petrova." director Philippe Grandrieux (France), DoP Manuel Alberto Claro (Denmark), producer Erika Wasserman (Sweden)

"The Silver Gateway award goes to GODLESS for its unflinching depiction of life in post-communist Bulgaria. It is a film about crime, punishment and moral redemption in a world devoid of grace." Jury members filmmaker Miguel Gomes (Portugal), filmmaker Anurag Kashyap (India), President of Hot Docs Chris Mcdonald (Canada), filmmaker Tala Hadid (Iraq), producer Christine Vachon (U.S.).