Revenge drama The Dark Valley, an Austrian-German co-production by Andreas Prochaska, won the Wishing Bell for best film as awards were given out in five categories at the end of the 1st Bled Film Festival (BFF) last evening.
The festival's jury for feature films, chaired by Italian actress Caterina Murino, selected the German-language western-style film from among eight competing features.
The best actress Wishing Bell went to Viviana Leo of the US for her role in the comedy The White Alligator by Raquel Almazan, while the best actor award went to Belgium's Benoit Poelvoordee, who starred in Scouting For Zebras.
Last Call at the Oasis by Jessica Yu, one of the eight documentaries in the competition, meanwhile received the Wishing Bell for best documentary.
This US film about the world's water crisis was selected by another jury, which was chaired by Czech film director Hanka Kastelicova.
BFF audiences also had a say in selecting their favourite, giving the Audience Award to Fish&Cat by Iranian director Shahram Mokri.
Each jury has also conferred a special mention.
One was given to "28", a feature film by Sri Lankan Prasanna Jayakody and another to Swiss-Indian documentary My Name Is Salt by Farida Pasha.
Marketed as a unique film festival due to environment-related topics, the BFF has put the meaning of water for humanity in the centre of its attention.
Running for five days in the picturesque lake-side resort of Bled, the BFF featured independent feature films as well as documentaries about water.
The president of the BFF board, Croatian actor Rade Šerbedžija has labelled it a success.
"But in order for the festival to develop, it is vital that 'the Slovenian intellectual public' recognises its meaning and embraces it," he said on Thursday.
The Wishing Bells take the name of a wishing bell which visitors of the Church of the Assumption on the Lake Bled island can ring and make a wish.
Source: The Slovenia Times
