“Documentary film “Prison Beauty Contest” directed by Srđan Šarenac from Bosnia and Herzegovina won the Grand Prix of the 25th Mediterranean Film Festival by the Jury’s decision. The second prize MFF Best Short goes to the film ‘A Poil’ directed by French director Audrey Clemens, while the audience also selected the film “Prison Beauty Contest’ as the best film by their choice.

The Best Camera Award went to the cinematographer Igor Marović for his work on the film “Bottlemen”, directed by Nemanja Vojinović from Serbia. 

The jury composed of Kristina Ljevak, Jelena Ružić and Ivo Krešić in their explanation said that Srđan Šarenac once again confirms himself as a professional documentarian and a dedicated researcher whose films manage to have an important social dimension and a charm that conquers the widest audience. 

"In a Brazilian prison, an attempt is made to preserve human dignity and enable the process of personal rehabilitation and later inclusion in regular social flows by beauty contest. There, outside of freedom, some women achieved personal freedom and admitted to themselves and others their same-sex sexual orientation”, they stated. 

The jury also awarded two special mentions to the documentaries “Bottlemen”, directed by Nemanja Vojinović  and to “At the Door of the House Who will Come Knocking” directed by Maja Novaković from BiH. 

The jury for short documentary film composed of Sahin Šišić, Zdravko Terkeš and Tomislav Mršić awarded the Best Short award to the film „A Poil!“ because in its 17 minutes it presents a powerful and current topic – human body as a planet, and humans as the ones who destroy their planet.

„This short documentary film from France, as well as the most of this year’s selection, successfully flirts with the experimental form, warning of the dangers of human destructiveness towards the environment and oneself, and effectively combines philosophical ideas with an ecological message and leads us to face questions of survival, responsibility and connection with the world that surrounds us”, they stated in their explanation.

The jury also awarded two special mentions to the film “Pain” directed by Ivan Faktor from Croatia and to “The One Who Doesn’t See” directed by Natxo Leuza from Spain. 

The jury for the Best Camera, composed of Eldar Emrić, Draško Gajić and Vedrana Mijić, awarded the Best Camera award to Igor Marović, the cinematographer of the film “Bottlemen”.

„Visual storytelling is an excellent example of a whole in which the director's idea and photography match flawlessly. Artistically impressive compositions are combined with fragments of real life in an organic way, introducing us to the very core of events, giving us the impression that we ourselves are on the spot with the protagonists of this story. The director of photography very consciously soaked us into a real documentary story through the camera lens like a vortex and took us along with the protagonists of this film ton a unique and unforgettable visual journey“, the jury said.

There are two special mentions awarded in this category also, one to Camille Jaulent for the film „A Poil!“ and to Fabian Faure for the film „The Black Garden“.

The documentary film from the Home Authors program “Hassan’s Wars”, directed by Robert Bubalo, was screened after the awards ceremony. 

The award-winning animated film "The Cricket and Antoinette" by the Croatian director Luka Rukavina is going to be screened in the morning hours of the last festival day in the MFF Fora program, along with the short films created at the children camp “Zelenkapica” and the film created within the creative summer workshop “Zabavator”.  

The program of the last festival day also includes the documentary by the Croatian Association of Prisoners of the Homeland War ''Stories from the IV Elementary School Prison Camp''.

The films from the Home Authors program “Forgotten Stations” directed by Zdenko Jurilj and ”About People and Forests” directed by Josip Mlakić  are going to be screened on the same day.

The festival is going to close on Saturday, October 12 with the screening of the film “The Wrath of God” by Kristijan Milić.