The Riga International Film Festival (RIGA IFF), which is celebrating its tenth anniversary in cinemas in Riga and online throughout Latvia from 12 to 22 October, has announced the winners at this year’s RIGA IFF AWARDS ceremony! The festival’s juries, made up of international and local industry experts, judged a total of 84 films that competed for awards and special prizes from the festival’s sponsors in seven categories. For the first time in the festival’s history, audience members were able to join the nominated filmmakers, jury members and industry professionals at the in-person awards ceremony at the festival’s main venue, Splendid Palace cinema.

The winner of the 2023 RIGA IFF Feature Competition is the sympathetic comedy Family Time by Tia Kouvo, which received a cash prize of EUR 4,000 and the festival’s main award – the Golden Rooster. The jury described Family Time as “Formally impressively staged and full of love for its characters that each has a different motivation, this film shows not only the complexity of relationships, but also how universal our personal problems are.” Estonian filmmaker Anna Hints’ documentary Smoke Sauna Sisterhood, received a special mention: “This film is the hottest “Kammerspiel” ever. In a restricted room, we find a multi-bodied woman that literally sweats out all her topics, fears, and traumatic experiences.”

The main award of the Short Film International Competition and the EUR 2,000 prize went to Barbara Rupik’s Such Miracles Do Happen. The film is a fable based on the traditions of surrealism and animist beliefs, which the jury praises for “showing us how growing up in a particular cultural and religious environment shapes children and how the people they become will change the environment itself and its social and moral customs. Through imaginative and otherworldly mixed media animation that nevertheless has a clear connection to reality, this film immerses us in an exquisite and unique viewing experience.” The jury gave a special mention to Julian Garcia Long’s experimental short detective story The Despair of Monkeys, with the motivation that it “brings out a little-known story in order to introduce us to another way of looking at how capitalism and colonialism intertwine and work together”. The winner of the Short Film National Competition and the recipient of a specially designed statuette and a cash prize of EUR 1,000 is Ilze Ance Kazaka’s animated short Debris (Gruzis) with the motivation: “In this deceptively simple animated film, the director uses only black and white outlines and empty spaces in a way that transcends conventional logic in order to bring us closer to ourselves and allow us to accept our own imperfections and shortcomings.” In The Midst Of Chaos There Was Shape, by Saarlotta Virri, has been shortlisted for the prestigious European Film Academy’s European Short Film 2023 award.

The winning music video in the Baltic Music Video Competition is Imposer by Carlos Lesmes for the group The Lou Lous. “This music video provides a surprising and evocative view on the dangers of religious awakening. It is created with a radical sense of humour and employs the most professional filmmaking tools, thus creating an artwork that is both violent and fun”. The music video received a festival award and a cash prize of EUR 1,000.

The winners of RIGA IFF FORUM, the festival’s industry section, have also been announced. The winner of the SHORT RIGA Test Screenings and the recipient of the BBPosthouse prize of post-production services worth EUR 5,000 is Martinus Klemet’s short film Yummy. The winner of the RIGA IFF SHOWCASE is Jan Gebert’s Europa, which received a EUR 5,000 cash prize from the festival’s main partner, the media and technology company Tet. With the following motivation, the jury’s special mention goes to Edmunds Jansons’ Freeride (Brīvais nobrauciens): “Even as a work in progress, the combination of music and abstract figures creates a joyful and hypnotic rhythm for the audience. The film takes us back to the origins of animated cinema.”

The celebrations of the festival’s 10th edition will continue until the evening of 22 October, with internationally acclaimed and award-winning films screening at Splendid Palace and Forum Cinemas on Sunday. You can also enjoy some of the films from RIGA IFF online at online.rigaiff.lv (only in Latvia) until 22 October at 23:59.

RIGA IFF’s main partner is the media and technology company Tet. The festival is supported by the State Culture Capital Foundation, the EU programme Creative Europe MEDIA, Riga City Council, and the National Film Centre.