The INTERNATIONAL JURY of the 38th Bolzano Film Festival Bozen, composed of Dominik Kamalzadeh, Fabio Ferzetti, Nadia Trevisan, Pascal Trächslin, Eva Trobisch, and Barbara Weis, awards the following prizes:
AUTONOMOUS PROVINCE OF BOLZANO AWARD FOR BEST FILM of the BFFB38 Competition | €7,000
WIND, TALK TO ME (Vetre, pričaj sa mnom) by Stefan Djordjevic (SRB/SVN/HRV 2025)
Motivation: Intimate diary, family album, collective tale, lyrical poem on Nature in which every presence – human, animal, vegetal – dissolves and reconnects. Thus, moving freely through time periods and genres, Djordjevic has transformed the grief for a departing mother into a clear and memorable film, small and at the same time immense like the patch of land and water in which it was filmed. Which miraculously becomes the entire world.
FONDAZIONE CASSA DI RISPARMIO DI BOLZANO AWARD FOR BEST ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT in a BFFB38 Competition film | €5,000
To director LIRYC DELA CRUZ for the image design of the film COME LA NOTTE (ITA/PHL 2025)
Motivation: Liryc Dela Cruz's black and white images, carefully composed and static, immerse us in the unknown universe of Filipino workers living in Italy. In the style of “slow cinema” – the film is made up of only about thirty shots – it observes the meeting of brothers and sisters and subtly undermines common stereotypes using extremely economical creative means. Liryc Dela Cruz, who is also responsible for direction, screenplay, editing, production design, and cinematography, manages to subtly highlight the interpersonal tensions among the characters, which culminate in great drama.
SPECIAL JURY PRIZE for a BFFB38 Competition film | €3,000
VIET AND NAM by Tru’o’ng Minh Quý (VNM 2024)
Motivation: For the ability to explore the complexities of cultural identity and collective memory, with particular attention to life between two worlds. Through a visually evocative narrative, the film invites reflection on the meaning of belonging and the challenges of change, unfolding between nostalgia and hope, addressing the weight of the past and the challenges of the present. An invitation to reflect on hospitality and unity, emphasizing that shared experiences can bring different cultures closer together. A profound inner journey where the love of the two young men becomes a symbol of hope and resilience.
AUTONOMOUS REGION TRENTINO-ALTO ADIGE AWARD FOR DISTRIBUTION SUPPORT for a film in the BFFB38 Competition or the RealeNonReale section | €10,000
UNSERE ZEIT WIRD KOMMEN by Ivette Löcker (AUT/DEU 2024, 77’)
Motivation: The film takes us into the everyday life of a couple and surprises us from the beginning with an intimacy that speaks of evolving trust. The camera remains restrained, creating great closeness without being ingratiating: Viktoria is Austrian, Siaka comes from Gambia, they live together in Vienna, a life between tenderness and hardship. What emerges from Ivette Löcker's careful direction is a relationship film that tells of cultural and bureaucratic resistance, daily racism, and the struggle for belonging. At the same time, the film fundamentally addresses the possibility of dialogue – respect for differences, and a love that is also conscious of what separates us. Löcker maintains the balance of perspectives without flattening them and sets perspectives in motion. Love here appears as both a desire for security and a matter of negotiation, full of ambivalence. Contradictions remain, prejudices are not erased. “Our time will come” is a film we hope many viewers will see, because it makes the political visible through the personal.
The INTERNATIONAL JURY also awards a SPECIAL MENTION to the film:
MY BOYFRIEND EL FASCISTA by Matthias Lintner (ITA 2025, 95’)
Motivation: In a time of global upheaval, marginalization, and exclusion, two men negotiate world politics in slippers.
In a divided society where we condemn “the others” for their political beliefs, a left-wing director goes to bed with the political enemy – a right-wing populist voter. He is a Cuban exile, he has his reasons, and he is his boyfriend. He admires him for his activist courage, for his passion. With a backpack full of contradictions, the two travel and wander through Cuba and Italy. And they talk. A lot. They understand each other until they no longer do. They listen until they can no longer hear each other. And they love. So they keep talking. MY BOYFRIEND, EL FASCISTA makes us listen, makes us understand and question. Through a film that is urgent, tender and ruthless, light and depressing, very personal and therefore so universal. A film that reminds us to look each other in the eyes instead of looking away.
CITTÀ DI BOLZANO AUDIENCE AWARD
For the most-voted film by the audience from the BFFB38 Competition or the RealeNonReale section – €2,000
MY BOYFRIEND EL FASCISTA by Matthias Lintner (ITA 2025, 95’)
The FILMCLUB JURY, composed of Greta Amati, Alberto Battan, Gustavo Delgado, Anna Fischnaller, Angelika Lee, Natalia Tibolla, awards the following prizes:
IDM FILM COMMISSION SÜDTIROL AWARD FOR BEST EUREGIO FEATURE FILM | €2,000
WORÜBER MAN NICHT SPRECHEN KANN, DARÜBER MUSS MAN REDEN by Karl Prossliner (ITA 2025)
Motivation: The Filmclub jury decided to award a visually impactful film for its courageous representation and personal interpretation of the taboo of poverty in a society increasingly oriented toward success.
IDM FILM COMMISSION SÜDTIROL AWARD FOR BEST EUREGIO SHORT FILM | €1,000
MOVING MOUNTAINS by Andrea Costa
Motivation: For its original portrayal of overcoming cultural barriers and mistrust between two very different realities from the perspective of hospitality, tolerance, and freedom.
SPECIAL “DOLOMITI UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE” AWARD
For the film that best represents the values of the "Dolomiti UNESCO World Heritage" | €1,000
KARUARA, LA GENTE DEL RÍO by Miguel Araoz Cartagena and Stephanie Boyd (PER, 2024)
Motivation: KARUARA, LA GENTE DEL RÍO impresses with breathtaking landscape shots interwoven with impactful hand-painted animation sequences, making the spirit world tangible for the audience. The film immerses viewers in the magic and beauty of the Amazon region and engagingly, naturally, and authentically tells the story of the Kukama people, their deep connection with nature and the landscape, and not least, their relationship with the spiritual world, often neglected or even denied by modern society.
The jury was deeply impressed by the local population’s awareness of their universal heritage and the determined resistance this endangered culture shows to preserve a desirable future on their land.
The film emphasizes that the destruction of a territory's environment not only compromises the foundations of life itself but also the culture, way of thinking, and living of local populations and their spiritual world.
A special mention was awarded by the jury to the film:
RAIZ – THROUGH ROCKS AND CLOUDS by Franco García Becerra (PER/CHL 2024)
EUREGIO YOUNG JURY AWARD FOR BEST FILM | €1,000
Awarded by the jury composed of Nina Lechner, Sarah Pomaroli Pettnau, Elena Sannicoló, Evelyn Scoz, Sarah Bertagnolli, Liam Gamberoni, Matteo Moscova, Tamara Mulser and Carolina Waldmüller Unterweger – students from South Tyrol, Tyrol, and Trentino – goes to:
LAST SWIM by Sasha Nathwani (GBR, 2024)
Motivation: Unique, artistic, and rich in contrast: these are the qualities that define the film we, this year’s EUREGIO Young Jury, decided to award. The quality of the competition made the decision far from easy, but LAST SWIM managed to captivate us the most. We appreciated the lively direction, which allowed us to become fully immersed in the narrative, and the masterfully portrayed character development. With a realistic approach and careful attention to detail, the film brings us closer to themes such as friendship, freedom, the desire to live, and death.
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS
In collaboration with the Bolzano Tourist and Promotion Agency, the 2025 Lifetime Achievement Awards were presented during the festival to actress Alba Rohrwacher and director Christian Petzold.
