'Tomboy' Wins Odessa International Film Festival Main Prize

MOSCOW – The film Tomboy by French director Céline Sciamma collected the Golden Duke, the main prize of the official competition of the Odessa International Film Festival at a closing ceremony, which was held at the Black Sea port city’s opera theater on July 23.

The movie was also awarded the prize of the international federation of film clubs (FICC). The jury, headed by Polish actor Jerzy Stuhr, awarded Belgium’s Olias Barco as the best director for his movie Kill Me Please.

Israeli actress Keren Berger picked up the best performance prize for her role in Roi Werner’s 2 Night. The jury’s special awards went to La vida útil (“A Useful Life”) by Uruguay’s Federico Vejroj and Podslon (“Shelter”) by Bulgarian director Dragomir Sholev.

The audience choice award was given to the movie Yasemin Samdereli’s Almanya - Willkommen in Deutschland (“Almanya – Welcome to Germany”).

The Odessa festival, which this year was held for the second time, aims to become the country’s main cinema event. This edition, in addition to screenings, featured a script workshop, a summer film school, a film market and pitching sessions.