Wind, Talk to Me by Stefan Đorđević wins the Grand Prix at the 18th CinEast Festival!

At the Awards Ceremony for the 18th CinEast Festival (Central and Eastern European Film Festival in Luxembourg, 10-26 October 2024) held on 25 October at Kinepolis Kirchberg, the International Jury awarded the Grand Prix to the film Wind, Talk to Me by Stefan Đorđević and the Special Jury Prize to the film God Will Not Help by Hana Jušić. The Critics' Prize, awarded by the Press Jury, went to Little Trouble Girls by Urška Djukić. The Young Talents Award went to Georgi M. Unkovski’s DJ Ahmet. Finally, the Audience Award went to Fiume o Morte! by Igor Bezinović. Photos from the Ceremony are available here and film stills here.

The 18th edition of CinEast was a great success! So far, the number of festival-goers has already exceeded 10,600 across the festival’s main venues. We are still awaiting the figures from several cinemas and partner high schools, and the online cinema is still ongoing. It is therefore very likely that the final number will surpass the record set in 2019 (11,200 participants) despite this year’s festival being three days shorter. We also collected over 5 000 EUR in donations for our CinEast 4 Ukraine project, bringing the total amount raised in 2025 to more than 10 000 EUR.

CinEast’s International Jury was made up of Bosnian, Academy-Award-winning director Danis Tanović (President of the Jury), Georgian director Akaki Popkhadze, Luxembourgish actress Sascha Ley, Polish director Maria Zbaşka and Luxembourgish producer Adrien Chef (photos, info). The Press Jury was composed of journalists Olivia Popp, Hendrink Warnke and Valentin Maniglia. Finally, the Young Talent Jury was composed of Nithael Athanasiou, Natalia Dembowska, Viktor Lespagnol and Louise-Henriane Lestienne, all students of the BTS Cinéma et audiovisuel programme at the Lycée des Arts et Métiers.

Danis Tanović said that the jury's decision to award the Grand Prix to Stefan Đorđević’s Wind, Talk to Me was an obvious choice: “It is everything cinema should be. It is sincere, it is poetic, it is dramatic. It deals with one of the most terrifying moments of anyone’s existence, which is the loss of a dear person. It is a profound portrait of death and life, and it stayed with me for a long time after watching it. Show it to a beloved, to your kids, to your parents – the urge you have after this film is to call your mom and say “I love you”. I can’t think of anything better to make a film about. Beautifully shot and masterfully executed by a young filmmaker – this is a win for cinema.”

The President of the Jury also explained the jury's decision to award the Special Jury Prize to the film God Will Not Help by Hana Jušić: “For its appealing photography, for the elegant narrative style with which the difficulties of communication are overcome despite different languages and cultural differences. Finding connection beyond words. God Will Not Help deals in an unpretentious way with the themes of grief, sin, and religion, as well as strangeness or being a stranger as main themes, interpreted by wonderful actors and a striking protagonist. ”

Olivia Popp presented the Press Jury's verdict on the Critics' Prize awarded to Urška Djukić’s Little Trouble Girls with these words: “The filmmaker continuously surprises the audience through their confident approach to the story of a teenage girl forced to confront her own vulnerabilities. The film’s embedded musicality and visual language create a provocative sense of tension that speaks to different forms of violence bubbling beneath the surface. Via a bright leading performance by Jara Sofija Ostan and an innate sense of curiosity, we, the audience, discover the many faces of growing up.”

Louise-Henriane Lestienne announced the Young Talents Jury's decision to award the Young Talents Award to Georgi M. Unkovski’s DJ Ahmet with the following words: “As young film students, we are driven by passion to create and tell stories and to express our creativity often means a lot. Humanity has always strived to express freedom through the arts, and cinema is no exception… Choosing a winner was not easy. Each of these films reminded us why we create - to connect, to question, to inspire empathy, courage and hope. Every filmmaker truly deserved their place in this selection. The winner of this year’s Young Talents Award is Georgi M. Unkovski for DJ Ahmet.”

Igor Bezinović's film Fiume o Morte! received the highest scores in the public vote (in cinemas and online) and thus received the Audience Award for Best Feature Film.

Finally, the Audience Awards for the best short films went to: Sujip by Gintarė Parulytė (Best Fiction Short Film), Confession by Rebeka Bizubová (Best Documentary Short Film) and Balconada by Iva Tokmakchieva (Best Animated Short Film).

The ceremony, attended by members of the International Jury, the Press Jury, the Young Talent Jury and other guests, was followed by the screening of Teona Struvar Mitevska's film Mother. Photos of the ceremony can be found here.

The festival closes on Sunday, 26 October, but many films will remain available online via our CinEast Online Cinema, a dedicated VOD platform (https://cineast.eventive.org/welcome) until 10 November.