(L-R) Radek Lipka, Cineast director; Lydia Indjova, Luxembourg actress;
Credit: Elza Osmane, Chronicle.lu
On Saturday 25 October 2025, Kinepolis Kirchberg hosted the Awards Ceremony for the eighteenth CinEast Festival (Central and Eastern European Film Festival in Luxembourg), which took place from Friday 10 to Sunday 26 October 2025.
The award ceremony was held in English and hosted by festival director Radek Lipka together with Lydia Indjova, an actress from Luxembourg. In his opening speech, the director reflected on the past fifteen days, highlighting special guests, artists and filmmakers who attended screenings throughout the festival. He noted that this year’s edition was three days shorter than the previous one yet gathered almost 500 more visitors, reaching around 10,600 across the festival’s main venues.
After recalling the nominees through a short presentation and slideshow of festival moments, the hosts invited each jury to the stage to share their remarks and announce the awards.
The International Jury of CinEast comprised Bosnian Academy Award-winning director Danis Tanović (President), Georgian filmmaker Akaki Popkhadze, Luxembourgish actress Sascha Ley, Polish director Maria Zba̧ska and Luxembourgish producer Adrien Chef. The Press Jury included journalists Olivia Popp, Hendrik Warnke and Valentin Maniglia, while the Young Talent Jury consisted 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.
Grand Prix
The International Jury awarded the Grand Prix to the film Wind, Talk to Me by Stefan Đorđević, with Danis Tanović stating: “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. The urge you have after this film is to call your mum and say ‘I love you’.”
Special Jury Prize
The International Jury also honoured the film God Will Not Help by Hana Jušić. Sascha Ley explained the decision of the jury, noting: “For its appealing photography, for the elegance of its narrative style that manages to overcome communication barriers despite differences in language and culture. God Will Not Help explores themes of grief, sin, religion and the feeling of strangeness with simplicity, carried by remarkable actors and a striking protagonist.”
Young Talents Award
The Young Talent Jury awarded Georgi M. Unkovski’s DJ Ahmet, with Louise-Henriane Lestienne stating: “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.”
Critics' Prize
The Press Jury awarded the Critics’ Prize to Little Trouble Girls by Urška Djukić. “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,” Olivia Popp explained.
Audience Award
Fiume o Morte! by Igor Bezinović received the highest score in the audience awards from the public vote (in cinemas and online).
Throughout the festival the audience also got a chance to vote for the best short films with the highest marks giving 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 festival raised more than €5,000 in donations for its CinEast 4 Ukraine project, bringing the total amount collected in 2025 to over €10,000.
Commenting on the role of cinema today, Danis Tanović reflected on how such festivals serve as beacons that reconnect people through dialogue and shared understanding explaining them as “rare lighthouses in the darkness”.
The awards ceremony was followed by the screening of the film Mother by Teona Strugar Mitevska.
Whilst the festival concluded on Sunday 26 October 2025, several films will remain available online via the CinEast Online Cinema platform until Wednesday 5 November 2025. More information is available on the official website.
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