site.btaSofia Film Festival Acknowledges New Masters of Mexican Cinema

The film Sujo received the Grand Prix in the international competition of the 28th Sofia International Film Festival (SIFF) at a ceremony in Hall 1 of the National Palace of Culture on Saturday evening. The honour comes with a cash prize of EUR 7,000, which is divided between the director and the producer, and is provided by Sofia Municipality.

Sujo, a co-production of Mexico, France and the US, is directed by Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez, who have been described as the "new masters" of Mexican cinema. Their joint work comes to Sofia after winning the Grand Jury Prize in the International Feature Film Competition of the Sundance Film Festival in January.

The jury gave the Bulgarian Short Film Award to Chocolate, directed by Orlin Milchev, as well as a Diploma for Achievement in Cinematography to an entry from Japan: Beyond the Fog, directed by Daichi Murase. The Best Director Award in the international competition went to Shuchi Talati of India for Girls Will Be Girls. The Special Jury Prize was awarded to Adi Voicu's The Capture (Romania).

Stefan Komandarev's Blaga’s Lessons received two prizes: for best film in the New Bulgarian Feature Film Programme, and for best film in the Festival's Balkan competition, awarded by the Union of Bulgarian Filmmakers' Film Critics Guild.

The Audience Award went to Because I Love Bad Weather, the feature debut of Bulgarian director Yana Lekarska.