Hungarian film director Levente Kölcsey’s short film, Break, won the Grand Prize at the 28th Alter-Native International Short Film Festival in Marosvásárhely (Târgu-Mureş), which took place between October 7 and 11. The prize was offered by the city’s administration, reported the Hungarian News Agency MTI.
This year, a total of 806 filmmakers entered their shorts in the competition, with a preliminary jury choosing 39 from this pool to participate in the official selection. Films from 20 countries entered the competition. In terms of genre, there were 19 animated films, 17 short films, two documentaries and one experimental movie in the official selection.
The Alter-Native International Short Film Festival of Marosvásárhely is one of the oldest film festivals in Transylvania, with the specific goal of promoting regional cinematography. The festival premiered in 1993 and is organized every fall, in early November, by the Hungarian Democratic Youth Organization of Maros County (otherwise known by its Hungarian acronym MADISZ). The festival supports individual filmmaking approaches and stands for the promotion of lesser-known styles, unique viewpoints, and independent self-expression in film.
Due to the epidemiological restrictions this year, the festival took place earlier than usual. As it had to be held outdoors, it was moved from its regular location, the Palace of Culture, to the Summer Theater of Marosvásárhely. According to organizers, the number of short films registered was slightly lower than in previous years, but it still exceeded 800. The jury was composed of Serbian filmmaker and critic Milos Itic, Romanian film directors Tudor Cristian Jurgiu and Titus Muntean, Hungarian film directors and screenplay writers Barnabás Tóth and Ágnes Kocsis, and Transylvanian Hungarian film director Ábel Visky. The members of the jury assessed the films of the official selection online.
The special Jury prize was awarded to Russian filmmaker Dina Velikovszkaya for her short entitled Ties. The Fountain Pen Award for the best student movie, offered by Hungarian Ombudsman for Education Lajos Tamás Aáry, went to young Hungarian filmmaker Zsolt Almási for his 2019 short entitled Figyelj már oda! (Pay attention already!). And the Sándor Simó Memorial Award for Best First Film was awarded to Polish filmmaker Piotr Milczarek for his work entitled Rain; this award was offered by MADISZ with the support of the municipality of Marosvásárhely.
Title image: The Marosvásárhely-based film festival is one of the oldest such events in Transylvania and aims to promote independent films with a unique viewpoint and form of expression
Source: Alter-Native Film Festival/Facebook
