– She Just Walked into the Room and She Doesn’t Know Why She Did It has scooped the Best Febio Pitch Award, while Valentyn Vasyanovych’s To the Victory! took home the top prize from the festival proper
Michaela Kaliská (third from left), producer of the Best Febio Pitch Award winner, She Just Walked into the Room and She Doesn’t Know Why She Did It, and its director, Eva Sajanová (fourth from left) (© Andrea Kalinová)
The 33rd edition of Bratislava’s International Film Festival Febiofest once again combined its festival and industry strands to spotlight emerging voices from Central and Eastern Europe, rewarding both completed works and projects in development across its In the Heart of Europe Competition and Bratislava Industry Days.
Within the industry programme, the 11th edition of Bratislava Industry Days showcased a slate of projects at various stages of development, production and post-production. The Best Febio Pitch Award went to Eva Sajanová’s She Just Walked into the Room and She Doesn’t Know Why She Did It, an experimental short documentary exploring Alzheimer’s disease and unpaid care work. The Cineuropa Work in Progress Award was presented to Terézia Halamová’s The Hour Between Dog and Wolf, a Czech-Slovak road movie examining masculinity and emotional dislocation through the story of a touring male stripper. Halamová also received a Special Mention for her short film Dog and Wolf (see the interview) in the In the Heart of Europe Competition, praised as “a well-directed series of episodes” anchored by a central performance combining “strength, confidence and vulnerability”. The Hour Between Dog and Wolf will be her feature-length debut, extending the short film.
Alica Bednáriková’s Attention Whores, a provocative Czech-Slovak coming-of-age drama set within a secondary school, received the Tatino Film Award, while the MIDPOINT Consulting Award went to Anna Ahaliieva’s 9 Months, a Slovak short fiction project tackling the ongoing deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia. The Krakow Film Festival and DocLab Poland Award was granted to Alla Mitiukova’s Residence Permit, a Ukrainian documentary essay exploring identity and displacement across post-Soviet territories. Marina Baibarza’s Kyiv Under My Wheels, an intimate docu-fiction portrait of wartime Kyiv from a taxi driver’s perspective, received the DAE Talent Encouragement Award, while Veronika Kováč’s RAW, a Slovak documentary examining the emotional and ethical complexities of surrogacy, was honoured with the Ji.hlava New Visions Market Award.
In the programme of the festival itself, the main award in the In the Heart of Europe Competition went to Valentyn Vasyanovych’s To the Victory! [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], a Ukrainian drama set in a post-war reality that explores the psychological aftermath of conflict. The jury praised the film for “how it balances light and darkness, and constantly surprises”, highlighting its focus on the less visible consequences of war, including fractured relationships and loss of meaning. A Special Mention in the feature competition was awarded to the female ensemble of The Other Side of Summer [+see also:
film review
interview: Vojtěch Strakatý
film profile], with Lucia Fingerhutová, Nikola Kylarová, Eliška Bašusová and Sofia Anna Švehlíková recognised for their performances, which, according to the jury, “beautifully revive the energy of youth” and capture “the full emotional spectrum of adolescence and friendship”.
In the short-film competition, the main prize went to Seablindness by Slovak director Tereza Smetanová, which the jury commended for its “impressive cinematography and delicately timed rhythm”. Incidentally, Seablindness was pitched at the Bratislava Industry Days in 2025 and won the Best Febio Pitch Award (see the news).
Here is the full list of award winners:
In the Heart of Europe Competition
Best Feature Film Award
To the Victory! [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Valentyn Vasyanovych (Ukraine)
Special Mention
The Other Side of Summer [+see also:
film review
interview: Vojtěch Strakatý
film profile] – female ensemble cast (Lucia Fingerhutová, Nikola Kylarová, Eliška Bašusová, Sofia Anna Švehlíková)
Best Short Film Award
Seablindness – Tereza Smetanová (Slovakia)
Special Mention
Dog and Wolf – Terézia Halamová (Slovakia/Czech Republic)
Bratislava Industry Days
Best Febio Pitch Award
She Just Walked into the Room and She Doesn’t Know Why She Did It – Eva Sajanová (Slovakia)
Producers: Michaela Kaliská, Erika Paulinská (NINJA film), Hana Adámiková (FTF VŠMU)
Cineuropa Work in Progress Award
The Hour Between Dog and Wolf – Terézia Halamová (Czech Republic/Slovakia)
Producers: Natália Pavlove (Other Stories), Matej Sotník (guča films)
Tatino Film Award
Attention Whores – Alica Bednáriková (Slovakia/Czech Republic)
Producers: Jakub Viktorín (nutprodukcia), Valeria Borkovcová, Tomáš Hrubý (nutprodukce)
MIDPOINT Consulting Award
9 Months – Anna Ahaliieva (Slovakia)
Producers: Tereza Kravecová, Emília Širotníková (FTF VŠMU)
Krakow Film Festival and DocLab Poland Award
Residence Permit – Alla Mitiukova (Ukraine)
Producer: Alla Mitiukova
Co-producers: Giorgi Mukhadze, Giorgi Kobalia (Terra Incognita)
DAE Talent Encouragement Award
Kyiv Under My Wheels – Marina Baibarza (Ukraine)
Producer: Marina Baibarza (Process Films)
Ji.hlava New Visions Market Award
RAW – Veronika Kováč (Slovakia)
Producer: Maia Martiniak (Mediapulz)
