‘Catane’ And ‘Fantasy’ Among Top Winners At SEEfest Festival

Catane, the narrative directorial debut of Romanian filmmaker Ioana Mischie, claimed the Grand Jury Prize for Best Feature Film at SEEfest, the South East European Film Festival in Los Angeles.

Mischie’s comedy takes place in a remote, mountainous village in Romania where every one of the inhabitants has applied for government benefits, claiming disabilities of various kinds. Suspicious government officials are sent to investigate, resulting in a sequence of humorous, often laugh-out-loud encounters.

“In a world overflowing with content, it’s rare to encounter a story that feels new,” the SEEfest jury wrote in its statement. “From the directing and cinematography, to the lighting and costume design. The winner of this competition invited us to experience cinema and storytelling in a way that felt vibrant, alive, relatable, and deeply human.”

The jury, comprised of Adriana Trautman, Moneer Yaqubi, and Christopher O’Conner, continued, “Catane reminds us why innovation and creativity in storytelling still matters. Catane is as fascinating as it is magical… It is refreshing and inspiring to see creativity win, especially when paired with what appeared to have been a talented team of filmmakers.”

SEEfest’s Best Ensemble award went to Fantasy, directed by Kukla. The jury wrote, “Kukla’s Fantasy is a luminous breakthrough in Slovenian cinema, expertly blending urban grit with magical realism to transcend the coming-of-age genre. This visionary work captures a yearning for liberation through a sensory-rich experience that is both local and universally poetic. The film’s success is rooted in its extraordinary ensemble cast. The raw intimacy of the core trio—Sina, Mihrije, and Jasna—is perfectly balanced by Alina Juhart’s magnetic performance as Fantasy, which serves as a transformative catalyst for the narrative.”

Fantasy also was awarded an Honorable Mention in the Best Feature Film category, and it earned a separate Honorable Mention for its cinematography, recognizing the work of DOP Lazar Bogdanovic.

Taking the festival’s prize for Best Cinematography in a Feature Film was Father, directed by Tereza Nvotová, with cinematography by Adam Suzin.

“Father was the most impressive in its scope of mastery of camera movement, lighting, and technical cinematography accomplishment,” wrote the cinematography jury, comprised of David Auner, David J. Frederick, and Michael Stampler. “The stitching of the different shots on a few occasions was really so impressive. The continuous 360 degree camera shot efforts which supported the story, emphasized the tension and provided exciting expository needs of the script – all provided within excellent lighting and the cast performance.”

Jurors added, “The cinematography in Father was top notch. Combining the elements of compelling camera composition and movement in continuous close ups as well as beautifully accomplished technocrane work fully exploring the film’s characters emotional journey through joy and crisis was powerful. The lighting was transparent and natural, the lens flares were appropriate and beautiful. A complete thumbs up.”

Earning honorable mentions in the Best Cinematography in a Feature Film category were Fantasy (as noted above) and Our Father, directed by Goran Stanković and shot by Dragan Vildovic.

Our Father won SEEfest’s Audience Award in the Feature Film category.

Father and Our Father were separately recognized by the publication Cinema Without Borders, which presents the Bridging the Borders Award. Jurors Ayat Najafi, Chale Nafus, Susan Morgan Cooper, Vladek Juszkiewicz, and Abbas Yari gave their top prize to Father, noting the film “depicts the tragedy of a father accidentally causing the death of his own child. The direction, the acting and the script authentically illustrate the father’s gut -wrenching grief and the public’s condemnation.”

The Cinema Without Borders jury awarded an Honorable Mention to Our Father, writing that it tells “the story of a priest’s extremely tough approach to rehabilitating drug addicts. The actors and the director force us through the unbearably hellish struggle of the addicts and those trying to save them.”

SEEfest, which is co-presented by ELMA (elma.org), foundation for European Languages and Movies in America, wrapped its 21^st edition with the awards ceremony at the Laemmle Royal Theatre in Los Angeles. Following the awards presentation, the festival hosted the North American premiere of Jakub Kroner’s Černák, the sequel to Slovak all-time box office hit Miki, “chronicling the rise and fall of the local mafia boss who ruled the turf in post-socialist vacuum.”

Among other SEEfest awards, Best Documentary Film went to 9-Month Contract, directed by Ketevan Vashagashvili. Jurors Shiloh Strong, Sunil Sadarangani, and Juli Juteau saluted the film as “a heartfelt in-depth dive into the needs, desires and passionate beliefs of a mother who will do anything, including renting out her womb as a surrogate, to take care of her teenage daughter. This skilled cinema-verité style documentary invites the viewer to deeply empathize with the hardship circumstances this small family endures, while ending on a note of hope and possibility for both mother and daughter.”

An Honorable Mention in the Best Documentary Film category was presented to Militantropos, a film set in Ukraine directed by Yelizaveta Smith, Alina Gorlova, and Simon Mozgovyi.

“Militantropos presents a wonderful way to look at the experience of life at war,” the jury wrote. “The film is a war documentary but in a new way that really stuck with us. There were some real moments that gave us a deeper understanding of the impact of constant war on a culture from new angles.”

The Beauty of the Donkey, directed by Dea Gjinovci, won the Audience Award in the Documentary Feature category. That film also won for Best Cinematography in a Documentary Film, recognizing the work of cinematographer Maxime Kathari.

Nonfiction cinematography jurors Claude Budin-Juteau and Shaley Brooks wrote of The Beauty of the Donkey, “This lyrical hybrid documentary traces a daughter’s journey to reconnect with her father’s lost homeland, as Asllan returns with his daughter Dea to Makermal, the Kosovar village he left sixty years earlier,” jurors said. “What stood out to us was the strength of the composition and lighting, which gave the film a striking visual impact throughout. The night footage is especially beautiful and memorable, and the careful handling of light shapes an aesthetic that lingers well beyond the final frame. Kathari’s cinematography doesn’t merely document a homecoming — it becomes the medium through which memory itself is recovered, mourned, and made luminous again.”

The jury awarded three honorable mentions in the nonfiction cinematography category: Militantropos, Electing Ms. Santa (director Raisa Razmerita; cinematographer Ion Gnatiuc), and My Dear Theo, directed by Alisa Kovalenko, with cinematography by Kovalenko.

These are additional awards presented by SEEfest Wednesday night:

SHORT FICTION

Jury: Gary Shapiro, Amanda Sweikow Smith, Katharina Nimmervoll

WINNER

PLACE UNDER THE SUN

Director: Vlad Bolgarin / Country: Moldova

Jury Statement: PLACE UNDER THE SUN is a quietly powerful portrait of dignity, pride, and the fragile bond between a father and son. Set in a bustling Moldovan marketplace, it finds profound humanity in small, everyday moments of struggle and grace.  With spare dialogue and sensitive visual storytelling, the film reveals a father’s shame, a child’s unwavering love, and the unspoken understanding between them. A simple gesture, buying a peach to restore his father’s sense of worth, becomes a moving expression of empathy and hope. For its tender storytelling, lyrical imagery, and genuine emotional warmth, we are proud to award PLACE UNDER THE SUN Best Short Fiction Film.

HONORABLE MENTION

ERASERHEAD IN A KNITTED SHOPPING BAG

Director: Lili Koss / Country: Romania

Jury Statement: ERASERHEAD IN A KNITTED SHOPPING BAG captures the intensity of childhood obsession and the resilience it inspires. From its opening frames, it establishes a rich, atmospheric visual language rooted in Ro’s inner world, one shaped by hardship, sibling tensions, and quiet cruelty. Within this reality, her determination and imagination becomes an act of resistance, culminating in a haunting fusion of viewer and cinema that reveals how deeply art can transform a young life.

Both nostalgic and sharply observed, ERASERHEAD IN A KNITTED SHOPPING BAG evokes a specific cultural moment while speaking to a universal experience: the way a single image, story, or idea can become a lifeline. For its striking cinematography, distinctive voice, and its moving portrayal of how young people carve out meaning and hope on their own terms, we are proud to award it an Honorable Mention.

SHORT DOCUMENTARY

Jury: David Fisch, Bryan Honig, Sarah Priestnall

WINNER

AROUND THE CLOCK

Director: Marina Musulin / Country: Croatia

Jury Statement: With AROUND THE CLOCK, we were immediately hooked by the slice-of-life approach and how the filmmaker throws you into this woman’s life without explanation. Through observing moments of a humble life, it does an immensely effective job at highlighting the subject’s personality, passion, and willingness to get her hands dirty for those around her. It’s a credit to the filmmaker’s vision and the expertise of the editor that we come to learn, and care, so much about the subject without the use of title cards, interviews, or narration. The filmmaking approach complemented the subject and her day/life beautifully.

HONORABLE MENTION

PALACES OF MEMORY

Director: Matlab Mukhtarov / Country: Azerbaijan

Jury Statement: From the provocative initial image of a biscuit dissolving into tea to the stunningly-shot recreations of his first memory, PALACES OF MEMORY takes us on a journey through their own nostalgia and insecurity. The filmmaker’s choice to allow small details, like his mother spending a month’s salary for photos of her children (especially when the photos are somewhat mediocre), is a very effective way to highlight the lengths people go just to remember. After an in-depth exploration of self and memory, enhanced by emotion-led music choices, ending with the innocence of a young stranger Yusif, leaves the viewer with many questions about the importance of memory. Will this be Yusif’s first memory? Is it okay to not find the answers you are looking for within yourself? Is living in the moment more joyful?

SHORT ANIMATION

Jury: C. Craig Patterson, Ron Holsey

WINNER

SILENT CINEMA

Director: Krste Gospodinovski / Country: North Macedonia

Jury Statement: An ambitious, well-executed and beautiful cinematic achievement that uses clever stop-motion techniques executed with the utmost care. SILENT CINEMA manages to be evocative even using rough, homemade-feeling puppets with static faces. The lighting, art design and score are all excellent – and the single shot construction gives the film a dreamy, meditative quality. In addition to the technical competence of the film, the story was personally moving for members of the jury. The filmmaker crafted something that provides a narrative without answering everything for us.

HONORABLE MENTION

DISTURBIA

Director: Mira Yankova / Country: Bulgaria

Jury Statement: An inspired and meticulously crafted stream of consciousness with absurdist and surreal morphs that take us on a thought-provoking journey. DISTURBIA was emotionally affecting and felt personal to the filmmaker. A visually stunning piece that felt at times like a psychedelic Guernica.

HONORABLE MENTION

FAČUK

Director: Maida Srabovic / Country: Croatia, Slovenia

Jury Statement: FAČUK is an allegorical and simple story told exceptionally well through its art. With inspired design, stunning backgrounds and affecting score, the film manages to be whimsical while dealing with difficult subject matter. The filmmaker masterfully integrates the naive art style into the film’s design and animation techniques. While it doesn’t shy away from its outlook or darkness, FAČUK is like a tale told on stained-glass windows – through broad stroke tableaus and painstakingly beautiful art.