Norwegian, American, Kazakh, and Iraqi films among the winners: the awards of the 21st CineFest Miskolc International Film Festival have been presented

Norwegian, American, Kazakh, and Iraqi films among the winners: the awards of the 21st CineFest Miskolc International Film Festival have been presented

On September 13, 2025, the awards of the 21st CineFest Miskolc International Film Festival were presented. Joachim Trier’s new film, Sentimental Value, won the festival’s main prize, the Pressburger Award, while the jury’s grand prize, the Zukor Award, went to Kristen Stewart’s directorial debut, The Chronology of the Water. The Iraqi film The President’s Cake, which was made with Hungarian post-production assistance, received three awards, while the audience award went to With Friends Like These.

As festival director Tibor Bíró said at the closing ceremony, “This year’s festival competition program brought the latest and most significant works of contemporary cinema to Miskolc. We were delighted that seven Hungarian productions were included in the competition programs this year, four feature films and three documentaries.” Two of the Hungarian films in the competition program are linked to Oscar-winning artists: Kristóf Deák’s With Firends Like These and László Nemes Jeles’s Orphan were shown to Hungarian audiences for the first time at CineFest – and on the day of its premiere at CineFest, it was announced that Hungary would be submitting this film for the 2026 Oscars.

The festival’s main prize, the Emeric Pressburger Award, went to the film Sentimental Value. In its award statement, the jury emphasized that Joachim Trier’s film is a thoughtful exploration of why we make art and how it connects us to others and ourselves . The festival’s Grand Prize, the Adolf Zukor Award, went to the American film The Chronology of the Water (dir. Kristen Stewart) for its honesty, courage, and willingness to experiment.

The East of Europe section award went to the Serbian-Slovenian-Croatian film Wind, Talk to Me! (dir. Stefan Đorđević), while the CineDocs award went to the Kazakh film We Live Here (dir. Zhanana Kurmasheva). The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI), the CICAE (International Federation of Art Cinemas) and the Ecumenical Jury recognized Hasan Hadi’s Iraqi film The President’s Cake. The film has a Hungarian connection in that a Hungarian team was responsible for the sound design: Hasan Hadi sought out sound engineer Tamás Zányi and his team after seeing – and hearing – Son of Saul.

To close the festival, the audience was treated to a screening of Erik Poppe’s latest drama, Quisling The Final Days, in honor of this year’s Ambassador of European Cinema. Like Juliette Binoche, Jean-Marc Barr, Franco Nero, and Vanessa Redgrave, the Norwegian film legend accepted the award in person on stage at the House of Arts.

Tibor Bíró emphasized that “We held a total of 87 film screenings at 144 showings, 25 of which were followed by discussions with the audience and the filmmakers. In addition to the screenings, festival-goers were treated to a rich selection of joint programs, such as professional conferences, roundtable discussions, and, after a long hiatus, concerts featuring 37 performers. Based on the audience’s interest and feedback, we had an extremely successful year, and we look forward to welcoming everyone back to CineFest next year.”

The 22nd CineFest Miskolc International Film Festival will be held from September 4 to 12, 2026.

 

Winners of the 21st CineFest Miskolc International Film Festival:

Emeric Pressburger Award – The festival’s main prize for best film: Sentimental Value (Affeksjonsverdi), dir. Joachim Trier

Adolf Zukor Award – Grand Prize of the festival: The Chronology of the Water, dir. Kristen Stewart

East of Europe Award: Wind, Talk to Me (Vetre, pričaj sa mnom), dir. Stefan Đorđević

Attila Dargay Award – Young Talent in Hungarian Animation: Dóra László

CineDocs Award: We Live Here, dir. Zhanana Kurmasheva

CineNewWave Award: Next Stop, dir. Fanni Potonyecz

CICAE (International Federation of Art Cinemas) Jury Award: The President’s Cake (Mamlaket al-qasab), dir. Hasan Hadi

FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics) Jury Award for Best International Film: The President’s Cake (Mamlaket al-qasab), dir. Hasan Hadi

FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics) Jury Award for Best CineNewWave Short Film: The Executioner’s Breakfast, dir. dr. Mihály Mokrai

International Ecumenical Jury Award: The President’s Cake (Mamlaket al-qasab), dir. Hasan Hadi

Audience Award based on online voting: With Friends Like These

Dr. Béla Halmay Award – To the local patriots of the culture of Miskolc: Attila Salamon

Winners of the “Dangers in Online Media!” student film competition: 1. Lure, dir. Boglárka Pethes, Tünde Balla, 2. no comment, dir. Barnabás Juhász, 3. Let’s see the next one!, dir. Hanna Peresztegi

Ambassador of European Cinema: Erik Poppe

Previously presented awards:

Art-Mozi Association Award for Best Film of the Year (2024): Lefkovicsék gyászolnak (The Lefkovics Family Mourns), dir. Ádám Breier

Lifetime Achievement Award: Róbert Koltai and Péter Tímár

 

 

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