This year, the International Ethnographic Film Festival 'OKO' (MECF) brought together five cities, creating a cultural space for the exchange of ideas and traditions. The sixth edition of the festival showcased 95 films in 24 languages from 52 countries, covering all continents.
In the capital of Bulgaria, at the City Mark Art Center, honored participants gathered: actors, directors, and art enthusiasts to summarize the festival's results and announce the winners of the best films exploring human stories.
Winners of OKO GLOBAL FICTION:
- Grand Prize: 'Reed', directed by Cemil Aadjikoglu (Turkey, Bulgaria);
- Special Jury Prize: 'Banzo', directed by Margarida Cardoso (Portugal, France, Netherlands);
- Special Mention: 'Id', directed by Youssef Abo Madegham (Israel).
Winners of OKO GLOBAL NON-FICTION:
- Grand Prize: 'To the West. To Zapata', directed by David Beam (Cuba, Spain);
- Special Jury Prize: 'Silent Observers', directed by Eliza Petkova (Bulgaria, Germany);
- Special Mention: 'Mashtat', directed by Sonia Ben Slema (France, Lebanon, Tunisia).
Winners of NASHE OKO:
- Grand Prize: 'Father's Lullaby', directed by Lesya Dyak (Ukraine, Romania, Croatia);
- Special Jury Prize: 'A Bit Alien', directed by Svitlana Lishchynska (Ukraine, Germany, Sweden).
A special jury mention was awarded to the film 'Checkpoint Zoo', directed by Joshua Zeman (USA, Ukraine) for its timely exploration of critical themes.
Additionally, the award for the best Ukrainian film went to 'My Morning Routine', directed by Vadim Adamov (Ukraine). A special mention was given to 'I Died in Irpin', directed by Anastasia Falileeva (Ukraine, Slovakia, Czech Republic) for its poignant storytelling.
The best films based on audience voting:
- Grand Prize of the Ukrainian edition: 'Search Trilogy: Separation', directed by Sofia Hera (Ukraine);
- Grand Prize of the Ukrainian Online edition: 'Rock, Paper, Scissors', directed by Franz Biem (United Kingdom);
- Bolhrad City Council Audience Prize: 'Spirit of Masquerade Games', directed by Rositsa Lazarova Sbarali (Italy, Bulgaria);
- Grand Prize of the Bulgarian edition: '2000 Meters to Andriivka', directed by Myroslav Chernov (Ukraine, USA).
