25th Warsaw International Film Festival
9-18 October 2008
Total audience: 108,000
Cinemas: Multikino (4 rooms), Kinoteka (5 rooms), Kultura (1 room)
Audience Award
- best feature film: two films received exactly the same mark for the first time ever - 4.77. In the feature film category, the joint winners were:
DOM ZŁY / THE DARK HOUSE, dir. Wojciech Smarzowski (Poland)
and WELCOME, dir. Philippe Lioret (France).
In the documentary category, the winner was HASHMATSA / DEFAMATION, dir. Yoav Shamir (Israel / Denmark / Austria / USA).
In the shorts category, the winner was THE PIG, dir. Dorte W. Hogh (Denmark).

PRIZE-WINNERS OF THE 25th WARSAW INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL:
1. INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
The jury: Chairman - Jan A.P. Kaczmarek, composer (Poland), Anne Lai, producer (USA), Ulrich Felsberg, producer (Germany), Christian Gaines, representing Withoutabox (USA), Albert Wiederspiel, director of the Hamburg Film Festival (Germany)
awarded the following prizes:
Warsaw Grand Prix, prize funded by the City of Warsaw
LOURDES directed by Jessica Hausner (Austria/France/Germany)
The prize was presented by Mayor of Warsaw Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz.

Special Jury Prize, funded by RWE
LA PASIÓN DE GABRIEL / THE PASSION OF GABRIEL / PASJA GABRIELA
directed by Luis Alberto Restrepo (Colombia)

2. 1-2 COMPETITION, prize funded by Alior Bank
The jury: Kasia Rosłaniec, director (Polska), Stephan Komandarev, director (Bulgaria), Ilmar Raag, director (Estonia)
awarded the following joint first prizes:
Winners of the 1-2 Competition
SHEVA DAKOT BE'GAN EDEN / SEVEN MINUTES IN HEAVEN / SIEDEM MINUT W NIEBIE directed by Omri Givon (Israel)
EASTERN PLAYS / WSCHODNIE ZABAWY directed by Kamen Kalev (Bulgaria)

3. FREE SPIRIT COMPETITION, prize funded by Empik
The jury: Madeleine Elles-Hill, producer (UK), Renato Bautista, director (Philippines), Grzegorz Artur Brzozowicz, journalist/writer (Poland)
awarded the following joint first prizes:
Free Spirit Awards
PURGATORIO / PURGATORY / CZYŚCIEC directed by Roberto Rochin Naya (Mexico)
MAL DÍA PARA PESCAR / BAD DAY TO GO FISHING / ZŁY DZIEŃ NA WĘDKOWANIE directed by Alvaro Brechner (Uruguay)

4. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION, prize funded by BenQ
The jury: Krzysztof Gierat, director of the Krakow Film Festival (Poland), David Hausen, director/producer (USA), Stephan Nobbe, long-time director of the Goethe-Institut (Germany)
awarded the following prize:
Best Documentary Award
DISCO AND ATOMIC WAR / DISCO I WOJNA ATOMOWA directed by Jaak Kilmi and Kiur Aarma (Estonia)

5. SHORTS COMPETITION, prize funded by the Polish Filmmakers' Association
The jury: Katarzyna Klimkiewicz - director (Poland), Ana Felicia Scutelnicu - director (Moldova), Tito Molina - director (Ecuador)
awarded the following prize:
Best Short Film Award
APUNTES SOBRE EL OTRO / NOTES ON THE OTHER / BYĆ KIMŚ INNYM directed by Sergio Oksman (Spain)

6. FIPRESCI Prize
The FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics) jury: Galstyan Siranush (Armenia), Mehlis Behlil (Turkey), Annie Brodie (Canada)
awarded the prize for best Eastern European debut to:
REWERS / REVERSE directed by Borys Lankosz (Poland)

PROFESSIONAL/WORKSHOP EVENTS
The WFF was accompanied by the following industry events:
- CentEast Market Warsaw – the fifth edition of the film market specializing in Eastern European films; 245 professionals from 21 countries were accredited: producers, distributors, film sales agents, festival programmers (including Cannes, Berlin, Karlovy Vary, New York, Sofia, Prague, Göteborg, Budapest), representatives of film institutions;
- CentEast Warsaw-Moscow – presentations of seventeen selected works-in-progress from Eastern Europe, on 16 October in Warsaw and on 18 October in Moscow at the 2morrow Film Festival;
- Warsaw Screenings – screenings of the latest Polish projects, for professionals specially invited to Warsaw;
- FIPRESCI Warsaw Project / Talent Press – a training programme for young film journalists, organized in association with FIPRESCI;
- The Art of Editing – open workshops taught by Poland's leading film editors.