Giving the awards and the official closing of the film festival was broadcasted by the Bulgarian National TV - Channel One BNT, on October 25th. Before presenting to you the four members of the International Jury, we would like to quote what one of the VIP guests, the actor John McCook (starring as Eric Forrester in ?The Bold and the Beautiful?) admitted: ?Plovdiv captured my heart, I will be looking forward to coming to the Black Sea coast??International Jury
Section One: Fiction Films and Serials
Chairman: Dr. Bozhidar Monov ? Bulgaria
Members: Prof. Silvio Fishbein ? Argentina; Alex Butworth ? a writer and playwright; Iccah Shabatov ? Israel (born in Bulgaria in 1948 but his parents left for Israel when he was just six months old) producer of various children?s and TV programs; Roman Carmen ? director and director of photography of the film ?Bulgaria, my love?, and author of the documentaries: ?Impatient People?, ?Lenin in Kremlin?, ?Hemingway ives in Havana?, and others.
Section Two: Fiction Films and Serials for Kids and Teenagers
Chairman: Prof. Mariana Evstatieva-Biolcheva ? Bulgaria
Members: Sai Paranjpai ? a writer, screen writer and a director. She publishes her first book of fables at age of 8. Author of many plays for both kids and adults, most of which have won various national awards. A TV and theatrical director, she had the honor to direct the first special program of TV Bombay. Her film ?The Immigrants? was presented to 17 film festivals and is a Grand Prix winner from the Cannes Film Festival. Until recently she was the president of the Junior Film Society of India under the guardianship of the Ministry of Information and Medias ? a position she had for two mandates in a row; Violeta Oltean ? Director of the International Department of the Romanian National TV. She has a Master?s degree in Comparative Linguistics of the Slavonic Languages, graduated an Education course with the BBC, and has a French diploma in International Relationships Management. She worked as a TV presenter for the Romanian TV, producer of documentaries, co-producer with various TV organizations from Canada, USA, Japan, Great Britain. She is the president of the International Radio and TV University situated in Paris, a member of the jury of various international film festivals ? Moscow, Warsaw, Berlin, Monte Carlo and, of course, The Golden Chest Festival, vice president of the SIRCOM, etc.
Section Three - Documentaries: Ivo Draganov ? born March 19th, 1951 in Sofia. Graduated from the Higher Institute for Theatrical and Film Arts, Major Filming, and he later studies a course of TV Management with the BBC- Wales, Foundation Thompson, a course of Effective Management with the London Open University, and a course of Legal Regulation with the National Frequencies Agency ? France.
Members: Rolf Ortel ? born in 1939 in The Hague, Netherlands, lives and works in Amsterdam - cinematographer, producer and a teaching specialist; Igor Romanovski ? born 1934, graduated from the MHAT (Moscow Theatrical Academy). He used to work as a director with the Moldova National TV, as well as with the Ostankino Central Soviet TV in the departments News, Kid and Teenage Programs, Scientific Programs.
Section Four ? First Steps
Chairman: Dr. Stanislav Semerdzhiev ? Deputy Dean of International Relations and Head of the Drama Department of the Higher Institute for Theatrical and Film Arts - Sofia, Bulgaria. A frequent teaching guest at the European Stage Program SOURCES, as well as at universities in USA, Brazil, Argentina, Chili, Germany, Sweden, Finland and Turkey. Author of more than 120 scientific and criticism articles. A screenwriter and editor of over 39 film and TV screenplays for Bulgarian, German, Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian and French companies. He is vice-president of the International Association of Film and TV Schools ? CILECT (2002 ? 2006).
Members: Dick Ross ? he starts his career as a BBC journalist and works for BBC in the period 1965-1980. During the last ten years he is the chief editor of the 19:00 hrs news editions. In 1980 he becomes professor of filming at the Royal Arts College in London, and in 1989, along with Milos Forman ? Chairman of the Film Department at the Columbia University in New York, and from 1990-1992 ? of the University of New York. At the moment he is a member of the screenplay program SOURCES-2, as well as a professor at the Norwegian National Film School; Malte Wodman ? born in Sweden. He graduates in London, and has worked in the field of film production in several countries ? Sweden, Denmark and England since 1972. In 1997 he becomes the first artistic director of the National Norwegian Film and TV School in Lillehammer, Sweden.
Golden Chest Film Festival awards:
1.Best Female Actor Award ? the jury assigned this award to five actresses together, which was an unprecedented decision in the tradition of the Golden Chest Film Festival. The five awarded actresses are: Maria Kavardzhikova, Tsvetana Maneva, Plamena Getova, Mariana Zhikich and Evgenia Alexandrova - from the Ivanka Grabcheva?s film ?One calorie of tenderness?.
2.Best Male Actor Award was granted to the Russian actor Egor Beroev, for his role in the film ?Railroad romance?
3.Grand Award of the festival in the Fiction Films Section was granted to the film by the director Krassimir Kroumov ?Under one and the same sky?.
4.Directing Award was granted to the director Ivan Nichev for the film ?Travelling to Jerusalem? (this is the film, chosen to present Bulgaria at the film selection for the Oscar Awards nominations).
5.Original Concept Special Award was granted to the director Teddy Moskov?s film ?Rhapsody in white?
6.Best Cameraman Award was granted to Konstantin Zankov, for the film ?Warming up yesterday?s lunch?
7.Three awards were granted to the team, which created the film from Finland ?The story of a homeless child? ?Junior Jury Award, Adult Commission Award and Best Junior Actress Award by the Bulgarian Artists Union (granted to the young Mariana Kesseli).
8.Junior Production Special Award was granted to the film ?A preserve for pink pelicans?, starring Krastyu Lafazanov.
9.Golden Chest Award for Documentary was granted to the Japanese production ?Quiet heart?. Special Award for Documentary was granted to the director Adela Peeva for the film ?Whose is that song?.
10. First Steps Award in the Debutants Section was granted to the Swedish film-students.