'The Gift to Stalin' declared as Europe's best picture

Agencies Posted: Mar 02, 2009 at 1014 hrs
Belgrade 'The Gift to Stalin', directed by Rustem Abdrashev, was adjudged as Europe's best picture in the European competition section of the 37th International Film Festival FEST, at a press conference in the Belgrade Sava Centre.

The movie, which was shot in the co-production of Russia, Kazakhstan, Israel and Poland, won the Politika award for major professional contribution to film art, film treatment of historical topics and humanitarian work, the jury said yesterday.

The Serbian section of the International Association of Art Critics was in charge of assessing the whole of the programme, and it proclaimed two Italian pictures – Gomorrah and Giant - as two best pictures.

The Nebojsa Djukelic prize, which is awarded by the Belgrade Association of Film Journalists and Critics (UFNIK), went to The Life and death of a Porno Gang directed by Mladen Djordjevic.