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“Scary Mother,” a Georgian-Estonian drama about a woman who chooses to follow her passion for writing, putting it ahead of her family, was named as the best picture at the Beijing International Film Festival. The film’s lead performer Nato Murvanidze was named best actress.

The Tiantan awards were presented at a spectacular closing ceremony on Sunday night outside the Chinese capital. In attendance at the closing ceremony, local stars included Huang Bo, actresses Lin Chi-ling and Tong Liya.

The prizes had been decided on by a jury headed by Wong Kar-wai. British wartime drama, “Journey’s End” collected two prizes, one for Paul Bettany as best supporting actor, and another for Hildur Gudnadottir.

Caucasus-set drama, “Dede” also won two prizes. Mariam Khatchvani was named best director, while Konstantin Esadze earned the cinematography prize.

Joe Cole was named best actor in Kim Nguyen’s drone romance “Eye on Juliet.” Mina Sadati...

European Film Promotion highlights 28 European films for the 90th Academy AwardsPutting a spotlight on a record number of 28 European Oscar® entries, Efp (European Film Promotion) offers additional screenings of the films in L.A. for Academy members, journalists, U.S. distributors and international buyers. With the special support of the Efp member organizations, the event helps the productions to stand out among a record number of 92 submissions for the 90th Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

This year the Efp Screenings Of Oscar® Entries From Europe were held from November 2–15 at the state of the art Dick Clark Screening Room. The campaign is financially supported by the Creative Europe — Media Programme of the European Union and the participating Efp member organizations.

Many of the European Oscar submissions feature European Shooting Stars or were made by Efp-related filmmakers. Notably four films were realized by participants of this year’s edition...

Scary is not exactly the word for this horror of a woman. Expecting something like a Japanese horror film, I was taken by surprise to learn that the scary part of this mother was her imagination. And to realize further that our imagination is shaped by the traumas of our childhood as ways of coping impacts powerfully on the psyche of whoever is watching it.

What begins as a happy family whose mother has taken time to write ends with the discovery that one’s imagination is more than mere images conjured up by a creative mind. Scary Mother develops this thesis into

A 50-year-old housewife struggles with her dilemma — to choose between her family life and her passion, writing, which she had repressed for years — and decides to follow her passion thus plunging herself into writing, sacrificing to it mentally and physically.

It takes a brave woman to depict...

Meda Or The Not So Bright Side Of Things takes best director and best actor.Scroll down to see the full list of winners.

Ana Urushadze’s Gerogia-Estonia drama Scary Mother has won the top prize at this year’s Sarajevo Film Festival, which concludes today (Aug 18).

The film took the Heart of Sarajevo for best feature film, which comes with a financial award of €16,000. It stars Nata Murvanidze as a 50-year-old housewife who experiences family struggles as she tries to complete her first novel.

The main competition saw Romanian director Emanuel Pârvu take the Heart of Sarajevo for best director for his film Meda Or The Not So Bright Side Of Things, which comes with €10,000.

Best actress went to Ornela Kapetani for Daybreak and best actor went to Şerban Pavlu for Meda Or The Not So Bright Side Of Things.

The jury, led by Michel Franco and featuring Mark Adams, Gordan Bogdan...