On Wednesday, 24 June 2026, the closing ceremony of the 32nd IFF Art Film Košice took place at the Kunsthalle in Košice. During the evening the festival announced the winners of all three international competitions and the separate International Federation of Film Critics FIPRESCI Award, presented the honorary Golden Camera for contribution to cinema and the JOJ Cinema Audience Award. The festival’s main prize, the Blue Angel for Best Feature Film, was won by the Austrian drama Everytime by director Sandra Wollner, who also received the Blue Angel for Best Directing. The Bulgarian film Made in EU by Stephan Komandarev earned a double honour: a special mention by the jury of the Central and Eastern European competition and the FIPRESCI Jury Award. The Blue Angel for Best Actor went to the 89-year-old British actor Sir Tom Courtenay, while the Best Actress award was given to Imogen Poots. The honorary Golden Camera for contribution to European and world cinema was received in Košice by German-Turkish director Fatih Akin.
The closing evening at Kunsthalle opened with the festival’s signature jingle, after which the host recalled the invitation from Friday’s opening ceremony — for audiences to step into the world of film. For those who accepted, the host had another promise: the festival does not end on Thursday either. IFF Art Film Košice will continue with further screenings on Thursday, 25 June 2026, including David Lynch’s classic Lost Highway. After a brief acknowledgement of the organisers and partners, the audience was treated to a look back at the past edition through an aftermovie from all seven festival days.
The first prize of the evening was the Golden Camera, which the festival has been awarding since 2001 for outstanding contribution to cinema. The first Golden Camera of this year was presented at Friday’s opening ceremony to Peter Dubecký, General Director of the Slovak Film Institute and President of Febiofest Bratislava. The second was presented on Wednesday evening by festival’s artistic director Martin Palúch to German-Turkish director, screenwriter and producer Fatih Akin, who adds the Blue Angel statuette to his collection of awards from Berlin, Cannes and Venice. Earlier that day, before noon, Akin also held his masterclass at the festival.
After the Golden Camera the focus turned to the audience competition. The JOJ Cinema Audience Award for Best Feature Film, decided by votes through the MyCinepass reservation system throughout the festival, was announced by Slovak actor Marián Mitaš. The most popular audience film of the 32nd edition was the Polish drama Altar Boys by director Piotr Domalewski, which had a sold-out Sunday premiere at JOJ Cinema in Kulturpark and an audience-requested re-run at the Veritas cinema.
The first competition award of the evening was the special mention of the International Short Film Competition, presented by Slovak documentary filmmaker and jury member Barbora Sliepková. It went to the film Nobody Knows the World, the directing debut of Roddy Dextre, who has so far mainly directed commercials in Peru, Chile, Brazilian São Paulo and Mexico and is currently preparing his first feature. The jury highlighted the original cinematography and the director’s restraint, which lets the viewer arrive at the emotions on their own.
The Blue Angel for Best Short Film, accompanied by a €500 cash prize, was won by Kazakh director Camila Sagyntkan for the film What Have You Done, Zarina?. The jury praised the strength of the script, the precision and depth of the performances, and the fact that the film brought a voice from a place whose stories deserve to be heard more often and on a greater scale.
In the International Competition of Films from Central and Eastern Europe, jury rationales were brought to the stage by jury president Ewa Mazierska, Polish-British Professor of Film Studies at the University of Central Lancashire. The special mention for acting went to the Bulgarian film Made in EU by director Stephan Komandarev. In his acceptance message Komandarev said: “Dear friends from the 32nd IFF Art Film festival, I was thrilled to learn that our film received a special mention. On behalf of myself and the whole team I would like to thank you for this recognition and for including Made in EU in the festival programme. It is an honour for us.”
The Blue Angel for Best Film in the Central and Eastern European competition, together with a €1,500 cash prize, was awarded to Georgian director Ana Urushadze for the drama Supporting Role. The young Tbilisi-based director and screenwriter was not present in person; the award was received on her behalf by Radek Ševčík of distribution company Split Screen. The jury highlighted the artistic maturity of the film, outstanding performances and the hypnotic blend of reality and dreams.
The awards of the International Feature Film Competition were presented by Slovak screenwriter and script editor Barbora Námerová and jury president, Hungarian film critic and Golden Globes voting member Géza Csákvári. The Blue Angel for Best Actress went to British actress Imogen Poots for her role in The Chronology of Water, the feature directing debut of American actress Kristen Stewart. Poots has a career in television, film and theatre and has also been the face of the perfume by the French brand Chloé. The jury described her performance as “not acting but a transformation” and praised “such a powerful physical presence and willingness to embrace pain while maintaining inner sensitivity”.
The Blue Angel for Best Actor went to British acting legend Sir Tom Courtenay for his role in Queen at Sea by American director Lance Hammer. The 89-year-old holder of three BAFTA Awards, a Golden Globe and two Silver Bears from the Berlinale, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2001, said in his acceptance message: “Good evening, everyone. I am truly thrilled to have won the Blue Angel Award. I’m sorry I can’t be there with you in person, but I am 89 years old and hopping on a plane is no longer that simple. For the inspiration I am grateful to my colleagues, namely Juliette Binoche, Anne Calder-Marshall, Florence Hunt and above all to Lance Hammer himself, who was an extraordinary inspiration for me. I am grateful to them. And I am grateful to you. Thank you,” said Courtenay. The second of his Silver Bears from the Berlinale was won this year precisely for Queen at Sea, which Košice audiences could see during the festival.
The Blue Angel for Best Directing for the drama Everytime went to Austrian director and screenwriter Sandra Wollner. The jury praised her exceptional command of cinematic time and space and her ability to guide the viewer through two temporal planes “without ever once holding their hand”. The film Everytime world-premiered at the 78th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section. Right after this award Everytime also became the Best Feature Film of the 32nd IFF Art Film. The jury described it as “a film that trusts silence, image and the viewer” and praised its courage to be gentle where others tend to be loud.
The penultimate award of the evening was the separate FIPRESCI Award of the International Federation of Film Critics, presented by IFF Art Film for the second time in its history. The three-member jury was chaired by Dutch distributor and programmer Clementine van Wijngaarden together with French festival programmer Pierre-Yves Roger and Slovak film critic Matúš Kvasnička. The Blue Angel was thus awarded for the second time that evening to the Bulgarian Made in EU by Stephan Komandarev. The jury described the film as “a poignant documentary-style portrait of a small town in 2020, when people lose control and look for a scapegoat” and praised the powerful performance of Gergana Pletnyova.
Festival artistic director Martin Palúch wrapped up the 32nd edition with these words: “It was a very intensive edition. We presented 128 films and we are still screening tomorrow. I hope you felt at home with us. I have to thank our entire organisational team. This is the largest film festival in Slovakia, which would never have taken place without the support of our partners. Thank you. I am glad you were here, that you enjoyed this atmosphere, and I look forward to seeing you again next year.”
The festival closed with a short tribute video thanking audiences and invited them to the final day of this year’s edition and, above all, to the 33rd edition in 2027.
The 32nd IFF ART FILM is made possible thanks to the support of:
Main organizer: ART FILM FEST s.r.o.
Co-organizers: City of Košice, K13 – Košice Cultural Centres, Visit Košice, ART FILM FEST, n.o.
With the financial support of: Audiovisual Fund
The project was co-financed by the Košice Self-governing Region from the Terra Incognita program
Main partners: CODES Brand House, H2O FUND SICAV, Fors – stav
Automotive partner: AUTO-VALAS
Official hotel: Hotel Yasmin
Main media partners: TV JOJ, Pravda, Eurotelevízia
Sponsors: U. S. Steel Košice, ANTIK Telecom, Kino Úsmev, LOKO TRANS Media, CORE Labs, Technical University of Košice
Technological partners: NOV, ZEBRA, Deutsche Telekom Systems Solutions Slovakia, DELTA OnLine, ARICOMA, Datacomp
Official suppliers: DKC Veritas, PLOOM, DOMOS SLOVAKIA, Reštaurácia Contessa, Natura, Kinley, Budweiser Budvar, Julius Meinl
Official wine: KubBo Select, Ostrožovič
Media partners: JOJ play, JOJ 24, Film Europe Media Company, Rádio KOŠICE, Aktuality.sk, Forbes, Startitup.sk, Korzár, Slovenka, SITA, TASR, Mediaboard, AHOJ TV, See & Go, BigMedia, Kino Sterio, Košice City Guide, Košice V Skratke, MOJAkultura.sk, Česko-Slovenská filmová databáze – ČSFD, Filmsk.sk, diva.sk, koktejl.sk, zenskyweb.sk, Naše Košice
Partners: JOJ Cinema, Jojko, Slovak Film Institute, WITKOWITZ SLOVAKIA, DDDental, CK TUI ReiseCenter Slovensko, Wallonie-Bruxelles International.be, Taper, ECO Technologies, Aupark Shopping Center Košice, Košice Public Transport Company, Košice International Airport, YumEarth, Rent2Eat, CPK Transport, iWish.sk, Kvety Garomi, Hair Factory Košice, Face up! Studio by Michaela Petroci, Panta Rhei, ARTFORUM, LOCAL NOMAD, East Slovak Museum in Košice, MIHYRING
