by InTrieste
“Fantasy,” the fiction-feature debut by the Slovenian filmmaker Kukla, has won the Premio Trieste for best feature film at the 37th Trieste Film Festival, Italy’s leading showcase for cinema from Central and Eastern Europe.
The film follows three rebellious women in their early twenties as they navigate desire, friendship, and self-discovery after encountering a transgender woman. Blending realism and imagination, Fantasy examines questions of gender and identity within a socially conservative environment. Part of the film was shot in Trieste, including scenes set in the Rozzol Melara neighborhood.
The award was announced at the festival’s closing ceremony on Saturday at the Politeama Rossetti, bringing to a close nine days of screenings, industry events, and public discussions. This year’s edition featured more than 150 films and welcomed guests from 36 countries, along with hundreds of students and film professionals attending the festival’s training programs and its co-production market, When East Meets West.
The international jury for the main competition — Rebecca De Pas, Reta Guetg, and Mariëtte Rissenbeek — praised Fantasy for its sensitivity and formal lightness. In its official citation, the jury described the film as “an empathetic exploration of what it means to be a young woman in a deeply traditional environment.”
A special jury mention for best director went to Vytautas Katkus for The Visitor, a Lithuanian-Norwegian-Swedish co-production that the jury called “a quiet cinematic journey” shaped by its measured rhythm and contemplative tone.
In the documentary competition, the top prize was awarded to Welded Together, directed by Anastasija Mirošničenko. The film, produced independently without state funding, reconstructs a fractured family history through an observational approach. The jury described it as a work “more extraordinary than fiction,” and singled out the director as “a new voice to watch.”
A special mention in the documentary section went to Active Vocabulary by Yulia Lokshina, an essay film that weaves personal narratives with broader reflections on power, memory, and contemporary Russia.
The short-film competition was won by The Spectacle, by the Hungarian director Bálint Kenyeres. Set in a remote Romani community, the film centers on an unexplained event that prompts questions about visibility, belief, and the act of looking. The jury described it as a reminder that cinema can still generate a sense of wonder without explaining it.
Audience awards went to Brat, by the Polish director Maciej Sobieszczański, for best feature; Militantropos, by the Ukrainian collective Tabor, for best documentary; and Found & Lost, by Reza Rasouli, for best short film.
Among the festival’s additional honors, the Central European Initiative Award went to Electing Ms Santa, Raisa Răzmeriță’s debut feature set in rural Moldova, while the Eastern Star Award was presented to the Hungarian filmmaker Ildikó Enyedi in recognition of her career-long role in bridging Eastern and Western European cinema.
The Trieste Film Festival, founded in 1989, has long positioned itself as a meeting point between cultures, industries, and audiences across a historically divided continent. As this year’s edition closed, festival organizers emphasized growing attendance and the increasing number of films receiving Italian distribution after premiering in Trieste.
