The Best Film Award at the RomeFilmFest has gone to Izobrajaya Zhertvy – Playing the Victim by Kirill Serebrennikov.
The Russian director’s first comments were: “I’ve been watching Italian cinema since I was a child, it’s in my head and in my heart. The greatest actors became my friends and playmates, just like Ettore Scola who is here with me now. I never imagined winning this kind of prize in Roma. This film is a film for Russia and for Russians. Because we still believe that cinema can change people’s way of thinking and consciences. I am happy to have had success outside of Russia as well, in Europe and here in Rome, which is the capital of film. I am terribly happy. I thank Rome, the audiences, the popular jury. Cinema for the masses is a wonderful thing. I would also like to thank my two producers who are here onstage, Natalya Mokrizkaya and Uliana Savelieva, for having taken the risk to produce a film that had no chance in Russia. I am grateful to the screenwriters, and the entire cast and crew. Please excuse my being emotional, but I’m not used to spotlights, especially in such a happy moment. Happiness is Rome.”