A Polish-French-Ukrainian co-production, In the Rearview portrays ordinary people fleeing Ukraine to Poland in the back of a minivan driven by Hamela, who also served as an aid worker in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
A citation by the international jury says: “In the backseat of the vehicle, the refugees talk about what they had to leave behind—their house, their animals, their family and their belief in a peaceful life—filling it with the fate of an entire nation."
The citation adds: "On its way out, it passes ruins, soldiers and tanks. In its rearview mirror you can see more than just a destroyed country—it also shows destroyed hope. But at least its passengers managed to escape.”
Hamela’s film also received a EUR 8,000 cash prize established by the Vilnius City Municipality.
In another festival highlight, a jury consisting of Lithuanian journalists and film critics awarded the EUR 3,000 prize for best premiere to DK Welchman and Hugh Welchman’s The Peasants.
The hand-painted animation also won the festival's Audience Award.
The Peasants is based on the novel by Nobel Prize-winning Polish writer Władysław Reymont.
(mk/gs)