Inside Amir by Amir Azizi wins 2025 GdA Director’s Award

Over the course of the awards ceremony, the winners of Giornate degli Autori’s three official awards were announced: the GdA Director’s Award, the Europa Cinemas Label, and the People’s Choice Award.

The Jury – headed by the Norwegian filmmaker Dag Johan Haugerud and made up of the Italian producer Francesca Andreoli; the Tunisian cinematographer Sofian El Fani; the curator in MoMA’s Department of Film in New York, Josh Siegel; and the Franco-Palestinian-Algerian actress and director Lina Soualem – decreed the winner of the GdA Director’s Award, with its cash prize of €20,000 to be split between the director and the international distributor of the film.

Out of the ten films in competition, it is Daroon-E Amir (Inside Amir) by Amir Azizi to take home the 2025 GdA Director’s Award.

The following statement has been released:
“The film we will honor tonight is a meditation on everyday life. It reminds us of how daily routines, movements, and conversations with friends provide both security and freedom. With a framing that little by little reveals a complex life marked by loss and grief against a backdrop of exile and social upheaval, the film asks fundamental questions about what it means to belong and the existential doubts that follow in the wake of such thoughts. It is a film that takes time to listen, and that shows how unexpected, spontaneous encounters build a rich life. The film’s precise dialogue and staging give a strong sense of presence, and as a viewer you feel a generosity in the way you are invited in among a group of friends and get to take part of both intimate, profound, and trivial conversations. Another thing that gives great pleasure when watching this film is the subtle use of different time periods, often in the same frame, and often during the same bike ride. It is an honor to give the Giornate degli Autori award to Daroon-E Amir (Inside Amir), by Amir Azizi.”

The Europa Cinemas Label, instituted by a network of European exhibitors, with the support of the European Union’s MEDIA Programme, is an award dedicated to European films and co-productions, thanks to which the winner will receive the support of Europa Cinemas in promoting the film and distributing it more widely.

This year’s jury, composed of Manuel Asín (Cine Estudio del Círculo de Bellas Artes, Madrid, Spain), Simon Blaas (Cinema Middelburg, Middelburg, the Netherlands), Ivan Frenguelli (PostModernissimo, Perugia, Italy), and Signe-Annie Lindstedt (Zita Folkets Bio, Stockholm, Sweden) has bestowed the Europa Cinemas Label on Bearcave by Stergios Dinopoulos and Krysianna B. Papadakis.

The jury has released the following statement:
“Arkoudotrypa (Bearcave) is a really fresh and energetic feature debut from Stergios Dinopoulos and Krysianna B. Papadakis, with a young and very talented crew behind them. The film follows the relationship between two young queer women high up in the Balkan Mountains. Both a clash and a fusion of the old and new, the film is constructed a little like a thriller, but there is also more than a touch of the supernatural. The music, editing and photography are really original, and the performances by the two girls are exceptional. We really hope that the award of the Label will encourage distributors and audiences around Europe.”

The People’s Choice Award, assigned on the basis of the votes submitted by audiences in the Sala Perla at the Palazzo del Casinò at the end of each Official Selection screening, has been handed to two films this year instead of one: Memory by Vladlena Sandu and A Sad and Beautiful World by Cyril Aris, both receiving 77,4% of the audience votes.