The winners of the 2025 edition of RED LINE International Film Festival are:
The award for Best Feature Film goes to BUSHIDO GOBAN GIRI by Kazuya Shiraishi
JURY’S MOTIVATION. This feature film faithfully embodies the tradition of Edo-period samurai cinema while exploring the protagonist’s deepest emotions.
It demonstrates genuine formal mastery, especially in its compositional framing, the meticulous care given to set design, costumes, and the overall artistic direction.
An exceptional historical reconstruction, executed with scrupulous attention to detail, pacing, and atmosphere.
The award for Best Documentary goes to THE WEIGHT OF LIGHT by Anna Hints
JURY’S MOTIVATION. In this powerful, but understated production, this is an intimate portrait of the raw and distressing reality of forced marriages of young girls in India. Filmed in the slums, the only economy is in the scavenging of the vast fields of rubbish. One day, a girl finds a one-use camera and through her photographs she becomes a witness to the landscapes of poverty and to her own identity. Through this girl, and others in the film, we are asked to witness them all, living in the implacable rules of a world that is organised to strip them of any self-agency.
The award for Best Short Movie goes to PLAYING GOD by Matteo Burani
JURY’S MOTIVATION. A chilling experiment, bordering on blasphemy, of man’s dangerous obsession with the perfection of humanity. Both shocking and poetic, this highly refined animation delivers a universe of creation and failure, of beauty and despair. Both in image and sound, this short film is unforgettable, truly a work of art.
Jury’s special mention goes to THINGS UNHEARD OF by Ramazan Kilic
JURY’S MOTIVATION. A delicate, beautiful film that addresses the complex theme of the loss of cultural identity. With a cast of actors who seem to be playing themselves, a rural community finds a way to escape the politics of forced narratives by creating a new way of expressing themselves. At the center, a young girl and her mute grandmother, who offer the tender, poetic reply to all those who would silenced them.
A special mention goes to BURUL by Adilet Kharzhoev.
The jury that awarded this mention is composed of the inmates of the Gozzini Prison in Florence, coordinated by Dr. Maria Luisa Carretto from the Lanterne Magiche visual education project of the Fondazione Sistema Toscana.
JURY’S MOTIVATION. For the concept and creation of the film, which portrays a young woman’s rebellion against old traditions, her abduction, and subsequent marriage to someone she had never met; the later change of heart by her father, who at first did not understand her but eventually allowed her to pursue her dreams regardless of the outcome; and the final image that gives meaning to all the others, with the puppet which, in our view, represents the girl’s emotional state.
The award for Best Little Red Movie goes to ETHEL by Beatrice Jäggi.
The movie was chosen by the young moviegoers in attendance at the screening.
The award for Rural Heritage and Identity goes to CH LA RECCHIA by Diego Monfredini.
The jury awarding this prize is composed by: Marco Pianigiani (president), Giovanni Paris, Silvia Cesarano)