Saturday evening, at the awards ceremony of the 22nd Neisse Film Festival in the Polish city of Zgorzelec, the Neisse Fish award sculptures -- created by the Strahwalde artist Andreas Kupfer -- will be granted to the winners in the three competitions and to the audience favorite. Here are all the award winners at a glance:

Neisse Fish: Best Feature Film  

"Ungeduld des Herzens" / “Impatience of the Heart” (Directed by Lauro Cress)

Laudation of the jury: "We are presenting the award for Best Feature Film to a piece that allows us to be part of a deeply moving and almost mystical process of the search for belonging. With extraordinary tenderness and psychological depth and acuity this film takes us through a finely-nuanced narrative on deciphering the secret of human identity. It is a piece that offers no simple answers, rather opens space for reflection on who we are and where our true place in life lies."

Award sponsored by Sächsisches Staatsministerium für Wissenschaft, Kultur 
und Tourismus (with €10,000)

Neisse Fish: Best Acting

Giulio Brizzi for "Ungeduld des Herzens" / "Impatience of the Heart" (Directed by Lauro Cress)

Laudation of the jury: The award for Best Acting goes to: Giulio Rizzi. From the first moment until the last he displays a mysterious, nearly magnetic presence which captivates us and doesn't let us go. Scene after scene we fell the innermost pressure of his character: the search for belonging, for identity. With subtle strength, deep expression and moving tenderness he grants us insight into his inner struggles, which carries and permeates the film. Congratulations, Giulio Rizzi!"

Award sponsored by the city of Zittau (with €1,000)

Neisse Fish: Best Production Design

Aneta Grňáková for "Mord" / "Our Lovely Pig Slaughter" (Directed by Adam Martinec)

Laudation of the jury: "The award for Best Production Design goes to a film in which a raw and dynamic family story, rooted in the theme of death, unfolds within the confined space of a decaying house and its surroundings – a setting that both unites and suffocates the relatives. Through subtle and deliberate detail, the production design captures the psychological depth of each character as well as the tension and kindness within their relationships. The award for Best Production Design goes to Aneta Grňáková for the film Our Lovely Pig Slaughter."

Award sponsored by the city of Görlitz (with €3,000)

Neisse Fish: Best Screenplay

Maria Zbąska for "To nie mój film" / "It's Not My Film" (Directed by Maria Zbąska)

Laudation of the jury: "The award for best screenplay is our expression of gratitude to the author who created a beautiful, convincing, true, and at the same time poetic metaphor of a shared journey through life. It is a unique example of the endless possibilities that cinema still possesses, and of how many ideas are still waiting to be discovered. Because creating a story based on a combination of such qualities as brilliant sense of humor, wisdom, minimalism, limitation to two characters, and the maximalism of good dialogue is an extremely difficult art, the screenplay award goes to Maria Zbąska, the author of the film This Is Not My Film."

Award sponsored by Liberecky kraj (with €1,000)

Honorable Mention in the Feature Film Competition:
"Nulpen" / "Slackers" (Directed by Sorina Gajewski)

Neisse Fish: Best Documentary Film

"Listy z Wilczej" / "Letters from Wolf Street" (Directed by Arjun Talwar)

Laudation of the jury: "For courageous storytelling that merges subtle observation, humor, and tragedy in the director’s personal odyssey as an immigrant through all shades of Polish society. The film pulls us in from the very first minute by the honest and occasionally random encounters with inhabitants and passersby of one Warsaw street, that reflect curiosity, warmth but also grievances and the growing xenophobia spreading across Europe.“

Award sponsored by Simply Saxony (with €5,000)

Honorable Mention in the Documentary Film Competition:
"Pociągi" / "Trains" (Directed by Maciej J. Drygas)

Neisse Fish: Best Short Film

"I Died in Irpin" (Directed by Anastasia Falileieva)

Laudation of the jury: "We found the choice of a winner in this category extremely difficult. This entry, however, spoke to us with its authenticity, its story, its tempo and the unbelievably beautiful, varied execution technique. The Short-Film jury grants this award to the film "I died in Irpin" by Anastasia Falilieva, which offers us a unique and very personal, almost diary-like glimpse into an unbelievably difficult event. The film spoke to us deeply and brought up many unexpected feelings. It is a unique, current piece of art which deserves an award.“

Award sponsored by the Students' Union of the 
University of Applied Sciences Zittau/Görlitz (with €1,500)

Honorable Mention in the Short Film Competition:
"Końce i początki" / "Endings and Beginnings" (Directed by Klaudia Fortuniak)

Special Award of the Filmverbandes Sachsen

"Pociągi" / "Trains" (Directed by Maciej J. Drygas)

Laudation of the jury: "The Special Award jury faced the choice between a total of nine nominated films, and came to clear agreement on the winner. The award goes to a very worthy film, worthy from a number of perspectives. With a unique way of compiling a huge amount of authentic archival film material, the film takes the viewer through almost the entire 20th century, and shows the human path from creation to destruction, from humble work to industrial machinery, from hope to hopelessness. Fascinating visuals collected throughout Europe and supported by a breathtaking minimalistic music take the viewer on a deep dive into the vexing fate of humanity, which is perhaps predetermined, perhaps not. We can learn from history. We need only the will and the power to take this fate into our own hands. Then there is hope. Humanity must simply choose the right platform and board the right train. The Special Award of the Neisse Film Festival goes to "Trains" by Maciej Drygas. Congratulations!“

Award sponsored by the Saxon Film Association (with €1,000)

Neisse Fish: Youth Jury Award

"Rok vdovy" / "Year of the Widow" (Directed by Veronika Lišková)

Laudation of the jury: "Right up front we would like to emphasize the obvious -- how difficult the choice was for us! Each film spoke to us in a different way, each has its own style. In the end, however, two films have impressed us the most. 

On the one hand we are glad to shine the spotlight on an authentic, moving and even overwhelming documentary about the every-day life of a group of youths who live in a children's home -  "Im Prinzip Familie" (The Family Approach) directed by Daniel Abma -- Congratulations! 

Back to the topic -- which film has impressed us the most? It was one which imposes itself on the viewer, because it tells the story in such a subtle way. The storyline shows the main character's odyssey of the soul after losing her beloved husband. We were particularly impressed by Pavla Beretová's wonderful acting in the role of Petra Srobodová. Please give a big round of applause for "Year of the Widow" (orig.: "Rok Vdovy").“

Award sponsored by Deutsch-Polnisches Jugendwerk and Tandem - Koordinierungszentrum Deutsch-Tschechischer Jugendaustausch (with €1,000)

Audience Awards for Feature Film and Documentary Film

The audience favourites for long films from the 22nd Neisse Film Festival programme, sponsored by the ZVON transportation association (with €1,000 each), went to the feature film "Wilma Wants More" (Wilma will mehr") by Maren-Kea Freese and the documentary "Letters From Wolf Street" (Listy z Wilczej" by Arun Talwar.

Audience Award Short Film

The favourite short film was the Czech animated film "Hurricane" ("Hurikán") by Jan Saska. This award has been sponsored by the city of Zgorzelec (with €1,000).