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WebFest Berlin ended with a closing ceremony online

WebFest Berlin one of the oldest web festivals in the world ended last week on December 15. It had its first edition in 2015 and now is in a top-10 of a web festival circuit as a prestigious award and estimated industry event. A total of nine awards were presented, the Grand Prize went to "Bastards", web-series from Switzerland.

This year the event was held online from December 13 to 15. About 30 projects from all over the world were presented in the festivals’ program. The jury included international industry representatives - German actor Hannes Hellman, Kazakh director, screenwriter, producer and actor Yerden Telemisov, Vice President of Beta Film GmbH for International sales and purchases Leonid Godik and Meredith Burkholder, founder of WEBFEST BERLIN.

The series from Brazil "Fake Live" won in the "Best Pilot" category, and the Lebanese "I Am Beirut" was recognized as the best in Non-Fiction section - an original look at the city through the eyes of local video art artists. The Russian series "Married Life Scenes" by Shota Gamisoniya was recognized as the "Best Comedy", which was also awarded a special prize at the Russian Realist Web Fest, and "Night Witches" from Kazakhstan won the "Best Drama". Another Russian series "RUSSIAN CYBERPUNK FARM", which already has more than 12 million views on YouTube, won in the category "Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror". The award for
Outstanding Artistic Contribution went to Pablo Pinasco for cinematography in French series "Dhanasri, Julies and the ghosts". The "Best Performance" prize was awarded to the cast of Polish series "Time Sisters: The Ultimate Game", and the jury recognized Regina Grimm's dramedy "Emily & Christin" as the Best German series. The Grand Prize of the VII WEBFEST BERLIN was awarded to the Swiss series "Bastards".

"We’d like to thank all the participants and the distinguished jury for being a part of this festival," says Anton Kalinkin, the owner of WEBFEST BERLIN. “We are happy that, despite the online format, the festival has attracted a lot of web content creators and industry representatives from all over the world. It is also very nice that the international jury has noted the Russian comedy, which suggests that the idea of Russian humor being too specific is actually a myth. We are looking forward to next year and hope that the world situation will let us hold the festival offline”.

Winners of the VII WEBFEST BERLIN:

Best Pilot – Fake Live, Brazil
Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror – RUSSIAN CYBERPUNK FARM, Russia
Best Non-Fiction – Ana Beirut (I Am Beirut), Lebanon
Best Drama – Night Witches, Kazakhstan
Best Comedy – Married Life scenes, Russia
Best German Series – Emmy & Christin
Outstanding Artistic Contribution (Best Editing or Best Cinematography or
Best Sound Design) – cinematography (Pablo Pinasco) Dhanasri, Julies and the ghosts, France

Best Performance – cast Time Sisters: The Ultimate Game, Poland
Grand Prize – Bastards, Switzerland





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