The 21th Grossmann Fantastic Film and Wine Festival Awards Ceremony took place on Saturday, the 5th of July. The following awards were given:
VICIOUS CAT for best feature film:
MR. K
Netherlands, Belgium; 2023
Directed by: Tallulah H. Schwab
Special mentions:
REFLECTION IN A DEAD DIAMOND / REFLET DANS UN DIAMANT MORT
Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy, France; 2025
Directed by: Hélène Cattet, Bruno Forzani
U ARE THE UNIVERSE / TY - KOSMOS
Ukraine, Belgium; 2024
Directed by: Pavlo Ostrikov
NOISY CAT for best music documentary:
GRANDPA GURU
Croatia, BiH; 2024
Directed by: Silvio Mirošničenko
Special mention:
100dB – INDUST BAG
Slovenia; 2024
Directed by: Gregor Bauman, Jaka Terpinc
SLAK'S VICIOUS CAT for best short film:
TIME EATER
Canada; 2025
Directed by: Ryan Couldrey
Special mention:
FREAKS
Russia; 2024
Directed by: Alexander Samsonov
MELIES D'ARGENT, the European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation award for best European fantastic short film:
THE PEARL COMB
UK; 2024
Directed by: Ali Cook
Special mention:
SVOBODA KOKOŠIM / FREE THE CHICKENS
Slovakia, Czech Republic; 2024
Directed by: Matúš Vizár
AUDIENCE AWARD for best feature film:
U ARE THE UNIVERSE / TY - KOSMOS
Ukraine, Belgium; 2024
Directed by: Pavlo Ostrikov
VICIOUS CAT WINE CHAMPION for best wine:
ŠIPON PREMIUM 2021 (Kos)
LAŠKI RIZLING 2024 (Škrget)
Jury motivations:
VICIOUS CAT
Jury: Fabrice du Welz, Jan Cvitkovič, Peter Braatz
Lovely created and with a passion for cinema, taking the audience on a journey, with an extraordinary performance by Crispin Glover.
Special mentions:
Directors have achieved a superior cinematic level, with very rich and superbly composed visuals. Unique way to serve and to reinvent cinema in a very specific form.
One-man band travels through the universe, with Volodymiyr Kravchuk giving a brilliant and warm performance, so that we stay with him from the beginning to the end.
NOISY CAT
Jury: Igor Vidmar, Boris Čibej, Alex Wank
Grandpa Guru by Sarajevan director Silvio Mirošničenko vows a filmically effective and visually rich tapestry-portrait of its protagonist, who tells his travels of self-searching -from the besieged Sarajevo and resistance with the musical Hair- via L.A. with help of the American alternative scene luminaries- to the Balkan-post-punk cult band Kultur Shock. He does so in an original and self-ironic style, characteristic of the true »Sarajlija«.
Special mention:
More than well-earned »special mention« goes to no-budget, do-it yourself documentary 100dB Indust-Bag by Gregor Bauman and Jaka Terpinc, who hve with 600 euros created an excellent portrait of a »great small punk band«- Indust-bag from Metlika in Slovenia.
SLAK'S VICIOUS CAT
Jury: Ramona Sehr, Vitomir Kaučič, Jurica Hižak
This marvelous geriatric horror managed to hit a nerve so deep it made the parts of us that are supposed to reproduce shit themselves. It left us brooding over the intimate, slow-motion doom that’s coming for our minds in the years ahead.
Special mention:
Freaks blew us away with its world-building and some truly inspired visual effects. Gorgeous, weird, and confident in its vision.
MELIES D'ARGENT
Jury: Ramona Sehr, Vitomir Kaučič, Jurica Hižak
A raw and eerie folk tale exploitation piece that walks the line between myth and menace with total confidence. The visuals are stunning, the performances magnetic, and the whole thing is so thick with atmosphere that we swore we could smell the salt in the air.
Special mention:
The animation section was also ridiculously strong this year, so we’re giving an honorary mention to Free the Chickens for its sharp plot, unique animation style, and some of the funniest, most unhinged scenes we’ve seen in a while.
