Just one week after its world premiere at the 32nd FFC, THE 9TH STEP (Irma Pužauskaitė LT/PL, 2022) won three awards at the Lecce European Film Festival. The film, which screened at the FFC in the Competition U18 Youth Film section, won the Cineuropa Award , the Audience Award and the Cinematography Award in the main competition. All award winners can be found here.
THE 9TH STEP is a stirring coming-of-age portrait of two teenagers, one of whom, Linas, is however already 40 and the father of the other. Linas is recovering from his alcoholism when his daughter Eve turns his life upside down and her friend Maya, looking for her first big love adventure, turns both of their heads.
By the way, the film is also playing at the Blacknights Film Festival this week. Will the successful journey continue there?