Skopje, 10 November 2026 (MIA) — Norwegian-Kurdish filmmaker Halkawt Mustafa’s “No Paradise If You Are Killed by a Woman” (2026) won best film at the 26th Skopje Film Festival, which ended Monday night.

Hungarian filmmaker Gábor Holtai won the best director award for “Feels Like Home” (2025). The festival also gave special prizes to French filmmaker Vincent Garenq’s “Forsaken” (2026) and to Filipino filmmaker Lawrence Fajardo’s “Silenced Nights” (2026). All the winning films competed in the festival’s “Dialogues” category.

An international jury chose the winners. The panel included English producer Steve Abbott, German film festival organizer Daniela Weber, Serbian screenwriter and director Pavle Vučković, Macedonian screenwriter and director Darijan Pejovski and Macedonian actress and producer Labina Mitevska.

This year marked the debut of the Golden Scopolia Award for Outstanding Contribution to World Cinema. Named after a rare local plant, the award honors artists who leave a lasting mark on movies. Polish director Małgorzata Szumowska and Polish cinematographer Michał Englert received the first award during opening night.

Following the opening ceremony, the festival showed Macedonian filmmaker Kosara Mitikj’s “17” (2026). Throughout the week, in addition to film screenings, the festival also hosted three film workshops. Guest speakers included Serbian actor and director Dragan Bjelogrlić and Russian film curator Nikolaj Nikitin.

Founded in 1998, the Skopje Film Festival aims to build film culture and connect local audiences with world cinema. The event draws between 6,000 and 10,000 visitors each year, in addition to many film industry workers, organizers said. mr/