TORONTO, Oct. 11, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The 14 th Annual, 2019 Macedonian Film Festival (“MFF”) Toronto proudly announces the winners for Best Feature Film, Best Short Film, Best Documentary and for the first time, Special Jury Award for Best Actress.

Our three Festival judges are prominent filmmakers and experts and have returned for another great year: Larry Anklewicz, B.A., LL.B., Christina Pochmursky, Producer/Director & Writer of Walk the Talk Productions Inc., and Frank A. Caruso of Caruso Visual Productions Inc.

Our judges declared:

Best Feature Film: Directions, directed by Stephan Komandarev . Judge, Larry Anklewicz said, “ Directions provides a gritty exploration of the underbelly of society in Eastern Europe--a look at life and death in the modern world as society disintegrates and falls apart.”

Best Short Film: Donka, directed by Aleksandar Arsovski . Judge Frank Caruso said, “What's funny in one culture is 'not so much in another'. Comedy is the most difficult genre to produce but Donka knocks it right out of the park. Crazy stuff! Laugh-out-loud funny. A real audience favourite.”

Best Documentary: Honeyland , directed by Ljubomir Stefanov and Tamara Kotevska . It should be noted the same directors also directed Lake of Apples , which won best Documentary at the 13 th MFF 2018. Honeyland was selected as Macedonia's entry for the  Best International Feature Film  at the  92nd Academy Awards .

Special Jury Award for Best Actress: God Exists, Her Name is Petrunija, Directed by Teona Strugar Mitevska . Judge Christina Pochmursky said, “A frumpy, unemployed young woman comes into her own as a feminist heroine when she defies tradition and male privilege by refusing to give up the wooden cross she catches during a Macedonian religious ceremony. Her defiant attitude pits the police against the church, and creates a hilarious uproar in her town, where woman are still expected to hand over all their power to men.”

There are so many other fantastic films featured at the MFF this year. We know you will regret not attending. Please join us! All films are subtitled in English.

For more information and to view the film schedule, visit macedonianfilmfestival.com and join our Facebook page and Instagram for updates on this year’s festival highlights.

Media enquiries: Elizabeth Naumovski  enaumovski@hotmail.com   +1-416-500-1016

Intrado  is the official media sponsor of the Macedonian Film Festival