“Body as a cage” named Best Film at Vistula Film Festival 2025

Body as a Cage, directed by Iona Salei, claimed the top prize at this year’s Vistula Film Festival, triumphing over nine other entries. This powerful and intimate story about a young girl’s inner struggles resonated deeply with both the jury and the audience.

As the organizers emphasized, this year’s edition was much more than a film screening event — it became a celebration of courage, authenticity, and artistic community.

The power of storytelling in young hands

Vistula Film Festival 2025 once again demonstrated that young filmmakers are capable of tackling complex, meaningful subjects with both sincerity and artistic maturity. This year’s program featured ten short films created by international student teams, spanning a variety of genres — from psychological thrillers and intimate dramas to experimental pieces and animation. Each film was deeply personal and driven by a unique creative vision.

“I truly appreciate that some participants chose to be so honest and open, even sharing parts of their own stories. That’s one of the most powerful and valuable aspects of this festival,” said Professor Wawrzyniec Konarski, Rector of Vistula University. “This event is absolutely unique — in both the subjects it explores and the dedication and creativity of its participants.”

Winners of Vistula Film Festival 2025

• Best Screenplay – Blank Canvas – Sofiia Aleksandrova
• Best Editing – The Silence Within – Ivan Zhukouski
• Best Supporting Acting – Exaction – Radomyr Lesnykov
• Best Cinematography – Body as a Cage – Bohdana Frantsishkevych
• Best Direction – Blank Canvas – Sofiia Aleksandrova
• Best Main Acting – Monogamous Triggers – Aryna Karpovich –
• Teams’ Choice – The Guide for Losers (dir. Nazar Atamaniuk)
• Best Film – Body as a Cage (dir. Iona Salei)

“For the past three month one of the most discussed topics of our crew and friends was undoubtedly film festival. From the day it was announced until the day of celebration we all were extremely excited and curious about not only how our own film will look like on the big screen, but also about how films of other contenders turned out. But no matter how much anticipation and excitement we had ,we also were extremely nervous . However, the festival exceeded all of our expectations and proved that taking the risk and trying is worthy. And all of this could have only happened thanks to Movie Club, to whom we owe a huge Thank you and lots of admiration for this incredible event.” — Iona Salei, director of „Body as a Cage”

“My name is Sofiia; I am an artist and have been drawing for my entire life. For me art is all about connection, visualizing something that otherwise wouldn’t be accessible to others – an infinite number of ideas and worlds in one’s head. VFF gave me and other contestants an opportunity to pull some of those worlds out. Creating such huge animation projects like “Innocent Collector” & “Blank Canvas” with a team, being able to show them to an audience and receive feedback gave me much needed growth and confidence as an artist.” — Sofiia Aleksandrova, director of „Blank Canvas”

“This festival was one of the best things which happened to me for the whole time since I’ve been studying here. The organization, the participants, everything was great! From the very beginning I did not expect that we would win something. I wanted to make the audience lough. And I did so! Moreover, people voted for us. I’m so thankful to Olaf, Aleska, Shamikh, and our university for this experience and opportunity.” — Nazar Atamaniuk, director and lead actor, „The Guide for Losers”

“Vistula Film Festival 2025 was the second edition of the annual Vistula Film Festival and ended up even more successful than last year’s! Guests and jury members who attended both this year and last year have told us about the incredible progress we made both in production value and professionalism of the event, and we hope that every year it will only be getting better! This year we split the festival into two days instead of one – the first day being screenings, and second day for the award ceremony, both of which were also streamed live onto YouTube. We would also like to thank everyone who helped make VFF 2025 happen and congratulate the winners!“, said Olaf Bojko, Aleska Ramanouskaya, and Shamikh Gazali,  the main organizers of Vistula Film Festival:

“Your voice is strong, clear, and razor-sharp — and it radiates courage, which I believe is the most essential ingredient in the creative process,” said the jury member Sebastian Słomiński during the awards ceremony.
“Never lose that courage. Never stop creating. Keep questioning what seems obvious, keep searching, keep asking, and don’t be afraid to reject the easiest solutions.”

Cinema born of passion

The films presented at the festival were made in just three months, often by small teams of only a few students. Participants came from diverse cultural and academic backgrounds, yet all were united by a shared goal — to create honest, impactful cinema.

“I saw how freely others expressed their ideas, and I thought: I want to try that too,” said one of the first-time filmmakers.

The Vistula Film Festival proves that telling a meaningful story does not require a big budget. What truly matters is courage, imagination, and the space to create — and that’s exactly what this event provides.

Rector Wawrzyniec Konarski announced that future editions of the festival will further expand connections with the professional film industry in Poland.
“I promise to help establish those networks,” he said.

Emotional moments and personal farewells

The festival was filled with moments of deep emotion. One such moment came during the farewell speech of Shamik Ghazali, co-founder of the Movie Club and one of the festival’s key organizers. In his heartfelt address, he reminded the audience that one does not need a film degree to be a filmmaker — just courage, dedication, and a desire to tell stories that matter. Another touching gesture was the belated awarding of a medal to Nella Koman, director of Where the Mind Goes, which had won the festival’s top prize in the previous year. Due to an oversight at last year’s ceremony, she had not received her individual award — a mistake that was respectfully rectified this year.

Authenticity at the heart of student cinema

This year’s edition of the Vistula Film Festival demonstrated that young filmmakers are not only fluent in the language of cinema, but also unafraid to confront deeply personal, challenging, and universally relevant themes. Their films moved audiences, sparked reflection, and forged genuine emotional connections — because they came from a place of truth.

Once again, the festival affirmed that student cinema, free from formula and commercial expectations, can be among the most powerful forms of storytelling in today’s world.