HUNGARIAN director Szabolcs Hajdu took the Grand Prix Crystal Globe and a US$25,000 cash award for his film “It’s Not the Time of My Life” at the closing Saturday of the 51st edition of the Karlovy Vary international film festival.

    The film, an intimate study of two families forced to share an unusual apartment, impressed the jury with its taut performances and inventive production. The director, who also stars in the movie, which draws faithfully on the work of John Cassavetes and Ingmar Bergman, also picked up a best actor award for his role.

    There was a special jury prize of US$15,000 for the second feature from rising new Russian talent, Ivan Tverdovsky’s “Zoology” — an unusual story of a disillusioned middle-aged woman who grows a tail and embarks upon a thrilling new romance before reality catches up with her.

    Best director went to Slovenia’s Damjan Kozole for “Nightlife,” about the lives of a wealthy couple that are irrevocably changed by a sudden accident.

    Best actress went to Zuzana Maurery for her role in “The Teacher” by Czech director Jan Hrebejk. There were special jury mentions for Romanian director Catalin Mitulescu for “By the Rails” and for veteran Czech director Jan Nemec for his autobiographical feature “The Wolf From Royal Vineyard Street.”

    In the festival’s East of the West competition section, which focuses on films from central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, Georgian director Rusudan Glurildze won the main US$15,000 prize for her haunting debut “House of Others,” about the fate of a family that moves into a deserted house after a bitter civil war.(SD-Agencies)