By Staff Reporter.
Documentary film ‘Life begins at 90’ won Best Short Documentary, at the prestigious Red Cross International Film Festival, held in Varna, Bulgaria in June.
It was filmed and produced in Cyprus and features 95-year-old Ray Woolley, a World War 2 veteran, his healthy approach to ageing, passion for diving and inspirational approach to life.
The documentary film about the inspiring nonagenarian living in Limassol was selected from thousands of entries from all over the world. More than 3,200 films were submitted from 120 countries and in excess of 900 spectators attended the event.
The 18th International Festival of Red Cross and Health Films followed the main theme: “Aggression – Humanity – Cinema”.
“ We are delighted with this award, as is Ray. It is very meaningful to us as this festival is very special and promotes issues of philanthropy, humanity, health and inclusiveness,” a spokesman for the film told the Paphos Post.
The festival is held every two years and is organised by the Bulgarian Red Cross, under the auspices of the Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the World Health Organisation and UNESCO. The motto of the festival is: “By humanism to peace and friendship” and it has growing importance as a powerful tool for the dissemination of humanitarian and cultural values through cinema.
The international jury included: Doroteya Toncheva, a renowned Bulgarian actress and president of the jury, Armagan Pekkaya, a film director and producer at the Turkish Red Crescent Media Bureau in Turkey, Ilian Dzhevelekov, a well known Bulgarian film director and producer, Velislav Pavlov, a Bulgarian actor and Professor Violekta Tacheva from the Department of Languages Training and Communication, MU Varna.
Patron of the festival, the Vice President of Republic of Bulgaria, Iliana Iotova, opened the red carpet event with the festival director, Ilko Raev.
Ray will celebrate his 96th birthday in August, and aims to break his world record again as the world’s oldest scuba diver, which he first claimed in 2017, before breaking it in 2018.
“I am really pleased that people enjoyed my film and that it inspires them in some way. We all need to get out of our chairs and keep moving. Next stop is America.” he told the Paphos Post.
‘Life begins at 90’ premiered at the 13th Cyprus International film festival where it was awarded Best Cinematography in a documentary.
