Cold War is hot favourite in Moscow

Joanna Kulig in Cold War

Pawel Pawlikowski's Cold War was the big winner at the second East-West. Golden Arch awards in Moscow last night. The film, which tells the tempestuous love story of the writer/director's late parents, won four awards, including Best Film and Best Director.

Murat Cemcir with his award for Best Supporting Actor Photo: Anna Temerina

It's star Joanna Kulig was named Best Actress, while Pawlikowski's cinematographer Lukas Zal shared the Best Cinematography award with Kaloyan Bozhilov, who was celebrated for his work on his tale of an elderly couple whose traditions are dying in Milko Lazarov's Ága.

Evgeniy Tsiganov was named Best Actor for his powerful portrayal of a man who tries to trick death by taking on the guise of a woman in The Man Who Surprised Everyone, which also saw his co-star Natalya Kudryashowa named Best Supporting Actress. The Russian film's co-writers and co-directors Natasha Merkulova and Aleksey Chupov shared the award for Best Screenplay with Radu Jude's "I Do Not Care If We Go Down In History As Barbarians", which explores the 1941 Odessa Massacre and its legacy.

The Best Supporting Actor prize went to Murat Cemcir's portrayal of the gambling addicted dad of the central protagonist in Nuri Bilge Ceylan's The Wild Pear Tree.

Elena Okopnaya took home the award for her art direction on Alexey German Jr's historical drama Dovlatov and Roman Bilyk and Herman Osipov won the prize for Best Music for their work on Kirill Serebrennikov's The Summer, which recounts the story of a love triangle against a backdrop of rock music in 1980s Russia.

An honorary award for contribution to cinema was also given posthumously to Russian director Marlen Khutsiev, who died in March. His films included July Rain and I Am Twenty.

The awards were inaugurated in 2018 to celebrate and promote Eurasian cinema, they are voted for by an international panel of journalists and academics. Read about all the nominees, here.