THE BOBIK AWARD

In 2010, the BOBIK film award was created by Side by Side Film Festival. The award is unique - the only prize recognising LGBT film-making in Russia. Some of the world's leading cinema has received the prize including The Ground Beneath My Feet, XY Chelsea, A Fantastic Woman, Chambermaid Lynn, Beauty and many others.

Over the years Side by Side has built up a strong reputation for excellent programming, choices praised by critics, journalists, filmmakers and visitors. On an annual basis Side by Side presents in the region of fifty films curated from all corners of the globe. These films go forward to make up the competition program for best feature, documentary, shorts and audience award, each having the chance to win one of our much sought after BOBIK awards!

AND THE WINNER IS...

2021 | Saint Petersburg

Best Feature

Metamorphosis (J.E Tiglao, Philippenes, 2019, 98 min)

Best Documentary

Rebel Dykes (Harri Shanahan, Siân A. Williams, UK, 2021, 82 min)

Best Short Fiction

Night Ride (Eirik Tveiten, Norway, 2020, 15 min)

Best Documentary Short

Let My Body Speak (Madonna Adib, UK, Lebanon, 2020, 10 min)

Special Mentions

Nico (Eline Gehring, Germany, 2021, 75 min)

All those Sensations in My Belly (Marko Djeska, Croatia, Portugal, 2020, 13 min)

Audience Awards

Firebird (Peeter Rebane, Estonia, UK, 2021,107 min)

Fans (Seva Galkin, Russia, 2020, 25 min)

2020 | Saint Petersburg

Best Feature

Two of Us (Filippo Meneghetti, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, 2020, 99 min)

Best Documentary

Little Girl (Sébastien Lifshitz, France, 2020, 85 min)

Best Short Fiction

Year of the White Moon (Maxim Pechersky, Russia, 2020, 21 min)

Best Animated Short

Butterflies in Berlin (Monica Mangenelli, Italy, Germany, 2019, 30 min)

Audience Award

Two of Us (Filippo Meneghetti, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, 2020, 99 min)

Year of the White Moon (Maxim Pechersky, Russia, 2020, 21 min)

2019 | Saint Petersburg

Best Feature

The Ground Beneath My Feet (Marie Kreutzer, Austria, 2019, 108 min)

Dest Documentary

XY Chelsea (Tim Travers Hawkins, USA, 2019, 92 min)

Best Fiction Short

Whole (Slava Doytcheva, Bulgaria, 2018, 20 min)

Best Documentary Short

Flesh (Camila Kater, Brazil, Spain, 2019, 12 min)

Audience Awards

Disobedience (Sebastián Lelio, Ireland, UK, USA, 2017, 114 min)

The Orphan (Carolina Markowicz, Brazil, 2019, 15 min)

2018 | Moscow

Best Feature

The Miseducation of Cameron Post (Desiree Akhavan, USA, 2018, 90 min)

Best Documentary

The Sign for Love (El-Ad Cohen & Iris Ben Moshe, Israel, 2017, 75 min)

Best Fiction Short

Love Letter (Atara Frish, Israel, 2018, 20 min)

Best Documentary Short

Tailor (Nathan Carli, France, 2018, 15 min)

Audience Awards

Professor Marston & the Wonder Women (Angela Robinson, USA, 2017, 108 min)

Would You Look at Her! (Goran Stolevski, Macedonia, 2018, 18 mins)

2018 | Saint Petersburg

Best Feature

A Fantastic Woman (Sebastian Lelio, Chile, Germany, Spain, USA, 2017, 104 min)

Best Documentary

The Sign for Love (El-Ad Cohen & Iris Ben Moshe, Israel, 2017, 75 min)

Best Fiction Short

Love Letter (Atara Frish, Israel, 2018, 20 min)

Best Documentary Short

Red Tree (Paul Rowley, Ireland, Italy, USA, 2017, 22 min)

Audience Awards

Dykes, Camera, Action (Caroline Berler, USA, 2018, 62 min)

Would You Look at Her! (Goran Stolevski, Macedonia, 2018, 18 mins)

2017 | Saint Petersburg

Best Feature

Apricot Groves (Pouria Heidary Oureh, Armenia, 2016, 78 min)

Best Documentary

Bones of Contention (Andrea Weiss, Spain, USA, 2017, 75 min)

Best Fiction Short

Mathias (Clara Stern, Austria, 2017, 30 min)

Best Documentary Short

Little Potato (Wes Hurley, USA, 2017, 14 min)

Press Jury Award

The Death & Life of Marsha P. Johnson (David France, USA, 2017, 105 min)

Audience Awards

Chavela (Catherine Gund & Daresha Kyi, USA, Mexico, Spain, 2017, 90 Min)

The Whole World (Julian Quintanilla, Spain, 2015, 30 min)

The BOBIK Award

2017 | The BOBIK Award


In 2017, for the tenth anniversary of the festival, we came up with a new design for the BOBIK prize. In celebration of this impressive date - seeing through many challenges - a more "solid" variant was needed and we produced a wooden figure of a dachshund on its very own stand, decorated with the rainbow. New BOBIKs are handmade by master Yaroslav Krasnov.

2016 | Saint Petersburg

Best Feature

Arianna (Carlo Lavanga, Italy, 2015, 83 min)

Best Documentary

Who's Gonna Love Me Now? (Barak Heymann & Tomer Heymann, Israel, UK, 2016, 85 min)

Best Fiction Short

Partners (Joey Ally, USA, 2016, 6 min)

Press Jury Award

Call Me Marianna (Karolina Bielawska, Poland, 2015, 75 min)

Audience Awards

Angry Indian Goddesses (Pan Nalin, India, Germany, 2015, 104 min)

Oh Be Joyful (Susan Jacobson, UK, 2015, 13 min)

2015 | Saint Petersburg

Best Feature

The Chambermaid Lynn (Ingo Haeb, Germany, 2014, 90 min)

Best Documentary

Sounds from the Fog (Klaus Stanjek, Austria, Germany, Czech, 2013, 90 min)

Best Fiction Short

Ingrid Ekman, Bergsgatan 4 B (Cristine Berglund & Sophie Vukovic, Sweden, 2014, 15 min)

Best Documentary Short

I'm Black, I'm Queer and I am a Whore (Hugo Meijer & Cas van der Pas, Colombia, Netherlands, 2012, 19 min)

Press Jury Award

The Mask You Live In (Jennifer Siebel Newsom, USA, 2015, 97 min)

Audience Awards

The Mask You Live In (Jennifer Siebel Newsom, USA, 2015, 97 min)

Tomgirl (Jeremy Asher Lynch, USA, 2015, 13 min)

2014 | Saint Petersburg

Best Feature

Something Must Break (Ester Martin Bergsmark, Sweden, 2014, 90 min)

Best Documentary

Julia (J. Jackie Baier, Germany, Lithuania, 2013, 89 min)

Best Fiction Short

Wannabe (Marco Calabrese, UK, 2014, 11 min)

Best Documentary Short

Who are They? (Olga Privolnova, Russia, USA, 2014, 15 min)

Press Jury Award

Julia (J. Jackie Baier, Germany, Lithuania, 2013, 89 min)

Audience Awards

Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine (Michele Josue, USA, 2013, 104 min)

2013 | Saint Petersburg

Best Feature

Blue is the Warmest Colour (Abdellatif Kechiche, France, Belgium, Spain, 2013, 179 min)

Best Documentary

Valentine Road (Marta Cunningham, USA, 2013, 89 min)

Best Fiction Short

Undress Me (Victor Lindgren, Sweden, 2013, 15 min)

Best Documentary Short

Straight With You (Daan Bol, Netherlands, 2012, 19 min)

Audience Awards

Matterhorn (Diederik Ebbinge, Netherlands, 2013, 88 min)

2012 | Saint Petersburg

Best Feature

Beauty (Oliver Hermanus, South Africa, France, Germany, 2011, 98 min)

Best Documentary

Call Me Kuchu (Malika Zouhali-Worrall & Katherine Fairfax Wright, USA, Uganda, 2012, 87 min)

Best Fiction Short

La Duche (Maria José San Martín, Chile, 2011, 10 min)

Audience Awards

Codebreaker (Clare Beaven, UK, 2011, 82 min)

2011 | Saint Petersburg

Best Feature

Stadt Land Fluss (Benjamin Cantu, Germany, 2011, 84 min)

Best Documentary

Regretters (Marcus Lindeen, Sweden, 2010, 60 min)

Best Documentary Short

Mind (Emma Crimmmings, Аustralia, 2011, 26 min)

Special Mention

Generations (Barbara Hammer & Gina Carducci, USA ,2011, 67 min)

Audience Awards

Patrik 1.5 (Ella Lemhagen, Sweden, 2008, 102 min)

2010 | Saint Petersburg

Best Feature

My Friend from Faro (Nana Neul, Germany, 2008, 87 min)

Best Documentary

I Shot My Love (Tomer Heymann, Israel, Germany, 2010, 70 min)

Best Fiction Short

Hammerhead (Samuel Donovan, UK, 2009, 14 min)

Best Animation Short

Hand in Hand (Lasse Persson, Sweden, 4min, 1996 4 min)

Audience Awards

Hello, My Name is Lesbian (Iben Haahr Andersen & Minna Grooss, Denmark, 2009, 52 min)

The BOBIK Award

2010 | The BOBIK Award


The BOBIK award was created in 2010. The inspiration behind the prize was Banger - a lively wire-haired dachshund - who lives with the founder of the festival, Manny de Guerre, and serves as the mascot of the festival. The name BOBIK derives from the Russian abbreviation of the festival and surprisingly in this derivative from it is also the nickname of an energetic four-legged friend.

2009 | Saint Petersburg

Best Social Film

Freeheld (Cynthia Wade, USA, 2007, 40 min)

Best Enlightening Film

I am Gay (Nicolas Kolovos, Sweden, 2008, 15 min)

Best Film Representing Human Value

Georgie Girl (Annie Goldson & Peter Wells, New Zealand, 2001, 57 min)

Audience Awards

Madchen in Uniform (Leontine Sagan, Germany, 1931m 88 min)

2008 | Saint Petersburg

Best Feature

XXY (Lucía Puenzo, Argentina, 2007, 91 min)

Best Documentary

Anyone and Everyone (Susan Polis Schutz, USA, 2007, 57 min)

Best Fiction Short

No Bikini (Claudia Morgado Escanilla, Canada, 2007, 9min)

Audience Awards

Alien Body (Maxim Zirin, Russia, 2007, 47 min)