International Courant
Lithuanian cinema, not sometimes that effectively represented on the worldwide movie pageant circuit, was the large story of this yr’s Locarno Movie Competition awards ceremony, with two movies from the Baltic nation taking a variety of prime prizes between them.
“Poisonous,” an auspicious debut from writer-director Saulė Bliuvaitė, gained not solely the Golden Leopard for Greatest Movie within the fest’s premier Worldwide Competitors — from a jury chaired by Austrian auteur Jessica Hausner — but additionally, in an uncommon double, the highest prize within the individually juried First Function Competitors. Bliuvaitė’s compatriot Laurynas Bareiša, in the meantime, gained Greatest Director within the Worldwide Competitors for his sophomore function “Drowning Dry,” whereas the identical movie’s ensemble additionally collectively took one of many jury’s gender-neutral performing prizes.
A tough-hitting research of alliances and rivalries between teenage women enrolled at a modeling college in small-town Lithuania, “Poisonous” stood out within the Competitors for the youthfulness and rigor of its gaze — because it tackled issues of economic and sexual exploitation, in addition to damaging physique picture. Selection’s optimistic evaluation described the movie as “sobering however not with out glimmers of tenderness and humor as feminine friendship takes root in a hopeless place,” including that its “alternation between chilly composure and kinetic motion roughly corresponds with (the protagonist’s) wavering sense of self .”
Earlier than presenting the prize to Bareiša, Hausner praised the movie for its “creative visible fashion, its very highly effective actresses and actors, and its actually unique and strange story construction, (resulting in) an understanding of the hardship and great thing about being totally different — one may even say, of being a freak.” Accepting the award, the younger filmmaker cited her “humble beginnings,” persevering with, “I wish to use this platform to acknowledge this privilege that we’ve got now, that we will have a good time cinema and make movies … in quite a lot of elements of the world, folks do not have this privilege to really feel protected, they should combat simply to exist.”
Along with the Golden Leopard and the First Function Award — the place it beat fellow Worldwide Competitors entry “Inexperienced Line,” by French director Sylvie Ballyot, into second place — “Poisonous” additionally gained the Ecumenical Jury Prize.
“Drowning Dry,” a structurally complicated, narratively splintered portrait of two sisters whose households are riven by tragedy, marked a assured step ahead for Lithuanian cinematographer turned director Bareiša, whose debut “Pilgrims” triumphed in Venice’s Horizons competitors in 2021. Evidently the jury — which additionally included actors Tim Blake Nelson and Luca Marinelli, producer Diana Elbaum and not too long ago Cannes-laureled filmmaker Payal Kapadia — had hassle selecting a single candidate for the efficiency prize: Not solely did they current it collectively to “Drowning Dry’s” 4 high-quality leads Gelminė Glemžaitė, Agnė Kaktaitė, Giedrius Kiela and Paulius Markevičius, however the quartet additional shared the award with South Korean star Kim Minhee for her droll, delicate flip as a withdrawn artwork trainer in prolific director Hong Sangsoo’s newest comedy “By the Stream.”
The Particular Jury Prize — successfully the runner-up to the Golden Leopard — went to Iraq-born, Austrian-based director Kurdwin Ayub for her second function “Moon,” an enigmatic thriller following a martial artist employed to coach three Jordanian sisters beneath veiled circumstances. Ayub, whose debut “Sonne” gained her the Greatest First Function award on the 2022 Berlinale, thanked her producer, veteran Austrian auteur Ulrich Seidl, earlier than gesturing to the feline-shaped trophy: “My cats will love this award!” Among the many impartial jury awards, Ayub additionally took the European Cinemas Label prize, in addition to a particular point out from the Ecumenical jury.
Particular mentions from the jury went to Spanish director Mar Coll for her haunting psychodrama “Salve Maria,” and to Chinese language docmaker Wang Bing for his close to four-hour “Youth (Arduous Occasions),” the second half in his epic nonfiction trilogy depicting the lives and struggles of textile staff in Huzhou Metropolis. (The third, “Youth (Homecoming),” will premiere in competitors at Venice subsequent month.)
Within the pageant’s secondary Filmmakers of the Current competitors, Georgian director Tato Kotetishvili gained the highest prize for his debut function “Holy Electrical energy,” a vibrantly quirky story of two Tbilisi youths making an attempt to con pious locals with ersatz neon crucifixes, whereas filmmakers Maha Haj ( for “Upshot”), Mickey Lai (for “Washhh”) and Samuel Patthey (for “Sans Voix”) every triumphed in separate strands of the pageant’s sizable Pardi di Domani shorts competitors. The pageant’s viewers award, the UBS Prix du Public, will likely be individually offered tonight at Locarno’s central out of doors venue the Piazza Grande, previous to the screening of the closing movie, actor-director Laetitia Dosch’s offbeat, Cannes-premiered authorized farce “Canine on Trial .”
In his assertion on the awards, Locarno creative director Giona A. Nazzaro described them as emblematic of the pageant’s fame for nurturing and crowning new expertise: “Creativity and hope for a greater tomorrow had been the weather that ran by means of all of the sections. Cinema is a driving drive and Locarno is a flagship for it. We’re actually pleased with this version and grateful for the great group effort behind its success. The victory of newcomer Saulė Bliuvaitė confirms the Locarno Movie Competition’s capability to determine essentially the most progressive abilities within the enterprise.”
Nazzaro additional identified the a number of wins for feminine filmmakers at at the moment’s ceremony, together with Bliuvaitė, Mond, Ballyot and Swiss-Cape Verdean director Denise Fernandes, who took the Greatest Rising Director award within the Filmmakers of the Current part for her debut “Hanami.” “Locarno77 has affirmed much more strongly the centrality of girls’s voices in up to date cinema,” he concluded.
Full checklist of winners under:
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
Golden Leopard for Greatest Movie: “Poisonous,” Saulė Bliuvaitė
Particular Jury Prize: “Moon,” Kurdwin Ayub
Greatest Director: Laurynas Bareiša, “Drowning Dry”
Greatest Efficiency: (ex aequo) Gelminė Glemžaitė, Agnė Kaktaitė, Giedrius Kiela and Paulius Markevičius, “Drowning Dry”; Kim Minhee, “By the Stream”
Particular Mentions: “Youth (Arduous Occasions),” Wang Bing; “Hail Mary,” Mar Coll
CINEASTI DEL PRESENTE (FILMMAKERS OF THE PRESENT) COMPETITION
Greatest Movie: “Holy Electrical energy,” Tato Kotetishvili
Greatest Rising Director: Denise Fernandes, “Hanami”
Particular Jury Prize: “Hearken to the Voices,” Maxime Jean-Baptiste
Greatest Efficiency: (ex aequo) Callie Hernandez, “Invention”; Anna Mészöly, “Lesson Realized”
Particular Mentions: “Lesson Realized,” Bálint Szimler; “When the Telephone Rang,” Iva Radivojević
FIRST FEATURE COMPETITION
Swatch First Function Award: “Poisonous,” Saulė Bliuvaitė
MUBI Award for Debut Function: “Inexperienced Line,” Sylvie Ballyotr
Particular Mentions: “Hanami,” Denise Fernandes; “Hearken to the Voices,” Maxime Jean-Baptiste
PARDI DI DOMANI SHORT FILM COMPETITION
Auteur Brief Competitors
Greatest Auteur Brief Movie: “Upshot,” Maha Haj
Particular Point out: “The Masked Monster,” Syeyoung Park
Locarno Movie Competition Brief Movie Candidate – European Movie Awards: “The Exploding Woman,” Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel
Worldwide Competitors
Greatest Worldwide Brief Movie: “Washhhh,” Mickey Lai
Pardino d’Argento: “Hymn of the Plague,” Ataka51
Greatest Director: “Que te Vaya Bonito, Rico,” Joel Alfonso Vargas
Medien Patent Verwaltung AG Award: “The Kind,” Melika Pazouki
Particular Point out: “Freak,” Claire Barnett
Nationwide Competitors
Greatest Swiss Brief Movie: “Sans Voix,” Samuel Patthey
Pardino d’Argento: “Higher Not Kill the Groove,” Jonathan Leggett
Greatest Swiss Newcomer Award: Gabriel Grosclaude, “Lux Carne”
Particular Point out: “Progress Mining,” Gabriel Böhmer
PARDO VERDE COMPETITION
Pardo Verde: “Agora,” Ala Eddine Slim
Particular Mentions: “Der Fleck,” Willy Hans; “Revolving Rounds,” Johann Lurf and Christina Jauernik
INDEPENDENT JURY AWARDS
Ecumenical Jury Award: “Poisonous,” Saulė Bliuvaitė
Particular Point out: “Moon,” Kurdwin Ayub
FIPRESCI Prize: “Youth (Arduous Occasions),” Wang Bing
Europa Cinemas Label: “Moon,” Kurdwin Ayub
JUNIOR JURY AWARDS
Worldwide Competitors
First Prize: “Inexperienced Line,” Sylvie Ballyot
Second Prize: “Poisonous,” Saulė Bliuvaitė
Third Prize: “Salve Maria,” Mar Coll
Setting is High quality of Life Prize: “Youth (Arduous Occasions),” Wang Bing
The filmmaker presents the Current Competitors
First Prize: “Holy Electrical energy,” Tato Kotetishvili
Particular Point out: “Olivia & Las Nubes,” Tomás Pichardo-Espaillat
Brief Movie Competitors
Worldwide Competitors Award: “Razeh-Del,” Maryam Tafakory
Particular Point out: “Punter,” Jason Adam Maselle
Nationwide Competitors Award: “Sans Voix,” Samuel Patthey
Particular Point out: “Lux Carne,” Gabriel Grosclaude
Auteur Brief Award: “Upshot,” Maha Haj
Setting is High quality of Life Prize: “Three Leaves,” Eléonore Coyette and Sephora Monteau
CRITICS’ WEEK AWARDS
Grand Prix: “Wir Erben,” Simon Baumann
Marco Zucchi Award (for many aesthetically and formally progressive documentary): “La Déposition,” Claudia Marschal
Residency Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur @ Villa Sträuli: Maryam Tafakory
