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The Tribe wins at Motovun

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- FIPRESCI prize goes to Ruben Ostlund's Turist (Force Majeure)

The Tribe wins at Motovun
The Tribe by Myroslav Slaboshpytshiy

The Tribe [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Myroslav Slaboshpytshiy continued its award-winning streak at the 17th Motovun Film Festival (August 26-30) where it received the main award, the Motovun Propeller. The prize was given by a “Jury in Exile”, made up of people who, by virtue of their beliefs, live in exile, are under house arrest or are unable to be in Motovun because they are not free to travel: Jury President was Iranian director Jafar Panahi currently under house arrest in Teheran; FEMEN’s Inna Schevchenko currently in exile from her native Ukraine in Paris and the only member able to travel to Motovun; Natalia Kaliada and Nicolai Khalezin of the Belarus Free Theatre; and Syria’s Ala’a Basatneh. One absent jury member was the Ukraine’s Oleh Sentsov, currently in Lefortovo prison on trumped-up terrorism charges. His absence was highlighted by an Empty Chair campaign to draw attention to his case and is the first in a series of projected empty chairs at the upcoming summer/autumn festivals, initiated by the European Film Academy.

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“To be able to draw attention not only to the plight of Oleg,” said festival President Mike Downey, “but to the ongoing situation of Jafar Panahi, the continuing work of FEMEN and Chicago Girl and the incredible sacrifices of the Belarus Free Theatre has been a privilege and a mission for us. It wasn’t easy to bring all these disparate voices together, but when we did, they spoke as one in the support of The Tribe as the winner.”

A special mention went to German director Philip Gröning's The Police Officer's Wife [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Philip Gröning
film profile
]
.

Ruben Östlund's Turist (Force Majeure [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ruben Östlund
film profile
]
)
won the FIPRESCI prize. "The film, set within an idyllic but threatening environment, revolves around human relationships with a very sophisticated and unconventional humour. The director bravely insists on a truly personal style, using long takes and slow rhythm to deal with its subject uncompromisingly. This dialectic of subject and form is a rare occurence today", explained the jury. In the meantime, Arena by Martin Rath (Poland) triumphed in the short film competition.

The honorary Motovun Maverick Award was given to Andrei Zvyagintsev, and the Motovun 50 Award for long service in the film industry was given to the legendary poet and composer Arsen Dedic.

After having Turkey as partner country this year, the festival has announced that the next edition will present and promote film and culture of France.

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