30/07/2012 - A Dutch-Chilean co-production wins the Polish film festival’s Grand Prix

The 13th Wrocław T-Mobile New Horizons Film Festival’s Grand Prix (and accompanying €20,000) last night went to Dutch-Chilean co-production From Thursday till Sunday (De jueves a domingo) by Dominga Sotomayor Castillo. In total, 469 films from 52 countries were screened during the film festival (including 160 as Polish premieres).

The official selection jury (composed of Urszula Antoniak, Naomi Kawase, Lav Diaz, Amat Escalante, and Przemysław Wojcieszek) was not alone in voting for a film from Latin America, as the International Federation of Film Critics (represented by a jury made up of Alison Frank, Müge Turan, and Ola Salwa) awarded their FIPRESCI Prize to Neighbouring Sounds (O som ao redor) by Brazilian filmmaker Kleber Mendonça Filho.

The audience’s choice was no surprise, as Djinn Carrénard’s feature debut Donoma [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] had received thunderous applause when it was screened, and became a hot talking point among festival-goers and in the press afterwards.

The jury for the international competition for films about art (composed of Zbigniew Libera, James Benning, Susanne Sachse, Rebecca De Pas, Sean Farnel) handed out its (€10,000) prize to the Finnish production Punk Syndrome (Kovasikajuttu) by Jukki Kärkkäinena and Jani-Petteri Passi, a documentary about the daily lives of a punk band from Finland whose members all have Down Syndrome.

In the European short film competition, the winners were British title Bobby Yeah by Robert Morgan (Best Animation Short), Franco-Korean co-production Lack of Evidence by Hayoun Kwona (Best Documentary Short), and The Ghost of Happiness (Des Gespents des Glück) by Swiss filmmaker Max Philipp Schmid (Best Experimental Short).

In the Polish short film competition, winners included Oranges by Marta Szymańska (Best Animation Short), The Whistle by Grzegorz Zariczny (Best Documentary Short), and Echo by Marcin Filipowicz (Best Narrative Short).