07/04/2015 - Laura Bispuri’s film has been awarded the Firebird Award in the Young Filmmakers’ Competition. Next up, Copenhagen and the Tribeca Film Festival, where it has been selected to compete

Sworn Virgin by Laura Bispuri

This year the Firebird Award, the top prize in the Young Filmmakers’ Competition, which comprises the main section of the Hong Kong International Film Festival (23 March - 6 April 2015), went to Sworn Virgin [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Laura Bispuri
film profile] by Laura Bispuri. The prize was awarded to Bispuri’s debut feature film, which stars Alba Rohrwacher and was selected to compete at the last Berlinale (read the review), by the Festival’s international jury, led by Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf. “I’m so happy to have won the prize at the Hong Kong Film Festival and above all to have been given it by Mohsen Makhmalbaf”, said Bispuri. “I heard that the film moved the jury. In this international context I feel all the more inspired to broaden my gaze, towards Europe and the rest of the world. Unfortunately shortly before winning the prize I heard about the passing of Manoel De Oliveira. As a young director I want to dedicate this prize to him, for me he was the perfect example of someone who never stopped loving this profession”.

Still being shown in Italian theatres, Sworn Virgin will have its next international screening at the CPH Pix in Copenhagen (9 - 22 April – see article) where it has been selected to compete. Bispuri’s film will then fly to New York, where it is set to compete at the 14th Tribeca Film Festival (15 - 26 April). At Tribeca, which was founded by Robert De Niro and is directed by Frédéric Boyer, Italian cinema will also be represented (in the Spotlights section) by Saverio Costanzo’s Hungry Hearts [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Saverio Costanzo
film profile], kicking off its screening in U.S. theatres under distribution by IFC, and by Maraviglioso Boccaccio [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Paolo and Vittorio Taviani
film profile] by brothers Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, who will also be invited to talk about film as part of the Tribeca Talks series, dedicated to cinematic icons. The film is inspired by The Decameron, and has also been chosen to open the upcoming Beijing International Film Festival (16 - 23 April). Also competing in the documentary section at Tribeca is Palio [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Cosima Spender, a film dedicated to the most ancient horse race in the world.

(Translated from Italian)