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REYKJAVIK 2018 Awards

Knife + Heart wins at Reykjavik

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- Yann Gonzalez’s playful take on the bloody giallo genre has scooped the main prize, the Golden Puffin, at the Reykjavik International Film Festival

Knife + Heart wins at Reykjavik
Knife + Heart by Yann Gonzalez

On Saturday, the official awards were handed out at the Reykjavik Film Festival, as the international gathering brought its 15th edition to a close. The main award, the Golden Puffin for Discovery of the Year, was snagged by Yann Gonzalez’s Knife + Heart [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nicolas Maury
interview: Yann Gonzalez
film profile
]
, a playful take on the bloody giallo genre, mixed with gay melodrama and presented in an array of vivid colours. The film was clearly out of place in the Cannes competition, where it was widely criticised, but was perhaps a better fit for Reykjavik, where the audience’s taste seems to favour counter-culture movements and pop-culture commentary. 

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It’s only fitting that the name of the award given to Knife + Heart is the Golden Puffin, named after the endearing mascot of Iceland. Knife + Heart’s strong splatter element and title seem to curiously correspond with the fact that fresh, raw puffin heart is considered a traditional Icelandic delicacy.

The task for the jury of the “A Different Tomorrow” category was to pick the best film in the documentary competition. In a strong line-up, América by Erick Stoll and Chase Whiteside emerged as the winner. The film had already been awarded at a number of festivals, including CPH:DOX and Sheffield, and was also able to gain new fans at Reykjavik with its story of brothers who are brought together to care for their 93-year-old grandmother. 

Here is the full list of award winners:

The Golden Puffin for Discovery of the Year
Knife + Heart [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nicolas Maury
interview: Yann Gonzalez
film profile
]
 – Yann Gonzalez (France/Switzerland/Mexico)

A Different Tomorrow Award for Best Documentary Film
América – Erick Stoll and Chase Whiteside (USA)

The Golden Egg for Best Short Film at the Reykjavik Talent Lab
Vesna – Nathalia Konchalovsky (Russia) 

Best International Short
Gulyabani – Gürcan Keltek (Turkey/Holland)

Best Icelandic Short
Jörmundur - Maddie O’Hara, Jack Bushell and Alex Herz

Special Mention
Styx [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Wolfgang Fischer
film profile
]
 – Wolfgang Fischer (Germany/Austria)
Black Line - Mark Olexa and Francesca Scalisi (Bangladesh)

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