White Snail named Best Film in the 26th Lecce European Film Festival
- The movie by Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter wins the Golden Olive, The Pupil scoops the Jury Prize, and The Love that Remains bags three accolades, including the Cineuropa Award
White Snail [+see also:
film review
interview: Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter
film profile] has been crowned Best Film in the 26th edition of the Lecce European Film Festival, which wrapped last Saturday with the usual awards ceremony. The jury chaired by producer Lene Børglum bestowed the Golden Olive “Cristina Soldano Award for Best Film” upon Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter’s feature-length movie: “a surprising film”, the jury’s explanation reads, “in which two invisible souls in a suffocating world come together” and which “addresses the poetisation of death by society, which is both a way of dealing with the horrors of our times and a poison intoxicating our young people”.
The Special Jury Prize went to The Pupil [+see also:
film review
interview: Karin Junger
film profile] by Karin Junger, “for its ability to portray the dynamics of manipulation with great accuracy” and because “the dangerous impulses at the heart of the story are addressed without resorting to facile demonisation, instead favouring in-depth investigation into the psychological traumas they create”.
Iceland’s The Love that Remains [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hlynur Pálmason
film profile] by Hlynur Pálmason scored a hat trick, scooping Best Cinematography, the FIPRESCI Award and the Cineuropa Prize, the latter “for its ability to shed light on the beauty of the everyday, a sense of synchronicity with nature and the difficulty of striking a balance while everything (or almost everything) is continually changing” and because “this film offers up a new and unrushed, delicate and deeply affecting viewpoint on ‘what remains’.”
The Best Screenplay Award, meanwhile, went to What Marielle Knows [+see also:
film review
interview: Frédéric Hambalek
film profile] by Frédéric Hambalek, “for its capacity to convey the complexity of family relationships through a fantastical device which shows rather than explains why things happen”. The German title also claimed the Critics’ Award from the SNCCI – National Union of Italian Film Critics, while the SNGCI Prize for Best European Actress/Actor, awarded by the Union of Italian Film Journalists jury, was won by Claud Hernandez who toplines Pere Vilà Barceló’s Spanish movie When a River Becomes the Sea [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pere Vilà Barceló
film profile].
The Audience Award went to Stroma Cairms’ British title The Son and the Sea [+see also:
film review
interview: Stroma Cairns, Imogen West
film profile], while this year’s Mario Verdone Award was nabbed by Greta Scarano via Siblings [+see also:
film review
film profile], “for exploring autism with delicacy, realism and irony, shining a new and sensitive spotlight on the importance of inclusion”.
Last but not least, Lifetime Achievement Awards were presented to Saverio Costanzo and Lars Von Trier. As the Danish director enthused in an acceptance speech which was relayed to the public, since he was unable to collect the prize in person: “This award means a lot to me: it shows that my films are continuing to reach a wide audience […]. “When I was young, I attended university and film schools, I watched a great many films, but at a certain point I decided I had to stop watching recent works […] The reason I avoid doing so is for fear of being overly stimulated by ideas that don’t fit with my path. I have, nevertheless, kept up a certain sense of discipline. Receiving this award today makes me happy, because it gives me hope that I haven’t totally failed along my long journey.”
In attendance in Lecce, Zentropa producer Louise Vesth announced that, despite being diagnosed with Parkinson’s, the Danish filmmaker is working on a monumental project: an encyclopaedia of cinema and art in 100 episodes to be entitled After.
The award winners were as follows:
European Feature Film Competition
Golden Olive – Cristina Soldano Award for Best Film
White Snail [+see also:
film review
interview: Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter
film profile] - Elsa Kremser, Levin Peter (Austria/Germany)
Special Jury Prize
The Pupil [+see also:
film review
interview: Karin Junger
film profile] - Karin Junger (Netherlands/Belgium)
Best Cinematography
The Love that Remains [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hlynur Pálmason
film profile] - Hlynur Pálmason (Iceland/Denmark/Sweden/France)
Best Screenplay
What Marielle Knows [+see also:
film review
interview: Frédéric Hambalek
film profile] - Frédéric Hambalek (Germany)
SNGCI Award for Best European Actress
Claud Hernandez - When a River Becomes the Sea [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pere Vilà Barceló
film profile] (Spain)
Puglia Show Short Film Competition
Puglia Show Award
Eggplant - Luigi Imola (Italy)
RAI Cinema Channel Award
Sette settimane - Enrico Acciani (Italy)
Unisalento Award
Quand tu dors - Salvator Rosa and Pierluigi Rosa (Italy)
Other awards
Cineuropa Award
The Love that Remains - Hlynur Pálmason
FIPRESCI Award
The Love that Remains - Hlynur Pálmason
Critics’ Award – SNCCI
What Marielle Knows - Frédéric Hambalek
Audience Award
The Son and the Sea [+see also:
film review
interview: Stroma Cairns, Imogen West
film profile] - Stroma Cairms (United Kingdom)
Mario Verdone Award
Greta Scarano - La vita da grandi [+see also:
film review
film profile] (Italy)
Emidio Greco Award
Pizza Flash - Luca Guanci (Italy) (short film)
Cinecittà News Special Mention in the Cinema&Reality section
We Are the Forest Enclosed by the Wall - Oliver Ressler (Austria/Italy) (short film)
Rotary Club Lecce Award
Come fosse luce - Corrado Punzi (Italy)
(Translated from Italian)
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