“An original and profound examination of motherhood, highlighting secrets we don’t often talk about” in which “the director disappears behind the camera, leaving people free to express their feelings in a variety of private contexts”. This was the reasoning given by the jury of the 24th Lecce European Film Festival – presided over by Stefan Kitanov and composed of Gentian Koçi, Wilma Labate, Ales Pavlin and Angela Prudenzi – for naming Léa Fehner’s French title Midwives [+lee también:
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entrevista: Léa Fehner
ficha de la película] Best Film in the European feature films “Golden Olive” competition, at the end of a week (11 - 18 November) which shone a light on the best of high-quality European cinema in Salento’s capital city.

The jury handed its Special Prize to Légua [+lee también:
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entrevista: Filipa Reis, João Miller G…
ficha de la película] by Filipa Reis and João Miller Guerra, for its “capacity to combine a storytelling and documentarian approach, and its sensitive depiction of three different generations of female characters”, while Best Photography went to Polish D.o.P. Ita Zbroniec-Zajt for Woman on the Roof [+lee también:
crítica
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entrevista: Anna Jadowska
ficha de la película] by Anna Jadowska (thanks to their “precise and structured visual approach”) and Best Screenplay was won by Lithuanian director Austèja Urbajté’s Remember to Blink [+lee también:
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entrevista: Austėja Urbaitė
ficha de la película] (in the words of the jury, “simple, astute, profound and clear, bringing together different cultures and languages”).

The award winners of this year’s event were almost exclusively female, taking into account the three trophies also bagged by Avelina Prat’s Vasil [+lee también:
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entrevista: Avelina Prat
ficha de la película]: the Spanish-Bulgarian effort earned itself the Audience Award, a Special Mention for actor Ivan Barnev (who “confidently creates a vigorous, energetic, warm and emotional character”) and the Cineuropa Prize, handed over by the organisation’s director Valerio Caruso, who described the film as “an intelligent critique of Spanish society, denouncing a closed-mindedness and limited vision of the world, especially among the middle classes”.

Two prizes were won, meanwhile, by Copenhagen Does Not Exist [+lee también:
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entrevista: Martin Skovbjerg
ficha de la película], directed by Denmark’s Martin Skovbjerg: the trophy for Best European Actor/Actress, awarded by the SNGCI – National Association of Italian Film Journalists to Angela Bundalovic (“for her intense and unconventional performance in line with this love story which refuses all rules”), and the FIPRESCI Prize (“for a film which is at once a complex love story, an enigmatic psychological drama and a pacy thriller”).

For its part, Disco Boy [+lee también:
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entrevista: Giacomo Abbruzzese
ficha de la película] by Giacomo Abbruzzese proved the winner of the Mario Verdone Prize, as selected by siblings Carlo, Luca and Silvia Verdone, “for its capacity to marry expressive rigour and an ideal measure of freedom to speak of the loss and rebirth of a modern-day hero”. Last but not least, the Emidio Greco Prize for Best Short Film was won by Lorenzo Tardella’s Le variabili dipendenti, while the Cinecittà News Special Mention for Best Documentary was bagged by Renato Chiocca’s Tutto quello che sarà.

The full list of winners from the 24th Lecce European Film Festival is as follows:

“Golden Olive” Competition

Best Film
Midwives [+lee también:
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entrevista: Léa Fehner
ficha de la película] - Léa Fehner (France)

Special Jury Prize
Légua [+lee también:
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entrevista: Filipa Reis, João Miller G…
ficha de la película] - Filipa Reis, João Miller Guerra (Portugal/France/Italy)

Best Cinematography
Ita Zbroniec-Zajt - Woman on the Roof [+lee también:
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entrevista: Anna Jadowska
ficha de la película] (Poland/Sweden/France)

Best Screenplay
Remember to Blink [+lee también:
crítica
entrevista: Austėja Urbaitė
ficha de la película] - Austeja Urbajte (Lithuania)

Special Mention
Ivan Barnev - Vasil [+lee también:
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entrevista: Avelina Prat
ficha de la película] (Spain/Bulgaria)

Audience Award
Vasil - Avelina Prat

SNGCI Prize for Best European Actor/Actress
Angela Bundalovic - Copenhagen Does Not Exist [+lee también:
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entrevista: Martin Skovbjerg
ficha de la película] (Denmark)

FIPRESCI Prize
Copenhagen Does Not Exist - Martin Skovbjerg

Cineuropa Prize
Vasil - Avelina Prat

PUGLIA SHOW Prize

Best Short Film
Paramore - Andrea Lamedica, Francesco Mastroleo (Italy – short film)
Special Mention
La mia escort - Alessandro Porzio (Italy – short film)

RAI Cinema Channel Prize
La piccola estate - Sara Scalera (Italy – short film)

Unisalento Prize
Tart - Federico Emilio Cornacchia (Italy – short film)

Mario Verdone Prize
Disco Boy [+lee también:
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entrevista: Giacomo Abbruzzese
ficha de la película] - Giacomo Abbruzzese (France/Belgium/Italy/Poland)

Emidio Greco Prize
Le variabili dipendenti - Lorenzo Tardella (Italy – short film)

Cinecittà News Special Mention for the Cinema&Realtà Section
Tutto quello che sarà - Renato Chiocca (Italy)