The audience of the 43rd edition of the Bergamo Film Meeting has cast its vote: Gina [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] is the winner of the Exhibition Competition. The family drama directed by Austrian filmmaker Ulrike Kofler was awarded the Bergamo Film Meeting Prize worth €5,000. In second place, thank to audience votes, comes Juan Olea’s Bitter Gold, while third place was won by Karim Dridi’s Lazy Girls.

The international jury, meanwhile, composed of Dániel Hevér (director), Andrea Inzerillo (artistic director of Sicilia Queer filmfest) and Tiina Lokk (artistic director of Tallinn’s Black Nights Film Festival), awarded Best Director (worth €2,000) to Winter in Sokcho [+lire aussi :
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interview : Koya Kamura
fiche film], which is French-Japanese filmmaker Koya Kamura’s feature film debut. In their words, “The jury was especially impressed with how this first work uses complex material on a filmmaking level”. “Its photography, editing and acting performances work wonderfully together to create hopes around repairing families, finding love and the arrival of spring. The film depicts a search for identity with sensitivity and subtlety, telling a story about generational and cultural parallels. It’s a meteorological study of the soul which is always incredibly intense and complex”.

In the Close-Up line-up, the CGIL Bergamo Prize for Best Documentary (worth €2,000) for the documentary earning the most audience votes went to Miriam Pucitta’s Motherland (Switzerland/Germany), while the CGIL “La Sortie de l’Usine” Jury Prize, decided upon by CGIL Bergamo union representatives and awarded to the documentary which best tackles themes relating to the world of work and welfare (€1,000), was won by Juri Rechinsky’s Dear Beautiful Beloved [+lire aussi :
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Last but not least, a Special Mention was bestowed upon Personale [+lire aussi :
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interview : Carmen Trocker
fiche film] by Carmen Trocker (Italy/Austria), “for the film’s ability to lend a voice to those arriving in our country in search of a better future but who find themselves fulfilling roles which are often invisible yet fundamental for propping up an economy which results in luxury for the few and sacrifice for many. Using powerful images and steering clear of rhetoric, Personale depicts the dynamics within a system which all too often exploits without awarding recognition, which makes demands without according rights or stability in return. In a world where the value of work is increasingly sidelined in the name of profit, this documentary reminds us that behind every service and everyday act are people with stories, dreams and dignity”.

The full list of winners is as follows:

Exhibition Competition

First Prize
Gina [+lire aussi :
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Second Prize
Bitter Gold - Juan Olea (Germany/Uruguay/Chile)

Third Prize
Lazy Girls - Karim Dridi (France)

Best Director
Winter in Sokcho [+lire aussi :
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bande-annonce
interview : Koya Kamura
fiche film] - Koya Kamura (France/South Korea)

Close-Up

CGIL Bergamo Prize for Best Documentary
Motherland - Miriam Pucitta (Switzerland/Germany)

“La sortie de l’usine” CGIL Prize
Dear Beautiful Beloved [+lire aussi :
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Special Mention
Personale [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Carmen Trocker
fiche film] - Carmen Trocker (Italy/Austria)