The French Association of Film Critics has handed out its awards for 2021. The title of Best French Film went to Onoda – 10,000 Nights in the Jungle [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Arthur Harari
scheda film] by Arthur Harari, adding to a glorious track record which first saw the movie opening Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section within the festival’s 74th edition before scooping the Louis-Delluc Award, four Lumières nominations and a further four noms for the Césars (whose winners will be announced this Friday).

The filmmaker’s second feature film after Dark Inclusion [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Arthur Harari
scheda film] (2016), Onoda was shot entirely in Asia, and in the Japanese language. Written by Arthur Harari and Vincent Poymiro, this international co-production (involving France, Germany, Belgium and Italy) looks back on the fate of Lieutenant Hiroo Onoda who travelled to Lubang Island (in the Philippines) in 1945 with a view to countering the American offensive. Japan eventually surrenders, but Onoda carries on fighting. Trained to survive in the jungle at all costs and blindly refusing to believe in the end of the Second World War, he pursues his battle for 10,000 days… Production was outsourced to Nicolas Anthomé (one of the European Film Promotion’s 2018 Producers on the Move – read our interview) on behalf of bathysphere, while distribution in French cinemas was handled by Le Pacte, who are also steering international sales.

The trophy for Best First French Feature Film, meanwhile, was won by Chloé Mazlo’s Skies of Lebanon [+leggi anche:
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scheda film], which previously earned itself a label from Cannes’ Critics’ Week in 2020. The movie was produced by Moby Dick Films in co-production with Arte France Cinéma, and is sold worldwide by Charades.

Rounding off the list of film awards is the trophy for the most exceptional French-language movie, which went to the documentary There Will Be No More Night [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Eléonore Weber (a Perspective Films production discovered and honoured at the Cinéma du Réel Festival in 2020), the title of Best Foreign Film awarded to Drive My Car by Japan’s Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Best First Foreign Feature won by Freda [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Haiti’s Gessica Geneus, and Best French Short, going to Nicolae by Romania’s Mihai Grecu.

Also worth a mention is the prize for Best French Series, scooped by Valérie Donzelli’s Nona and her Daughters and, also within the realm of TV productions, the award for Best Work of Fiction which went to François Hanss’ Doutes, and Best Documentary as won by Jérôme Prieur’s Vivre dans l’Allemagne en guerre.

The list of winners is as follows:

Film Awards

Best French Film
Onoda – 10,000 Nights in the Jungle [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Arthur Harari
scheda film] - Arthur Harari (France/Italy/Germany/Belgium/Japan/Cambodia)

Best Foreign Film
Drive My Car - Ryusuke Hamaguchi (Japan)

Best First French Film
Skies of Lebanon [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] - Chloé Mazlo (France)

Best First Foreign Film
Freda [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] - Gessica Geneus (Haiti/France/Benin)

Exceptional French-Language Film
There Will Be No More Night [+leggi anche:
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Best French Short Film
Nicolae - Mihai Grecu (France)

TV Awards

Best French Series
Nona and her Daughters - Valérie Donzelli (Arte)

Best French Work of Fiction
Doutes - François Hanss (Arte)

Best French Documentary
Vivre dans l’Allemagne en guerre - Jérôme Prieur (France 5)