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AWARDS Italy

The Illusionist nabs Sergio Amidei Screenplay Award

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Sylvain Chomet’s The Illusionist [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sylvain Chomet
film profile
]
picked up the Sergio Amidei International Award for Best Screenplay, the 30th edition of which closed on Saturday, July 23 in Gorizia (see news). This is the first time that the important accolade, named after one of Italy’s greatest screenwriters, has been awarded to an animated film.

The French director’s feature, developed from an unproduced script by the late Jacques Tati, beat off competition from films including Mike Leigh’s Another Year [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mike Leigh
film profile
]
, Claudio Cupellini’s A Quiet Life [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Claudio Cupellini
film profile
]
and the Dardenne brothers’ The Kid With A Bike [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
film profile
]
.

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The jury chose the film "because it shows how, even in an animated film, it is possible to write enchanting and original characters" and "because it makes many a cinemagoer’s dream come true, that of having a chance to see Tati’s creatures on screen once more".

"Tati’s cinema is like Italian cinema but without the words", commented Chomet. "He was criticised by many for being too attached to the past, but on the contrary he was modern and visionary. When he wrote the screenplay to The Illusionist he could see the end of an era".

The director, who also helmed Belleville Rendez-vous [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, then looked ahead: “My next film won’t be an animation, on the contrary it will be a very visual, musical film based around dance. I will do choreography with people who don’t know how to dance. I want my next film to be very entertaining”.

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(Translated from Italian)

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