19/05/2018 - CANNES 2018: The film by Stefano Savona has won the award for the best documentary screened across the various Cannes sections this year

Stefano Savona (centre) with the Golden Eye, flanked by the jury tasked with giving out the award (© SCAM)

Handed out at the Cannes Film Festival since 2015 by the Scam (Civil Society of Multimedia Authors) in partnership with the Ina, and serving to single out the best of the documentaries screened across the various selections on the Croisette, the Golden Eye Award, given out this year by a jury chaired by French director Emmanuel Finkiel (flanked by British filmmaker Kim Longinotto, French actress Lolita Chammah, French critic Isabelle Danel and the USA’s Paul Sturz, the director of the True/False Film Fest), has crowned Samouni Road [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Stefano Savona
film profile], the documentary by Italy’s Stefano Savona, which was presented in the 50th Directors’ Fortnight.

Samouni Road, which was chosen by the jury on account of “its intelligent way of filming, the right distance in its point of view, its sensitive outlook, and the brilliant and subtle use of animation to strengthen the storytelling”, was produced by Picofilms and Dugong Films together with Rai Cinema and Alter Ego Production, in co-production with ARTE France Cinéma and ARTE France Unité Société et Culture. The film’s international sales are handled by Doc & Film International.

The jury also gave out two Special Mentions: one to Northern Irish director Mark Cousins for his doc The Eyes of Orson Welles [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mark Cousins
film profile], presented in the Cannes Classics section, and another to To the Four Winds [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by France’s Michel Toesca, shown as an Official Selection Special Screening.

(Translated from French)