Girl wins the Golden Eye at Zurich Film Festival
- Young Belgian director Lukas Dhont seduces the international festival competition jury with his very powerful first film
Already awarded with the Caméra d'Or and Acting Award in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes, Girl [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lukas Dhont
film profile], the first film by Lukas Dhont, belongs to the more than welcome wave of films dedicated to transgender characters, addressing the issue in a way that is anything but conventional or even worse, stereotypical.
The "girl" in Lukas Dhont’s film (Lara in the film) is a girl born a boy, willing to do anything to achieve her dream of becoming a classical dancer. A story and performance that couldn't not seduce the international jury at Zurich Film Festival (now in its 14th edition), presided over by the producer Gabriella Tana, and comprised of Hong Kong director and producer Ann Hui, the English actor Max Irons and the American director and screenplay writer Ana Lily Amirpour. The jury also decided to give a special mention to the French film Scheherazade [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Jean-Bernard Marlin, which transports us into the turbulent daily lives of a group of young people living in a poor area of Marseille.
Heartbound [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Janus Metz and Sine Plambech (Denmark/Sweden/the Netherlands) won the Golden Eye in the International Documentary competition. The film offers a touching and lucid look at intercultural relationships (between Thailand and Denmark) in search of love, security and financial stability. A special mention went to the American film Minding The Gap by Bing Liu in the same section.
As for the Swiss films presented at Zurich Film Festival: Midnight Runner by Hannes Baumgartner received a special mention in the Focus on: Switzerland, Germany and Austria section (tied with Welcome To Sodom [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Florian Weigensamer and Christian Krönes), while the Austrian film L'animale [+see also:
film review
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interview: Katharina Mückstein
film profile] by Katharina Mückstein scooped up the main award. The Swiss Encouragement Award went to the contemplative film Walden [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Daniel Zimmermann.
The Danish film The Guilty [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Gustav Möller
film profile] by Gustav Möller won the Film Critics’ Award, while Cold November [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ismet Sijarina
film profile] (Kosovo/Albania/Macedonia)by Ismet Sijarina, received the Audience Award.
Award Winners:
International Feature Film Competition
Golden Eye for Best Film
Girl [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lukas Dhont
film profile] - Lukas Dhont (Belgium/the Netherlands)
Special Mention
Shéhérazade [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Jean-Bernard Marlin (France)
International Documentary Competition
Golden Eye for Best Documentary
Heartbound [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - Janus Metz, Sine Plambech (Denmark/Switzerland/the Netherlands)
Special Mention
Mind The Gap - Bing Liu (USA)
Focus on: Switzerland, Germany, Austria
Golden Eye
L’Animale [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Katharina Mückstein
film profile] - Katharina Mückstein (Austria)
Special Mention
Midnight Runner - Hannes Baumgartner (Svizzera)
Welcome To Sodom [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Florian Weigensamer, Christian Krönes (Austria)
Emerging Swiss Talent Award
Walden [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Daniel Zimmermann (Switzerland)
Other Awards
Critics’ Award (Swiss Association of Film Journalists)
The Guilty [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Gustav Möller
film profile] - Gustav Möller (Denmark)
Audience Award
Cold November [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ismet Sijarina
film profile] - Ismet Sijarina (Kosovo/Albania/Macedonia)
Children’s Section Jury Award
Los Bando [+see also:
trailer
interview: Christian Lo
film profile] - Christian Lo (Norway/Sweden)
Children’s Section Audience Award
Raloul Taburin - Pierre Godeau (France/Belgium)
Treatment Competition Award
C.O.D.A. – Child Of Deaf Adults - Maurizius Staerkle Drux, Lenz Baumann (Switzerland)
(Translated from Italian)
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