A Violent Desire for Joy and Sophia Antipolis win big at Novos Cinemas
- China’s Suburban Birds came out on top in the Official Section, while Young & Beautiful did likewise in Latexos and Thirty Souls scooped the Audience Award
The successful third edition of Novos Cinemas, held in Pontevedra, Spain, between 11 and 16 December, was notable for the impressive number of European feature films spread across the gathering’s two competitions: the Official Section and Latexos. This strong European presence was also reflected in the winners’ list, as a considerable number of French and Spanish movies won awards.
The International Jury, made up of Mexican filmmaker-producer Paula Astorga (Once Upon a Time in Hungary), Galician director Eloy Domínguez Serén (Hamada [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Eloy Domínguez Serén
film profile], No Cow on the Ice [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) and Galician film teacher Manolo González, handed the Novos Cinemas Award for Best Feature in the Official Section to Suburban Birds by Chinese director Qiu Sheng. The jury also bestowed a Special Mention upon A Violent Desire for Joy [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by France’s Clément Schneider. The latter film, which was premiered in the ACID section of the most recent Cannes Film Festival, was described by the members of the jury as “an ode to freedom and a clear reflection of the past from the present – a restrained, mature, brilliant cinematic exercise that is immensely relevant to the modern day”.
The Youth Jury (Xurado Novo), made up of University of Vigo students Ricardo Araújo Gil, Amy Margaret Egan, Pedro Ignacio Ferrari, Ángela Hernández González and Noemi Parga Iglesias, awarded France’s Virgil Vernier as Best Director in the Official Section, for Sophia Antipolis [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Virgil Vernier
film profile]. The auteur of this movie, which was first unveiled in the Filmmakers of the Present competition of the Locarno Film Festival, was lauded for his way of “demystifying contemporary society through an acerbic and elegant style, and for revealing our individual and collective violence in a surprising way”.
The Latexos Jury, comprising Spanish film critics Violeta Kovacsics, José Manuel López and Ramón Rey, gave the NUMAX Special Award to the Spanish-French co-production Young & Beautiful [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Marina Lameiro, “for its portrait of intimacy; using the power of suggestion and what happens out of shot, the images of an extraordinary urgency manage to capture the void of the current social situation and the sheer bewilderment of a generation”. Lastly, Thirty Souls [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Diana Toucedo
film profile] by Galician director Diana Toucedo pocketed the Novos Cinemas Audience Award.
Here is the full list of winners:
Official Section
Novos Cinemas Award for Best Feature
Suburban Birds – Qiu Sheng (China)
Special Mention
A Violent Desire for Joy [+see also:
trailer
film profile] – Clément Schneider (France)
Youth Jury Award for Best Director
Virgil Vernier – Sophia Antipolis [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Virgil Vernier
film profile] (France)
Latexos section
NUMAX Special Award
Young & Beautiful [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Marina Lameiro (Spain/France)
Other awards
Cinemas de Galicia–AGADIC Audience Award
Thirty Souls [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Diana Toucedo
film profile] – Diana Toucedo (Spain)
(Translated from Spanish)
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