The 50th edition of the Laceno d’Oro International Film Festival in Avellino closed December 8 with the documentary winners named as follows:
Eighty Plus by Želimir Žilnik won the Laceno d’Oro 50 Award, as decided by a jury composed of filmmaker Andrei Ujică, producers Jani Pösö and Donatella Palermo and editor Joe Bini. The film received a €3,500 prize. Two Special Mentions went to Yrupẽ by Candela Sotos and Punku by Juan Daniel Fernández Molero.
The Laceno d’Oro 50 Audience Award “Franca Troisi” went to Je suis la nuit en plein midi by Gaspard Hirschi. The Premio Laceno d’Oro Team Award was won by Ammar al-Beik for TrepaNation “for the enthusiasm, passion and dedication to cinema”.
The feature documentaries in selection at the 50th Laceno d’Oro International Film Festival were:
- Eighty Plus (Restitucija, ili, San i java stare garde) by Želimir Žilnik – Serbia, Slovenia
- Fuck the Polis by Rita Azevedo Gomes – Portugal
- Yrupẽ by Candela Sotos – Spain
- Je suis la nuit en plein midi by Gaspard Hirschi – France
- Explode São Paulo, Gil by Maria Clara Escobar – Brazil, Portugal
- Somos dois abismos by Kopal Joshy – Portugal
- Imago by Déni Oumar Pitsaev – France, Belgium
- TrepaNation by Ammar al-Beik – Syria, Germany, France
- Punku by J.D. Fernández Molero – Peru, Spain
The short docs in selection were:
- In Retrospect (15’) by Mila Zhlutenko, Daniel Asadi Faezi, DEU/ 2025
- Thoughts on Peace in an Air Raid (15’) by Vyacheslav Turyanytsya, UKR-NLD/ 2025
- Common Pear (15’) by Gregor Božič, SVN-GBR/ 2025
- Al rojo vivo (19’) by Rocío Llambí, ESP-URY/ 2025
- Heavenly Rhymes (14’) by Angelo Toscano, ITA-GBR/ 2025
- Io mi sono conosciuto nel sogno (20’) by Filippo Ticozzi, ITA/ 2025
- We Are Animals (14’) by Lorenzo Pallotta, ITA/ 2025
- Lo sguardo basso delle bambine (7’) by Astrid Ardenti, ITA/ 2025
- Studio Baumettes (32’) by Hassen Fehrani, FRA/ 2025
- Goodbye cinema (22’) by Christian Balictan, PHL-SUI/ 2025
- Nessuno ci crederà (12’) by Otto Lazić-Reuschel, ITA/ 2025
- La femme qui marche (27’) di Francesco Clerici, Khaoula Matri ITA-TUN-GBR/ 2025
Over eight days of “outstanding cinema,” two Laceno d’Oro Lifetime Achievement Awards were presented to Víctor Erice and Leos Carax, and the Pier Paolo Pasolini Honorary Award was presented to Andrei Ujică, also President of the International Feature Film Jury. The three directors were honoured with three retrospectives, and all three held a masterclass, sharing their idea of cinema and retracing their career.
Founded in 1959 by Pier Paolo Pasolini alongside Irpinian intellectuals Camillo Marino and Giacomo D’Onofrio, the Laceno d’Oro Festival was created to celebrate Irpinia through a film showcase inspired by neorealism. Today, the festival is organized by Circolo ImmaginAzione in Avellino, chaired by Antonio Spagnuolo, and Maria Vittoria Pellecchia and Aldo Spiniello as Artistic Director and Programme Curators.
In recent years, Laceno d’Oro International Film Festival has welcomed filmmakers such as Paul Schrader, Abel Ferrara, Alexander Sokurov, Arnaud Desplechin, Elia Suleiman, Jia Zhangke, Marco Bellocchio, Robert Guédiguian, Olivier Assayas, Amir Naderi, Pedro Costa, Aleksei German Jr., Julio Bressane, Carlos Reygadas, Laurent Cantet, Franco Maresco, Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, Mario Martone, Ken Loach, Miguel Gomes, Stéphane Brizé, and Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, among many others.
