Three feature documentaries were awarded at the end of the 79th Locarno Film Festival.
Festival Artistic Director Giona A. Nazzaro acknowledged “a vital and contemporary slate of awards, in close dialogue with the transformations in the industry and in our world today.” He added how the juries “upheld the primacy of form and of language, while remaining, in its choices, completely accessible, as the packed and engaged screenings of all competitions demonstrated throughout the Festival.”
The Pardo d’Oro in the Concorso Cineasti del Presente (CHF 35,000) and the Swatch First Feature Award (CHF 15,000) were both awarded to The Illusion of an Everlasting Summer (La ilusión de un verano sin fin) by Alessandra Sanguinetti.
Sold by Autlook, The Illusion of an Everlasting Summer is photographer Sanguinetti’s feature debut, filmed over 25 years. It follows Guillermina and Belinda, two inseparable cousins growing up on neighboring farms in Argentina’s Pampas. Read the Business Doc Europe interview with Alessandra Sanguinetti about The Illusion of an Everlasting Summer.
The Grand Prix Semaine de la Critique – Prix SRG SSR, valued at CHF 5,000 went to Blossoming by Kamila Serwicka (Poland), produced by Adrianna Rędzia. The prize is shared between the director and producer. The film tells the intensely personal story of three generations of domestic abuse within the director’s family.
The jury explained their decision as follows: “This courageous, moving and deeply personal film tells the story of domestic violence and its far-reaching effects on families. The filmmaker finds a distinctive cinematic form to approach this sensitive subject with great honesty and consequence. Over a long period of time, Serwicka makes family dynamics and wounds palpable, without needing to explain them. In doing so, she uses her personal experience and her filmmaking talent in an impressive way. BLOSSOMING is an important film that reaches its audience directly and lingers long afterwards.” Read the Business Doc Europe interview with Kamila Serwicka about Blossoming.
In Concorso Cineasti del Presente the Special Jury Prize CINE+OCS, which offers a promotional campaign to the value of CHF 25,000 on CINE+OCS channels at the time of its theatrical release in France, was awarded to Revolutionaries Never Die by Mohanad Yaqubi (Palestine/Belgium/Qatar). The film comprises a letter to the late revolutionary Lebanese documentary director Jocelyne Saab, in which he reframes much of the work she made between 1973 and 1983. Read the Business Doc Europe interview with Mohanad Yaqubi about Revolutionaries never Die.
