Tana Gilbert’s Malqueridas (see BDE review) picked up the prestigious IWONDERFULL Grand Prize of the Settimana Internazionale della Critica (SIC), the independent section organised by the Sindacato Nazionale Critici Cinematografici Italiani (SNCCI), at the 80th Venice International Film Festival. The film details life within a women’s prison in Chile and shot entirely on clandestine cellphones. International sales are handled by Square Eyes.
The international jury was composed of Baloji, Ava Cahen and Bianca Oana. Their statement reads: “Because its subject is vertiginous, because its formal approach is masterful, a radical gesture that makes the off-screen come to life and shows us only the details, the blurred image, the stolen pixels. Narrative and set-up are at the service of the witnesses. The director puts us side by side with the incarcerated women, without passing any judgment on their value, and this is a prowess of cinema’s poetic license”.
Malqueridas also received the Mario Serandrei – Hotel Saturnia Award for Best Technical Contribution, assigned jurors by Matteo Bernardini, Marco Contino, Raffaella Giancristofaro.
