Lithuanian cinema, not typically that well represented on the international film festival circuit, was the big story of this year’s Locarno Film Festival awards ceremony, with two films from the Baltic nation taking a number of top prizes between them.
“Toxic,” an auspicious debut from writer-director Saulė Bliuvaitė, won not only the Golden Leopard for Best Film in the fest’s premier International Competition — from a jury chaired by Austrian auteur Jessica Hausner — but also, in an unusual double, the top prize in the separately juried First Feature Competition. Bliuvaitė’s compatriot Laurynas Bareiša, meanwhile, won Best Director in the International Competition for his sophomore feature “Drowning Dry,” while the same film’s ensemble also collectively took one of the jury’s gender-neutral acting prizes.
A hard-hitting study of alliances and rivalries between teenage girls enrolled at a modeling school in small-town Lithuania, “Toxic” stood out in the Competition for the youthfulness and rigor of its gaze — as it tackled matters of financial and sexual exploitation, as well as damaging body image. Variety‘s positive review described the film as “sobering but not without glimmers of tenderness and humor as female friendship takes root in a hopeless place,” adding that its “alternation between chilly composure and kinetic movement roughly corresponds with [the protagonist’s] wavering sense of self.”
Before presenting the prize to Bareiša, Hausner praised the film for its “artistic visual style, its very powerful actresses and actors, and its really original and unusual story structure, [leading to] an understanding of the hardship and beauty of being different — one can even say, of being a freak.” Accepting the award, the young filmmaker cited her “humble beginnings,” continuing, “I want to use this platform to acknowledge this privilege that we have now, that we can celebrate cinema and make films … in a lot of parts of the world, people don’t have this privilege to feel safe, they have to fight just to exist.”
In addition to the Golden Leopard and the First Feature Award — where it beat fellow International Competition entry “Green Line,” by French director Sylvie Ballyot, into second place — “Toxic” also won the Ecumenical Jury Prize.
Full story to come, with a complete list of winners below:
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
Golden Leopard for Best Film: “Toxic,” Saulė Bliuvaitė
Special Jury Prize: “Moon,” Kurdwin Ayub
Best Director: Laurynas Bareiša, “Drowning Dry”
Best Performance: (ex aequo) Gelminė Glemžaitė, Agnė Kaktaitė, Giedrius Kiela and Paulius Markevičius, “Drowning Dry”; Kim Minhee, “By the Stream”
Special Mentions: “Youth (Hard Times),” Wang Bing; “Salve Maria,” Mar Coll
CINEASTI DEL PRESENTE (FILMMAKERS OF THE PRESENT) COMPETITION
Best Film: “Holy Electricity,” Tato Kotetishvili
Best Emerging Director: Denise Fernandes, “Hanami”
Special Jury Prize: “Listen to the Voices,” Maxime Jean-Baptiste
Best Performance: (ex aequo) Callie Hernandez, “Invention”; Anna Mészöly, “Lesson Learned”
Special Mentions: “Lesson Learned,” Bálint Szimler; “When the Phone Rang,” Iva Radivojević
FIRST FEATURE COMPETITION
Swatch First Feature Award: “Toxic,” Saulė Bliuvaitė
MUBI Award for Debut Feature: “Green Line,” Sylvie Ballyotr
Special Mentions: “Hanami,” Denise Fernandes; “Listen to the Voices,” Maxime Jean-Baptiste
PARDI DI DOMANI SHORT FILM COMPETITION
Auteur Short Competition
Best Auteur Short Film: “Upshot,” Maha Haj
Special Mention: “The Masked Monster,” Syeyoung Park
Locarno Film Festival Short Film Candidate – European Film Awards: “The Exploding Girl,” Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel
International Competition
Best International Short Film: “Washhh,” Mickey Lai
Pardino d’Argento: “Hymn of the Plague,” Ataka51
Best Director: “Que te Vaya Bonito, Rico,” Joel Alfonso Vargas
Medien Patent Verwaltung AG Award: “The Form,” Melika Pazouki
Special Mention: “Freak,” Claire Barnett
National Competition
Best Swiss Short Film: “Sans Voix,” Samuel Patthey
Pardino d’Argento: “Better Not Kill the Groove,” Jonathan Leggett
Best Swiss Newcomer Award: Gabriel Grosclaude, “Lux Carne”
Special Mention: “Progress Mining,” Gabriel Böhmer
PARDO VERDE COMPETITION
Pardo Verde: “Agora,” Ala Eddine Slim
Special Mentions: “Der Fleck,” Willy Hans; “Revolving Rounds,” Johann Lurf and Christina Jauernik
INDEPENDENT JURY AWARDS
Ecumenical Jury Award: “Toxic,” Saulė Bliuvaitė
Special Mention: “Moon,” Kurdwin Ayub
FIPRESCI Prize: “Youth (Hard Times),” Wang Bing
Europa Cinemas Label: “Moon,” Kurdwin Ayub
JUNIOR JURY AWARDS
International Competition
First Prize: “Green Line,” Sylvie Ballyot
Second Prize: “Toxic,” Saulė Bliuvaitė
Third Prize: “Salve Maria,” Mar Coll
Environment is Quality of Life Prize: “Youth (Hard Times),” Wang Bing
Cineasti del Presente Competition
First Prize: “Holy Electricity,” Tato Kotetishvili
Special Mention: “Olivia & Las Nubes,” Tomás Pichardo-Espaillat
Short Film Competition
International Competition Award: “Razeh-Del,” Maryam Tafakory
Special Mention: “Punter,” Jason Adam Maselle
National Competition Award: “Sans Voix,” Samuel Patthey
Special Mention: “Lux Carne,” Gabriel Grosclaude
Auteur Short Award: “Upshot,” Maha Haj
Environment is Quality of Life Prize: “Three Leaves,” Eléonore Coyette and Sephora Monteau
CRITICS’ WEEK AWARDS
Grand Prix: “Wir Erben,” Simon Baumann
Marco Zucchi Award (for most aesthetically and formally innovative documentary): “La Déposition,” Claudia Marschal
Residency Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur @ Villa Sträuli: Maryam Tafakory
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