2023-08-12 19:07:32
by Maurizio Porro
The work was shot without the authorization of the Iranian regime, using real people and not actors, hiding the camera or trying to circumvent the prohibitions
The jury of the 76th Locarno Film Festival, chaired by the actor Lambert Wilson, awarded its prizes yesterday during a ceremony in the afternoon and then an evening parade of the winners in Piazza Grande, packed with crowds that will have to give the Ubs prize to the most popular title from the public. The Golden Leopard went to “Critical Zone” by Ali Ahmadzadeh, an Iranian director who shot his film on the streets at night without the permission of the authorities, recording real people amidst real dangers in the nocturnal slums of Tehran.
“Often we had to hide the camera – says the director, who was prevented from going to Locarno to present his film in person and was also investigated by the Iranian Ministry of Security – or invent complicated solutions to circumvent the prohibitions: shoot the work was a real act of rebellion and showing it an even greater victory for us ». A victory with a political flavor for a festival that for eleven days filled the halls in all its sections and also had two mentions for Italian cinema: the jury of the Pardo Verde, green cinema, signaled «Procida», a work collective of young people coordinated by Leonardo di Costanzo, while “Patagonia” by Simone Bozzelli was awarded the ecumenical prize.
The other official awards of this edition, which saw the audience increase by 10%, continue with the jury’s special prize for the title that immediately appeared among the best in the international competition, “Don’t expect too much from the end of the world” by the Romanian Radu Jude , a complex story that takes place in two distinct eras, part in color and part in black and white, with a final 40-minute still camera shot. Maryna Vroda was awarded for the best direction for «Stepne», a co-production between Ukraine, Germany, Poland and Slovakia, while for the best interpretations went the Pardo Dimitra Vlagopoulou for «Animal» by Sofia Exarchou, a socio-tourist story of a resort in Greece, and Renèe Soutendijk for Ena Sendijarevic’s «Sweet Dreams», a horror tale about a Dutch family that owns a sugar cane factory in Indonesia.
Finally, a special mention to «Nuit obscure» by Sylvain George. The Filmmakers of the Present section awarded «Dreaming and Dying» by Nelson Yeo (Singapore-Indonesia). Also in the Piazza on the last evening was the long-awaited Australian film Shayda by Noora Niasari which should have had the presence of the producer, the actress Cate Blanchett, who renounced out of solidarity with the actors and screenwriters on strike, and finally a film surprise chosen by Marco Solari at the end of his 23-year presidency.
August 12, 2023 (change August 12, 2023 | 19:07)
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