Malqueridas by Tana Gilbert wins the IWONDERFULL Grand Prize for best film and the Mario Serandrei Award for best technical contribution, Hoard by Luna Carmoon wins the The Film Club Audience Award and that of the Circolo del Cinema of Verona.
The International Week of Critics (SIC), an autonomous and parallel section organized by the National Union of Italian Film Critics (SNCCI) as part of the 80th Venice International Film Festival (30 August – 9 September 2023), awarded the award of the 38th edition.
The international jury composed of Baloji, Ava Cahen and Bianca Oana awarded the IWONDERFULL Grand Prize to Malqueridas by Tana Gilbert. This is the motivation: “Because his subject is dizzying, because his formal approach is masterful, a radical gesture that brings the off-screen to life and shows us only the details, the blurry image, the stolen pixels. Narrative and set-up are subservient to the testimonies The director places us next to the incarcerated women, without expressing any judgment on their value, and this is a marvel of cinema’s poetic license.”
Always Malqueridas wins the Mario Serandrei – Hotel Saturnia Award for the Best Technical Contribution, assigned by a special commission of experts composed of Matteo Berardini, Marco Contino, Raffaella Giancristofaro, with the following motivation: “For the complex post-production process, through which clandestine images of the otherwise inaccessible experience of a women’s prison are given cinematic form. This is a film-device that makes the source material accessible in low definition, respecting it. An anti-aesthetic technical choice with clear political value.”
Hoard by Luna Carmoon receives the The Film Club Audience Award with an approval rating of 4.5/5.00 and the Circolo del Cinema di Verona Award, assigned by an under 35 jury composed of Luca Fron, Federico Mango, Alessia Origano, Lorenzo Zampini , Marika Zandanel with the following motivation: “You asked us to get dirty, to swallow our certainties and radically subvert our concept of waste. At that point we understood: only by sinking our hands into a landfill of objects, memories and emotions, can this accumulation be transformed into a home. The Circolo del Cinema Award for the most innovative film of the International Critics’ Week goes to Hoard, by Luna Carmoon.”
The international jury also awarded a special mention to Saura Lightfoot Leon for her role in the film Hoard by Luna Carmoon and Ariane Labed, among the protagonists of the film The Vourdalak by Adrien Beau. These are the reasons: “We were blown away by the charisma and talent of Hoard’s lead actress, Saura Lightfoot Leon, and wanted to pay homage to her brilliant debut. Her presence still permeates us. The jury would like to highlight Ariane Labed’s performance in The Vourdalak for the her precision, grace and poise and for portraying a marginalized female character with strength and dignity.”