15/04/2024 - The film by Israeli director Maya Dreifuss scoops the Grand Prize, while Stéphane Demoustier’s Borgo and Wei Shujun’s Only the River Flows share the Jury Prize

An Israeli-French co-production has triumphed at the 4th Reims Polar Thriller Film Festival, with the jury presided over by Danièle Thompson (supported by Noémie Lvovsky, Arnaud des Pallières, Nicolas Pariser, Laetitia Dosch, Camille Chamoux and Caryl Férey) awarding its Grand Prize to Maya Dreifuss’ second feature film, Highway 65.

Penned by the director herself, the story revolves around Daphna (Tali Sharon), a brilliant detective who, some months after being forced to transfer from Tel Aviv to small town Afula, discovers Orly Elimelech’s abandoned telephone. Known for her links to the powerful Golan family, this former beauty queen has vanished without a trace. Nobody seems too worried about her disappearance, so, despite the distrust of the locals who are suspicious of her status as a single, childless woman, Daphna throws herself heart and soul into finding Orly… Produced by Israeli firm 2-Team Productions in co-production with French outfit TS Productions, Highway 65 is sold worldwide by mk2 Films.

The main jury also awarded a joint prize to Borgo [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by French director Stéphane Demoustier (due for release in French cinemas on Wednesday 17 April, courtesy of Le Pacte) and Only the River Flows by Chinese helmer Wei Shujun, which was presented in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section last year.

Other accolades for European productions included the victory of Bulgarian director Stephan Komandarev’s Blaga’s Lessons [+see also:
film review
interview: Stephan Komandarev
film profile] (which bagged the Crystal Globe in Karlovy Vary last year and is due for release in France on 8 May via Damned Films) in the Sang Neuf [New Blood] competition, and the Police Prize scooped by Daniel Rakete Siegel and Denis Moschitto’s German production Shock. 

The full list of winners is as follows:

Grand Prize
Highway 65 - Maya Dreifuss (Israel/France)

Jury Prize
Borgo [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Stéphane Demoustier (France)
Only the River Flows - Wei Shujun (China)

Police Prize
Shock - Daniel Rakete Siegel and Denis Moschitto (Germany)

Critics’ Prize
Steppenwolf - Adilkhan Yerzhanov (Kazakhstan)

Audience Award
The Last Stop in Yuma County - Francis Galluppi (USA)

Sang Neuf Prize
Blaga’s Lessons [+see also:
film review
interview: Stephan Komandarev
film profile] - Stephan Komandarev (Bulgaria/Germany)

Sang Neuf Prize awarded by the Grand Est Region Youth Jury
Sons [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Gustav Möller (Denmark/Sweden)

Claude Chabrol Prize
Pierre Jolivet – Green Tide (France)

(Translated from French)