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SHORTS France

Da Yie wins the Grand Prix at the 42nd Clermont-Ferrand International Film Festival

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- The European co-production took away top honours at the latest edition of the biggest short-film festival in the world

Da Yie wins the Grand Prix at the 42nd Clermont-Ferrand International Film Festival
Da Yie by Anthony Nti

At this year’s edition of the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, the Belgian-Ghanaian co-production Da Yie [Good Night] has won the International Grand Prix. Anthony Nti’s film follows the fortunes of two young Ghanaian children who become enthralled by a foreigner who treats them to luxuries that are usually far out of their reach. But he has an ulterior motive – will he go through with his plan, or will these two youngsters convince him to change his mind?

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With a social-realist aesthetic, all handheld camera and nervous energy, and some fine performances from a young cast, the film should go on to greater visibility after its Clermont win, having previously screened at Belgian festivals such as Leuven and Gent.

The Clermont-Ferrand candidate for the European Film Awards was the Portuguese-French co-production Invisible Hero [Invisivel Heroi]. Cristèle Alves Meira’s film, also screened during this year’s Cannes Critics’ Week, is a sensitive and insightful blend of documentary and fiction that follows a 50-year-old blind man searching for a missing immigrant from Cape Verde. Its ostensibly simple structure belies a clever and multi-layered film that asks questions about identity and immigration.

Other shorts awarded in the International Competition included All the Fires the Fire, Efthimis Kosemund Sanidis’ powerful film from Greece that snagged the Jury Prize, and the moving Swedish title Awaiting Death [I väntan på döden] (directed by Lars Vega and Isabelle Björklund), which won the Canal+ Award.

The international jury consisted of Alain Gomis (filmmaker, France/Senegal), Marta Prus (filmmaker, Poland), Yuko Shimizu (illustrator, Japan/USA), Olivier Smolders (filmmaker, Belgium) and Ken Wardrop (filmmaker, Ireland).

The big winner in the festival’s National Competition was the French-UK co-production Olla, Ariane Labed’s examination of an immigrant who comes to live with a man who found her via an Eastern European dating site. The film is a daring and provocative examination of female sexuality and agency, which won the Grand Prix, amongst other awards. The debut film by Labed – who is well known as an actress, having played roles in such films as Attenberg [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Athina Rachel Tsangari
film profile
]
and The Lobster [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Yorgos Lanthimos
film profile
]
Olla has had previous screenings at the likes of the Directors’ Fortnight and Sundance.

Other winners in the National Competition included Raout Pacha, Aurélie Reinhorn’s focus on three anti-heroes who want to break free from the norms of society. The film won the Canal+ Prize as well as the “Fernand Raynaud” Award for Best Comedy.

The jury consisted of Wissam Charaf (filmmaker/journalist, Lebanon), Nicolás Lasnibat (filmmaker, Chile/France), Aude Léa Rapin (filmmaker, France), Laetitia Spigarelli (actress/filmmaker, France) and Rebeka Warrior (composer, France).

The Grand Prix in the festival’s Labo Competition went to the Spanish film Gusts of Wild Life [Günst ul vándrafoo], Jorge Cantos’ delicate but raw examination of a boy who lives on the fringes. A Special Jury Prize went to Freeze Frame (directed by Soetkin Verstegen, Belgium/Germany/Finland).

The jury consisted of Emmanuelle Destremau (actress, France), John Grant (singer-songwriter, USA) and Julien Mignot (photographer/filmmaker, France).

All of the awards were announced this past weekend as part of the closing ceremony of Clermont-Ferrand, which capped off a busy week for both audiences, who attended the festival in their usual droves, and the industry guests who visited the buoyant Short Film Market.

The 43rd edition of the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival will take place from 29 January-6 February 2021.

Here is the full list of winners:

International Competition

Grand Prix
Da Yie - Anthony Nti (Belgium/Ghana)

Special Jury Prize
All the Fires the Fire - Efthimis Kosemund Sanidis (Greece)

Audience Prize
The Present - Farah Nabulsi (Palestine/Qatar)

Best Animation Film Award
Pulsión - Pedro Casavecchia (Argentina/France)

Canal+ Award
I väntan på döden [Awaiting Death] - Lars Vega and Isabelle Björklund (Sweden)

Youth Jury Special Mention
An Arabian Night - Pierre Mouzannar (UK/Lebanon)

Special Jury Mentions
Mascot - Leeha Kim (South Korea)
The Water Will Carry Us - Shasha Huang (China)
Family Plot - Shuichi Okita (Japan)

Coup de Coeur Canal+ Family
Opinci - Damian Groves and Anton Groves (Romania/France)

Prix Etudiant de la Jeunesse
City of Children - Arantxa Hernández Barthe (UK)

Best Documentary Film Award (Documentaire sur grand écran)
Quebramar - Cris Lyra (Brazil)

European Film Awards Candidate
Invisivel Heroi - Cristèle Alves Meira (Portugal/France)

National Competition

Grand Prix
Olla - Ariane Labed (France/UK)

Special Jury Prize
Clean With Me (After Dark) – Gabrielle Stemmer (France)

Audience Prize
Mémorable - Bruno Collet (France)

Best Original Film Score - SACEM Award
Pierre Desprats - Massacre (France)
Pierre Desprats - Champ de bosses (France)

PROCIREP Short Film Producer Award
Ikki Films - Moutons, loup et tasse de thé (France)

Best Actress – Adami Award
Megan Northam - Miss Chazelles (France)

Best Actor – Adami Award
Lawrence Valin - The Loyal Man (France)

Best French-language Animation - SACD Award
Traces - Hugo Frassetto and Sophie Tavert Macian (France/Belgium)

Canal+ Award
Raout Pacha - Aurélie Reinhorn (France)

Best Comedy "Fernand Raynaud" Award
Raout Pacha - Aurélie Reinhorn

Telerama Press Prize
Disciplinaires - Antoine Bargain (France)

Special Jury Mentions
La maison (pas très loin du Donegal) - Claude Le Pape (France)
Genius Loci - Adrien Merigeau (France)

Press Mention
La maison (pas très loin du Donegal) - Claude Le Pape

Prix Etudiant de la Jeunesse
Olla - Ariane Labed

Prix de la Meilleure Oeuvre de Fiction SACD
Olla - Ariane Labed

Equality and Diversity Award
Amour(s) - Mathilde Chavanne (France)

Labo Competition

Grand Prix
Gusts of Wild Life [Günst ul vándrafoo] - Jorge Cantos (Spain)

Special Jury Prize
Freeze Frame - Soetkin Verstegen (Belgium/Germany/Finland)

Audience Prize
California on Fire - Jeff Frost (USA)

Special Jury Mentions
Average Happiness - Maja Gehrig (Switzerland)
Blessed Land - Lan Pham Ngoc (Vietnam)
El Infierno y Tal - Enrique Buleo (Spain)

Festivals Connexion Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Award
Zombies - Baloji (Belgium/DRC)

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