– The debut feature by Catalan director of Chinese origin Xisi Sofia Ye Chen has bagged the Grand Prize in the International Competition, while the Burning Lights trophy went to Alea Jacarandas
Xisi Sofia Ye Chen, director From Dawn to Dawn, with her award (© nikitathevoz)
The Visions du Réel Festival’s International Feature Film jury, composed of Marrakech International Film Festival artistic director Rémi Bonhomme, director Lina Soualem, and Canadian filmmaker Brett Story, has awarded the festival’s most prestigious prize to From Dawn to Dawn, the first feature film by the Catalan director of Chinese origin Xisi Sofia Ye Chen. The film paints a sensitive portrait of the director’s brother who’s torn between a troubled past and a present yet to be constructed. The jury was won over by its “poetic and personal storytelling and evocative photography which verges on dreamlike”, as well as the power of this film “which reveals itself layer by layer and which shines a light on and delves into the impact of migration, economic survival and trauma on family relationships”.
The jury also awarded a Special Prize to A Fire There, Armenian-Canadian director Marlene Edoyan’s second feature film which takes a poetic and honest approach to depict the day-to-day lives of three young men who are trying to resist the temptation of exile. Their Special Mention went to Boubacar Sangaré’s Djeliya, mémoire du Mandé.
In the Burning Lights Competition, the jury composed of Iranian filmmaker Ali Asgari, editor Liyo Gong and programmer Antoine Thirion was won over by Alea Jacarandas, directed by Algeria’s Hassen Ferhani (who was a workshop guest in Visions du Réel 2022), “a film which appears to focus on legacies whilst actually exploring far deeper issues. It teaches us to look beyond the brutal nature of history and the distance between human beings”. The jury’s Special Prize was awarded to Nông Nhât Quang’s debut film, Baby Jackfruit Baby Guava, while the competition’s two Special Mentions were bestowed upon Graeme Arnfield’s British-French co-production The Case against Space and Ukrainian director Olga Chernyk’s ensemble film The Illusion of a Quiet Night.
The National Competition jury, for its part, threw its weight behind Nicole Nicole, Lauren Dällenbach’s feature film debut homing in on the co-dependent relationship between fifty-year-old Nicole and her mother. The jury praised this film which “delivers a realist yet sunny perspective through a subtle balance of humour and warmth”. The winners’ list is rounded off by the Special Prize in this category, which went to What Comes From Sitting in Silence? by Sophie Schrago, and the Special Mention for Juliette Menthonnex and Benjamin Bucher’s medium-length movie Der Rund Tisch.
In her final year at the head of the festival (read our interview), artistic director Emilie Bujès was especially delighted to see that the winners “encapsulating what sets the Visions du Réel Festival apart: its ability to showcase films which free documentary filmmaking from its demarcated form, offering audiences a chance for a shift in focus”.
The winners are as follows:
International Feature Film Competition
Grand Prize
From Dawn to Dawn – Xisi Sofia Ye Chen (Spain/France)
Special Jury Prize
A Fire There – Marlene Edoyan (Canada)
Special Mention
Djeliya, mémoire du Mandé – Boubacar Sangaré (Senegal/France)
Burning Lights Competition
Burning Lights Competition Prize
Alea Jacarandas – Hassen Ferhani (France/Algeria)
Special Jury Prize
Baby Jackfruit Baby Guava – Nông Nhât Quang (Vietnam/South Korea)
Special Mentions
The Case against Space – Graeme Arnfield (UK/France)
The Illusion of a Quiet Night – Olga Chernyk (Ukraine)
National Competition
National Competition Prize
Nicole Nicole – Lauren Dällenbach (Switzerland/France)
Special Jury Prize
What Comes From Sitting in Silence? – Sophie Schrago (France/South Korea/Switzerland/USA)
Special Mention
Der Runde Tisch – Juliette Menthonnex, Benjamin Bucher (Switzerland)
International Medium-Length Films and Short Films Competition
Best Medium-Length Film
Ici, ailleurs – Comes Chahbazian (Belgium/Armenia)
Best Short Film
Visite guidée – Alba Jaramillo (France/Porto Rico)
Special Mention
Sawyer Avenue, Sunday Afternoon – Bill Morrison (USA)
Other awards
Grand Angle Competition Audience Award
Birds of War – Janay Boulos, Abd Alkader Habak (UK/Lebanon/Syria)
Special Youth Jury Prize for Best Medium-Length Film
Ampio appartamento in palazzo di prestigio – Tiziano Locci, Tito Puglielli (Italy)
Special Youth Jury Prize for Best Short
Memories of a Window – Amin Pakparvar, Mehraneh Sallmian (Iran/USA/Germany)
FIPRESCI International Critics’ Prize
Saudades Eternas – Emma Boccanfuso (Switzerland/France)
Interreligious Prize
Dentro – Elsa Amiel (France/Switzerland)
Perception Change Award
Good Valley Stories – José Luis Guérin (Spain/France)
(Translated from French)
