“Godless” tells the story of a young woman, Gana, who works as a caretaker in a Bulgarian city. As part of a crime ring, she steals the ID cards of her patients. Due to an unjust society, limited choices, and a painful personal history, she lives in a cold, hard world without compassion or love. Gana yearns for a release from the pain in her life. The film is a profound cry out of the depths of misery, and it explores vital questions. Will her lamentation be heard? Finally, what is the path toward liberation in a devastatingly corrupt society?
69th Festival del film Locarno
03.08.2016 to 13.08.2016
Locarno
The Ecumenical Jury Locarno 2016, with Church President Gottfried Locher (3rd from left) and Bishop Valerio Lazzeri (3rd from right) (© Christian Murer)
The Ecumenical Jury in Locarno 2016 has awarded its Prize to "Godless", the feature film debut by Bulgarian director Ralitza Petrova. She also won the Golden Leopard, the main prize of the festival. The juries choose theier winners from the 17 films of the international competition. The Ecumenical Jury also awarded another first feature film: "Marija" by Michael Koch got a Commendation, as well as "Mister Universo", directed by Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel. Both directors won awards by ecumenical juries before, 2009 in Kiev and in Locarno in 2012.
Werner Schneider-Quindeau passes the Ecumenical Jury Prize Locarno 2016 to Ralitza Petrova (© Charles Martig)
"Political and poetical, visionary and nonconformistic": this is how Carlo Chatrian, artistic director of the Festival del film Locarno, characterized the festival. Its 69th edition he dedicatesd to the directors Michael Cimino and Abbas Kiarostami, both passing away lately. Cimino was honoured by a Pardo d'onore Swisscom in 2015. Kiarostami had his international breakthrough 1989 in Locarno when his "Where is the Friends Home?" won a Bronze Leopard and Special Mentions by the Ecumenical Jury and the FIPRESCI Jury. In his presentation of the festival programme Chatrian, referring to a title of a Kiarostami film, choose the wind as a leitmotif and described the films selected and supported by Locarno as part of a "cinema which carries us away as the wind."
The Festival awarded German actor Mario Adorf with a Pardo alla carriera and Alejandro Jodorowski with a Pardo d'onore Swisscom. The retrospective was dedicated to the "Cinema in the young Federal Republic of Germany" from 1949 to 1963.
Link: Festival-Website
Link: Presentation of the Ecumenical Jury by the Festival
Auszeichnungen
Directed by:
2016
Directed by:
2016
“Mister Universo” is set within the world of a circus. The main character, after losing a totem from his childhood, begins a quest to replace the lost object. On his journey, Tairo discovers the nature of human relationships, the importance of family and his true identity.
Directed by:
2016
“Godless” tells the story of a young woman, Gana, who works as a caretaker in a Bulgarian city. As part of a crime ring, she steals the ID cards of her patients. Due to an unjust society, limited choices, and a painful personal history, she lives in a cold, hard world without compassion or love. Gana yearns for a release from the pain in her life. The film is a profound cry out of the depths of misery, and it explores vital questions. Will her lamentation be heard? Finally, what is the path toward liberation in a devastatingly corrupt society?
More about the festival
"Again and again, the main stage direction was the drama of loneliness which the movies adhered to." This is the conclusion of the president of the Ecumenical Jury of Locarno 2016 in his festival report.
