SALOUMEH FARHADIAN ARTNEWSPRESS: The 31st annual Palm Springs Internatioal Film Festival has named Beanpole the winner of its FIPRESCI prize, with Bong Joon-Ho’s Parasite copping the FIPRESCI Screenplay prize.
The Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) is one of the largest film festivals in North America, welcoming 136,000 attendees last year for its lineup of new international features and documentaries.
This year’s juried award winners were revealed at a luncheon at the Hilton Palm Springs today. The festival is held from January 2-13, screening 192 films from 81 countries.
The jury award categories included the FIPRESCI Prize for films in the International Feature Film Oscar submissions program; New Voices New Visions Award for unique viewpoints from first and second-time directors; Best Documentary Award for compelling non-fiction filmmaking; Ibero-American Award for the best film from Latin America, Spain or Portugal; Local Jury Award for the film that promoted understanding and acceptance between people; and the Young Cineastes Award for the film chosen by the Youth Jury.
Finally, the GoEnergistics (GoE) Bridging the Borders Award, presented by Cinema Without Borders, honors the film that is most successful in bringing the people of our world closer together. The Audience Awards for Best Narrative Feature and Best Documentary Feature will be announced on Sunday, January 12.
For the FIPRESCI Prize, a special jury of international film critics reviewed 51 of the 93 official submissions for the Academy Awards International Feature Film category screened at this year’s festival. Awards are presented to the Best International Feature Film, as well as Best Actor and Actress in an International Feature Film, and new this year, Best International Screenplay.
The FIPESCI Prize for Best International Feature Film went to Russia’s Beanpole, director Kantemir Balagov. In Leningrad, 1945, two scarred Russian women who have survived the war must now learn to survive the peace in this sombre epic of the aftermath of war.
The films were juried by Ken Jacobson (senior documentary programmer, AFI Institute), Shannon Service (director/producer, Second Sleep Studios) and Abby Sun (curator, The DocYard).
The complete list of award winners:
Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature
TBA on Sunday, January 12
Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature
TBA on Sunday, January 12
FIPRESCI Prize for Best International Feature Film of the Year
Beanpole (Russia), Director Kantemir Balagov
FIPRESCI Prize for the Best Actor in an International Feature Film
Bartosz Bielenia from Corpus Christi (Poland)
FIPRESCI Prize for Best Actress in an International Feature Film
Helena Zengel from System Crasher (Germany)
FIPRESCI Prize for International Screenplay:
Parasite (South Korea), Screenwriters Bong Joon-Ho and Han Jin-Won
Special Mention: Antigone (Canada), Screenwrier Sophie Deraspe
New Voices/New Visions Award
Song Without A Name (Peru/Spain/USA/Chile), Director Melina León
The Documentary Award
Talking About Trees (France/Sudan/Germany/Chad/Qatar), Director Suhaib Gasmelbari
Ibero-American Award
Monos (Colombia), Director Alejandro Landes.
Special Mention: Workforce (Mexico), Director David Zonana.
Local Jury Award
Adam (Morocco), Director Maryam Touzani
Young Cineastes Award
Corpus Christi (Poland), Director Jan Komasa
GoEnergistics (GoE) Bridging the Borders Award
Advocate (Israel/Canada/Switzerland), Director Rachel Leah Jones, Philippe Bellaiche
Special Mention: The Australian Dream (Australia), Director Daniel Gordon
https://deadline.com
Bruce Haring
