34th Göteborg International Film Festival Award Winners

Today fest closes and a few hours ago had the awards ceremony that gave the top award to a movie that definitively is Must Be Seen for me, but winning a top award at a renowned festival gives me hope that film has to be more than just another lesbian interest movie, which is outstandingly excellent news! I’m talking about Lisa Aschan’s Apflickorna (She Monkeys) that’s also competing for the Teddy Award at 2011 Berlinale.

These are the honored feature films.

Best Nordic Film: Apflickorna (She Monkeys), Lisa Aschan, Sweden
Jury statement: This was a film we loved unconditionally. It stayed with us all the time, and finally we felt that we must give this award to support a new, very special talent.

Nordic Vision Award: Kongen av Bastøy (King’s Devil’s Island), Marius Holst, Norway
Jury statement: For the clarity with which the anguish of the characters is transmitted and the coldness of the nature. The classical style is not easy to handle but it supports the intensity of the story.

Nordic Film Audience Award: Jag Saknar Dig (I Miss You), Anders Grönros, Sweden

FIPRESCI Award: Apflickorna (She Monkeys), Lisa Aschan, Sweden
Jury statement: She Monkeys is a story about love and jealousy, implicating a lonely father, his two daughters, a beautiful cousin and an enigmatic equestrian dancer. Thanks to a clever direction, each actor – even the youngest – deals with the most tricky situations with a surprising accuracy for a first feature. Beautifully crafted, She Monkeys found a rhythm as spellbinding as the sound of horses' hooves that punctuates the film. Lisa Aschan plays quietly with the codes of thriller, western and a very delicate eroticism. She preserved elements of mystery which gives us only one desire: to see her make a new movie.

Ingmar Bergman International Debut Award: Derek Cianfrance for Blue Valentine, USA
Jury statement: The 2011 Ingmar Bergman International Debut Award goes to Blue Valentine for an impressively precise yet sensitive analysis of human relationships from an impartially nuanced perspective.

To check short film and documentary winners go here and here to read more detailed info.