German dramas win big at the 2022 Locarno Film Festival Professional Awards – The Hollywood Reporter
Three new German dramas have taken top honors at the 2022 Locarno Film Festival’s First Look Awards, an industry award that supports ongoing work.
by Lukas Nathrath one last nighta scathing comedy-drama that confuses a success-obsessed society, won the Cinegrell First Look Award, which comes with a $51,000 (50,000 Euros) scholarship in post-production services from the German/Swiss Post House Cinegrell.
Arthur and Diana, a road movie by director Sara Summa, won the Prix Le Film Français and $5,700 (5,600 euros) in associated publicity fees for the yet to be released feature film. Summa, director of the Italian horror title of 2019 The last to see themstars in documentary style Arthur and Diana with his real brother. The feature film follows the two siblings as they travel from Berlin to South Tyrol re-enacting their childhood road trips.
Locarno Pro’s Kaiju Cinema Diffusion Prize, which includes $5,100 (5,000 euros) for designing an international poster for the film, was awarded to Elaha by director Milena Aboya. The feature film follows a Kurdish bride-to-be living in Germany struggling with her family traditions and her desire to chart her own path in life.
The Alphapanda Market Breakout Award, awarded by Alliance 4 Development, the co-development platform of Locarno Pro, was awarded to The village next to paradise, a project by Somali director Mo Harawe and Austrian producers Oliver Neumann and Sabine Moser of FreibeuterFilm. The award comes with $3,050 (3,000 euros) in professional consultancy services for the project.
An international jury, comprising Vanja Kaludjercic for the Rotterdam Film Festival, Tricia Tuttle from the London Film Festival and Huh Moonyung from the Busan Film Festival, selected this year’s winners from among the ongoing projects presented at the industry audience of sales agents and festival programmers August 5-7 in Locarno this year.
Previous Locarno Pro winners who received successful outings include Elite Zexer’s Sandstorm (2015) from Israel, Brazilian feature film The second mother (2014) by director Anna Muylaert and Landscapes of Resistance(2019) by Serbian filmmaker Marta Popidova.
