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Venice International Film Critics' Week reveals awards Lissa Ammetsajjel (Still Recording) by Syrian directors Saeed Al Batal, Ghiath Ayoub wins Audience Award, Mario Serandrei
On Friday 7 September, the Venice International Film Critics' Week, the independent and parallel section organised by the National Union of Italian Film Critics (SNCCI) during the 75th Venice International Film Festival conferred the awards of its 33 edition. The Sun Film Group Audience Award was awarded to Lissa Ammetsajjel (Still Recording), which is directed by Syrian directors Saeed Al Batal and Ghiath Ayoub. Award consists of a €5,000 prize. Furthermore, the Verona Film Club Award has been given to Blonde Animals by French filmmakers Alexia Walther and Maxime Matray. It was chosen by a jury composed of the members of the Verona Film Club and awarded to the most innovative film in the section. “Orfeo's head, separated from the body, closes its eyes to the world and opens them up for vision. It doesn't stop its sorrow, its chant is not interrupted. For inviting us to welcome this call, to look at the pain of living with a sleepy smile, to travel with voracious forgetfulness shoving down flowers and tons of salmon pies, accompanied by hurt and beautiful young people looking for a taste that seems lost," the jury verdict said. It added, "for insinuating that memory is the plumb line of our present, but forgetting is a revolutionary act as much as looking for answers from a camp sitcom or advices from resentful cats. For immersing us in a cycle of lethargy and awakenings that re-writes the traces of real and drowns images in dream. For forcing us to reset our senses and our constructions, demonstrating that a radical cinema is shameless and always possible, actually, necessary." Similarly, the Mario Serandrei – Hotel Saturnia & International Award for the Best Technical Contribution was given also to Still Recording. The jury said that the film showed "the horror of battle, the strength of sharing, the truth of a people. From the theory of Hollywood action to the urgency of documentary, the digital technique captures the absolute present of History, testifying the resistance of life in death camps, with a throbbing editing that makes an ongoing tragedy something palpable.“ Furthermore, a jury composed of the members of the Woche der Kritik (Berlin Film Critics' Week), headed by Michael Hack, bestowed the following prizes to the short films in the competitive programme. The award for best short film was given to Malo Tempo which is directed by Tommaso Perfetti. Meanwhile the award for best director was given to (Gargarin, I Will Miss You) by Domenico De Orsi. Finally, the award for best technical contribution was given to Loris Giuseppe Nese's Those Bad Things.
