Tereza Nvotová's 'Father' Wins Golden Eye at Zurich Film Festival

Tereza Nvotová’s “Father” has gained the Golden Eye award at Zurich Movie Competition.

Showcased within the Characteristic Movie Competitors – devoted to first, second and third function movies by rising administrators – the Slovak-Czech-Polish drama impressed jurors Reinaldo Marcus Inexperienced, Leonie Benesch, Carlo Cresto-Dina, Ali Asgari and Nicole Reinhard.

“We had been deeply moved by the craft and the humanity of this movie,” they acknowledged, discussing the story of “an peculiar household dealing with extraordinary circumstances.”

“Its central character is neither a villain nor a hero, however a flawed human being caught in a single, devastating mistake. The movie reveals how that mistake can shatter what we love most, and but it’s, at its coronary heart, about compassion, hope, and the resilience of the human spirit.”

Zurich’s director Christian Jungen referred to as “Father” a “charming thriller which takes us on a roller-coaster.” “Movie is the medium of empathy and this movie shapes our understanding of a person who did a horrible mistake, however will not be evil,” he mentioned.

In “Father,” which world premiered in Venice and was lately chosen as Slovak Oscar entry, a father unintentionally causes a tragedy. Nvotová’s co-writer Dušan Budzak based mostly it on the story of his pal.

“I saved studying about it, about that ‘forgotten child syndrome.’ It’s lots of of instances yearly, all world wide,” she beforehand instructed Selection.

“We had that non-public connection due to Dušan, however then we moved away from it. All these tales had been fairly related. Largely, it occurs to a really loving mum or dad. To every kind of individuals, previous, younger, coming from all social lessons. If we want to simplify it, I might say it’s a reminiscence failure. And now, with rising temperatures and extra automobiles than ever, it’s occurring increasingly usually.”

Two particular mentions within the class went to “Love Letters” by Alice Douard and “Left-Handed Woman” directed by Shih-Ching Tsou, the latter described as a “luminous gem” by the jury, “painful, candy and humorous on the identical time.”

Earlier this yr, Selection’s Jessica Kiang wrote: “’Left-Handed Woman’ is an assured and wonderful portrait of inauspicious motherhood and painful daughterhood, nevertheless it’s maybe most entrancing for its turning-kaleidoscope-view of the director’s native metropolis, the place the characters are the bouncing beads, however Taipei is the glitter and the dazzle.”

One other Golden Eye went to Zurich-based Moris Freiburghaus’ “I Love You, I Depart You,” proven within the Documentary Movie Competitors, making it the first-ever winner of the part.

“We had by no means seen something prefer it earlier than. In capturing his greatest pal’s battle with manic episodes over the course of a yr, Moris Freiburghaus’ daring directorial debut provides us an unflinching have a look at psychological sickness and the unshakeable bonds of friendship and household,” mentioned jurors Matthew Heineman, Odessa Rae, David Osit, Katharina Bhend and Helle Faber.

Jungen referred to as Freiburghaus’ doc a “love letter to friendship and a movie by a really proficient director who could have an extended competition profession.”

“I Love You, I Depart You” additionally picked up ZFF Critics’ particular point out and Viewers Award.

“The Floor Beneath Our Toes” by Yrsa Roca Fannberg, filmed in an Icelandic nursing residence, and Namir Abdel Messeeh’s “Life After Siham” – “Made with a daring spirit, formed by a director deeply rooted in cinematic custom” – had been additionally observed, with “Life After Siham” given the Movie Prize of the Church buildings of Zurich as effectively.

“I Love You, I Depart You” crew at Zurich Movie Competition

Dominic Wenger

Full checklist of awards:

Characteristic Movie Competitors

“Father,” dir. Tereza Nvotová

Particular Mentions

“Love Letters,” dir. Alice Douard

“Left-Handed Woman,” dir. Shih-Ching Tsou

Documentary Movie Competitors

“I Love You, I Depart You,” dir. Moris Freiburghaus

Particular Mentions

“The Floor Beneath Our Toes,” Yrsa Roca Fannberg