08/05/2018 - Two Brazilian feature debuts have scooped the festival’s top prizes; local directors João Viana and André Gil Mata were also awarded for Our Madness and The Tree

Two Brazilian films have been crowned with the top prizes of the 15th IndieLisboa Festival, which came to an end on 6 May: Baronesa by Juliana Antunes and I Remember the Crows by Gustavo Vinagre. The two feature debuts split the Grand Prize of the City of Lisbon as well as the Special Jury Prize.

Antunes’ film, which had already been awarded at several other international showcases, is a female-driven story of women living in the Juliana neighbourhood of the city of Belo Horizonte. Vinagre’s feature focuses on trans actress Júlia Katharine, who had already been one of the cast members in his previous short, presented in Lisbon in 2017.

Nevertheless, the Portuguese contingent was also honoured at IndieLisboa. The top prize in the national competition went to João Viana’s second feature, Our Madness [+see also:
trailer
film profile]. The director travelled to Mozambique to shoot the tale of a woman in search of her family roots.

André Gil Mata received the Best Director Award for his feature debut, The Tree [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], a CRIM production shot in Bosnia and presented at the Berlinale earlier this year.

Local short films also made a splash: Gonçalo Robalo’s Os Mortos won Best Portuguese Short, Duarte Coimbra’s Amor, Avenidas Novas – which will imminently be presented in the Cannes Critics’ Week – snagged the New Talent Prize, and finally, the documentary Russa, co-directed by João Salaviza and Ricardo Alves Júnior, was handed the Tree of Life Prize, given out by the Catholic Church.

Here is the full list of winners at IndieLisboa 2018:

Grand Prize of the City of Lisbon (ex-aequo)
Baronesa - Juliana Antunes (Brazil)
I Remember the Crows - Gustavo Vinagre (Brazil)

TVCine & Series Special Jury Prize (ex-aequo)
Baronesa - Juliana Antunes
I Remember the Crows - Gustavo Vinagre

Grand Prize – Short Film 
Solar Walk - Réka Bucsi (Denmark)

Silvestre Prize for Best Short Film
Braguino - Clément Cogitore (France)

Macau Tourism Office Prize for Best Animated Feature
Rabbit's Blood - Sarina Nihei (UK/Japan)

Macau Tourism Office Prize for Best Documentary
La bonne education – Gu Yu (France/China)

Macau Tourism Office Prize for Best Fiction
Matria - Álvaro Gago (Spain)

Allianz Prize for Best Portuguese Feature
Our Madness [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - João Viana (Portugal/Mozambique/Guinea-Bissau/Qatar/France)

Dolce Gusto Prize for Best Portuguese Short Film
Os Mortos - Gonçalo Robalo (Portugal)

Prize for Best Director of a Portuguese Feature 
André Gil Mata – The Tree [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (Portugal)

New Talent Prize
Amor, Avenidas Novas - Duarte Coimbra (Portugal)

Tree of Life Prize
Russa - João Salaviza and Ricardo Alves Júnior (Portugal/Brazil)