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INDIELISBOA 2019 Awards

IndieLisboa reveals its award winners

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- My Grandmother Trelototó, Past Perfect and Campo are some of the national films awarded in the strongest Portuguese showcase in the history of the festival

IndieLisboa reveals its award winners
On the Names of the Goats by Silvia Navarro and Miguel G Morales

The 16th IndieLisboa Film Festival has announced the winners of this year’s edition, after screening more than 270 movies over 11 days. On the Names of the Goats [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Miguel G. Morales and Silvi…
film profile
]
, a documentary directed by Miguel G Morales and Silvia Navarro, was the winner of the International Competition, receiving the City of Lisbon Feature Film Grand Prize (worth €15,000). The jury, composed of Adina PintilieBoyd van Hoeij and Ivo Ferreira, gave the prize to this Spanish production “for its rich and intricate investigation of the recent colonial past, and its interaction with earlier times and traditions in the Canary Islands, through expertly chosen and edited archive footage, audio interviews and a completely immersive soundscape”. The International Competition jury also awarded the Romanian film Thou Shalt Not Kill [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, directed by Gabi Virginia Șarga and Cătălin Rotaru, and Jessica Forever [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, helmed by French duo Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel, with the TVCine & Series Channels Special Prize.

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But the biggest highlight of this edition was the national film selection, which boasted the highest amount of Portuguese films in the festival’s history. The Feature Film National Competition comprised seven movies, which showed off a broad variety of the country’s film production, not only in terms of themes – which ranged from (broken) tropical utopias to the grieving process of a little girl – but also in terms of form. My Grandmother Trelototó by Catarina Ruivo was this year’s Best Portuguese Feature Film, winning a prize of €7,500. The National Competition jury (Arnaud Gourmelen, Iván Villarmea Alvarez and Patrick Holzapfe) considered My Grandmother Trelototó to be “the film that provoked the strongest emotions in us”, due to its portrayal of the life of the director’s grandmother, employing “many different formal strategies, all of them a veracious indication of empathy and love”. The Best Portuguese Director Prize was awarded to Tiago Hespanha, for Campo [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, “a work that confronts man with nature in a dramatic but also humorous way, calling into question mankind’s origins and possible end”. The Portuguese Short Film programme was also one of the most important sections of the festival, and contained the highest number of films ever to be presented in this category. The Best Portuguese Short Film, in the eyes of the National Competition jury, was the American-Austrian-Portuguese co-production The House Is Yet to Be Built by Sílvia das Fadas. The picture received the Dolce Gusto Award for Best Portuguese Short Film, while O Mar Enrola na Areia by Catarina Mourão received a Special Mention for Best Portuguese Short Film.

The title voted Best International Short Film was also a Portuguese production: the Short Film Grand Prize, given out by the Short Film International Competition jury, was awarded to Past Perfect by Jorge Jácome. The jury, which consisted of David Santos/NoiservJohn Canciani and Payal Kapadia, considered Past Perfect – which premiered at this year’s Berlinale – a “skilfully condensed and cleverly staged” film that “lets you simply indulge in a strong world of images”. Furthermore, it talks about “nostalgia and emotion”, and is “cleverly layered, with constantly surprising moments – partly humorous, partly biting, but often very emotional”.

While there was a strong presence of national films at the festival, the gathering also offered some snippets of Portuguese music through the documentaries in the IndieMusic section. Lisbon Beat, a musical journey through Lisbon’s suburban area, where the audience meets, gets to know and - mainly - listens to people from different generations and backgrounds who produce the sounds the city is made of, was the winner in this section. The jury – made up of Bruno Pernadas, Isilda Sanches and Tiago da Bernarda/Gato Mariano – considered the film by Rita Maia and Vasco Viana, produced by Terratreme, to be an outstanding example of “a junction between music and cinematography”.

Here is the full list of IndieLisboa winners:

Feature Film International Competition

City of Lisbon Feature Film Grand Prize
On the Names of the Goats [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Miguel G. Morales and Silvi…
film profile
]
 - Silvia Navarro, Miguel G Morales (Spain)

TVCine & Series Channels Special Award (ex-aequo)
Jessica Forever [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 - Caroline Poggi, Jonathan Vinel (France)
Thou Shalt Not Kill [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 - Gabi Virginia Șarga, Cătălin Rotaru (Romania)

Short Film International Competition

Short Film Grand Prize
Past Perfect - Jorge Jácome (Portugal)

Macao Tourism Awards

Animation
Guaxuma - Nara Normande (France/Brazil)

Documentary
Swatted - Ismaël Joffroy Chandoutis (France)

Fiction
The Girl with Two Heads - Betzabé Garcia (UK)

National Competition

Allianz Award for Best Portuguese Feature Film
My Grandmother Trelotótó - Catarina Ruivo (Portugal)

Award for Best Director of a Portuguese Feature Film
Campo [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 - Tiago Hespanha (Portugal)

Dolce Gusto Award for Best Portuguese Short Film
The House Is Yet to Be Built - Sílvia das Fadas (USA/Austria/Portugal)
Special Mention
O mar enrola na areia - Catarina Mourão (Portugal)

FCSH/NOVA New Talent Award
Phantom Power - Afonso Mota (Portugal)

Brand New Competition

The Yellow Color + Portugal Film Brand New Award
Estas mãos são minhas - André Ferreira (Portugal)

Silvestre

Silvestre Award for Best Feature Film (ex-aequo)
“I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians” [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 - Radu Jude (Romania/Czech Republic/France/Bulgaria/Germany) 
M [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 - Yolande Zauberman (France)

Silvestre Award for Best Short Film
Seven Years in May - Affonso Uchôa (Brazil/Argentina)
Special Mention
Wong Ping’s Fables 1 - Wong Ping (Hong Kong)

IndieMusic

IndieMusic Award
Lisbon Beat - Rita Maia, Vasco Viana (Portugal)

Árvore da Vida

Árvore da Vida Award for Best Portuguese Film
Invisible Hero - Cristèle Alves Meira (Portugal/France)
Special Mention
My Grandmother Trelotótó - Catarina Ruivo

Other awards

Amnesty International Award
Seven Years in May - Affonso Uchôa

Santa Casa Award
Príncipe Kik-Ki-Do: A Toupeira Mineira - Grega Mastnak (Slovenia)

Universities Award
Present.Perfect. - Shengze Zhu (USA/Hong Kong)

Schools Award
Guaxuma - Nara Normande

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