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STOCKHOLM 2021 Awards

Rhino and Lioness round up top Horse awards in Stockholm

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- Oleh Sentsov’s title wins Best Film and Best Actor at this year's edition of the festival with additional double awards for Luàna Bajrami’s film

Rhino and Lioness round up top Horse awards in Stockholm
Rhino by Oleh Sentsov

The passionate activist, Sakharov laureate and in the last decade increasingly prolific filmmaker Oleh Sentsov’s Rhino [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
has been chosen as the top winner at the 32nd edition of the Stockholm International Film Festival, it was announced already Thursday – partly due to pandemic-related difficulties for the winners to be physically present and partly in order to schedule extra screenings of the awarded films. The powerful underworld portrayal of Ukraine's "wild 90s" will be awarded with the 2021 Bronze Horse at the official prize ceremony, taking place Sunday.

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World premiering as the closing film in the Orizzonti section at the 78th Venice International Film Festival in September, Rhino is well on its victorious way through the festival circuits, already playing Batumi, Warsaw and Thessaloniki this season. Based on a real-life friend of Sentsov's, the thick-skinned title character gets drawn into the post-Soviet crime scene. For his vivid and intense portrayal in the leading role, newcomer Serhii Filimonov got the Best Actor award in Stockholm. Not yet picked up for Swedish distribution, the film should get a further buyer boost through this well-received recognition.

Kosovo-French prodigy Luàna Bajrami's Directors' Fortnight-premiering The Hill Where Lionesses Roar [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Luana Bajrami
film profile
]
(made when she was 18!), did another double win, garnering both the Best First Feature and Best Script awards. A great favourite at the festival, the established actress seen in Portrait of a Lady on Fire [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Céline Sciamma
film profile
]
and School's Out [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sébastien Marnier
film profile
]
seems set to become a strong directorial voice all her own. The film depicts three teenage girlfriends trying to escape the boredoms of their Kosovar small town life.

Other main winners include Sweden's Sabaya [+see also:
film review
interview: Hogir Hirori
film profile
]
by Hogir Hirori, appointed Best Documentary of the year. Mexican director Tatiana Huezo's Netflix release Prayers for the Stolen [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
got the Best Director award. British actress Ruth Wilson got the Best Actress award for her role in the toxic love drama True Things [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Harry Wootliff
film profile
]
and Tim Curtin got the Best Cinematography award for his work on Jonas Carpignano's A Chiara [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jonas Carpignano
film profile
]
from Italy. The Audience and Attendance awards will be announced Sunday. Full information here.

The list of winners:

Stockholm XXXII Competition

Best Film
Rhino [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
– Oleh Sentsov (Ukraine/Germany/Poland)

Best Director
Tatiana Huezo – Prayers for the Stolen [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
(Mexico/Germany/Brazil/Qatar/Argentina/Switzerland/US)

Best Debut
The Hill Where Lionesses Roar [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Luana Bajrami
film profile
]
– Luàna Bajrami (France/Kosovo/US)

Best Script
Luàna Bajrami – The Hill Where Lionesses Roar

Best Actress
Ruth Wilson – True Things [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Harry Wootliff
film profile
]
(UK)

Best Actor
Serhii Filimonov – Rhino

Best Cinematography
Tim Curtin – A Chiara [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jonas Carpignano
film profile
]
(Italy/France)

Best Documentary
Sabaya [+see also:
film review
interview: Hogir Hirori
film profile
]
– Hogir Hirori (Sweden)

Best Short Film
The Right Words – Adrian Moyse Dullin (France)

The International Film Critics Award FIPRESCI
Petite Maman [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
– Céline Sciamma (France)

Zalando Rising Star Award 2021
Edvin Ryding

1 KM FILM Scholarship Recipient
Emma Pål Brunzell
Honorary Mentions
Erik Warolin, Pella Kågerman

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