08/08/2022 - This year’s winning projects are helmed by Lukas Nathrath, Sara Summa, Mo Harawe and Milena Aboyan

(l-r): Sara Summa, Cecilia Trautvetter and Markus Duffner during the awards event

Locarno Pro, the industry section of the 75th Locarno Film Festival, came to a close yesterday 7 August.

The 11^th edition of First Look, the industry initiative showcasing films in post-production organised in partnership with German Films, saw six projects being presented at the Rialto theatre in Muralto. Each work-in-progress was introduced by its producer to a private audience of sales agents and festival programmers attending the festival.

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An international jury, made up of Vanja Kaludjercic (International Film Festival Rotterdam), Tricia Tuttle (BFI London Film Festival) and HUH Moonyung (Busan International Film Festival) handed out three awards. The Cinegrell First Look Award, a post-production service grant worth €50,000, went to Lukas Nathrath’s One Last Evening [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lukas Nathrath
film profile] (Germany), produced by Klinkerfilm and co-produced by Doppelbauer & Nathrath Filmproduktion. The jury stated: “We were hugely impressed by One Last Evening, finding its storytelling rich and nuanced. The film took us on a real emotional journey and the strong ensemble cast contributed to wonderfully detailed characterisations.”

Next, Le Film Français Award, consisting of advertising services worth €5,600, went to Sara Summa’s Arthur & Diana [+see also:
film review
interview: Sara Summa
film profile] (Germany), staged by Deutsche Film und Fernsehakademie Berlin, whilst the Kaiju Cinema Diffusion Prize, consisting of the designing of an international poster worth €5,000, was bestowed upon Milena Aboyan’s Elaha [+see also:
film review
film profile] (Germany), produced by Kinescope Film and co-produced by Essence Film.

Meanwhile, Sunday afternoon also saw the ceremony for the Alliance 4 Development Award take place. The brand-new Alphapanda Market Breakout Award, consisting of consultancy services worth €3,000, was handed out to the Austrian film project The Village Next to Paradise, helmed by Mo Harawe and produced by Oliver Neumann and Sabine Moser for Freibeuter Film. Jurors Mathias Noschis and Valentina Neumann described it as “a little gem of a project that touched us deeply thanks to Mo Harawe’s compelling artistic vision.”

Locarno Pro was organised through the support of the Federal Office of Culture (FOC) and Switzerland's MEDIA Desk.

Here is the list of this year’s winning projects:

Cinegrell First Look Award
One Last Evening [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lukas Nathrath
film profile] – Lukas Nathrath (Germany)

Le Film Français Award
Arthur & Diana [+see also:
film review
interview: Sara Summa
film profile] – Sara Summa (Germany)

Kaiju Cinema Diffusion Prize
Elaha [+see also:
film review
film profile] – Milena Aboyan (Germany)

Alphapanda Market Breakout Award
The Village Next to Paradise – Mo Harawe (Austria)