Another victory was scored in Brussels this weekend, at the Cinemamed Festival, by Carla Simón’s new film Alcarràs [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Carla Simón
intervista: Carla Simón
intervista: Giovanni Pompili
scheda film], which also bagged the Berlinale’s Golden Bear back in February. The movie looks back on the shattered and shattering summer of a rural Spanish family as they’re faced with a new reality. "We love all the characters, we grow as attached to them in emotional moments as we do at more mundane times. We feel like we know them, like we recognise them. It’s a wonderful film, an ode to the land and to those who cultivate it," enthused the jury composed of actor Simon Abkarian, actress Amira Chebli and director Sarah Hirtt, following their deliberations.

Cinemamed also hosted the ReVolution competition for the second time, which looks to highlight the various aspects of young people’s lives in all four corners of the Mediterranean. The competition award was won by French-Tunisian director Erige Sehiri for her first fiction feature film Under the Fig Trees [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Erige Sehiri
scheda film], which was presented in Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight in May. This movie also homes in on a rural world with accuracy and affection, retracing the daily lives of young people and not so young people working in a fig field in northern Tunisia over the course of a day. As they harvest the fruits, they chat and confide in one another over their fears and their hopes, both for the present and the future. The jury notably praised the "way it depicts Tunisian society, Tunisian women, youngsters and humanity more generally, all in the arena of an orchard from dawn until dusk."

Cineuropa, a partner of the festival, awarded its prize to two exciting works. Firstly, No Dogs or Italians Allowed [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Alain Ughetto
scheda film], an animated documentary discovered in Annecy and coming courtesy of French director Alain Ughetto, which looks back on the history of Italian immigration. The film also walked away with the Audience Award and the Special Jury Prize. The Cineuropa jury further singled out Snow and the Bear [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Selcen Ergun
scheda film], a first feature film by Turkish director Selcen Ergun, co-produced in league with Germany and Serbia. Unveiled in Toronto and later in Marrakech, the movie follows in the footsteps of a young nurse lost in a strange, snow-covered village under threat from bears.

Last but not least, the Youth Jury bestowed their award upon Firas Khoury’s Palestinian movie Alam [+leggi anche:
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scheda film], while the UPCB-UCC Critics’ Award went to another Palestinian work, Maha Haj’s Mediterranean Fever [+leggi anche:
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scheda film], which previously screened in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard.

The list of winners is as follows:

Grand Prize
Alcarràs [+leggi anche:
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trailer
intervista: Carla Simón
intervista: Carla Simón
intervista: Giovanni Pompili
scheda film] - Carla Simón (Spain)

Special Jury Prize
No Dogs or Italians Allowed [+leggi anche:
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trailer
intervista: Alain Ughetto
scheda film] - Alain Ughetto (France/Belgium/Switzerland/Italy/Portugal)

ReVolution Prize
Under the Fig Trees [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Erige Sehiri
scheda film] - Erige Sehiri (Tunisia/France/Switzerland)

Youth Jury Prize
Alam [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] - Firas Khoury (France/Palestine/Qatar/Saudi Arabia/Tunisia)
Youth Jury Special Mention
Amanda [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Benedetta Porcaroli
scheda film] - Carolina Cavalli (Italy/France)

Cineuropa Prize (ex aequo)
Snow and the Bear [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Selcen Ergun
scheda film] - Selcen Ergun (Turkey/Germany/Serbia)
No Dogs or Italians Allowed - Alain Ughetto

UPCB-UCC Critics’ Award
Mediterranean Fever [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] - Maha Haj (France/Germany/Cyprus/Qatar)

Audience Award
No Dogs or Italians Allowed - Alain Ughetto