The “Windows on the World” Feature Films Competition Jury awarded the City of Milan Prize to the Best Feature Film “Windows on the World” worth €8,000. Jury Members: Mario Brenta and Karine de Villers (Presidents), Sonia Bergamasco, Prasanna Vithanage.
As per tradition, the Jury composed of three Italian journalists, Paolo Baldini, Andrea Chimento and Sara Manisera, evaluated and awarded the Best African Short Film and the Best Film of the Extr’A Section.
Official Awards
City Milan WINDOWS OF THE WORLD Feature Film competition
EX AEQUO to
Amparo, by Simón Mesa Soto
For the quality and formal radicality and of writing which tells the story of how a male-dominated society persecutes a mother in her attempt to save her son from death
Soula, by Salah Issaad
To have given us a portrait of a woman in limbo in the present-day conflicts of North African society, through a story of extreme realism and great expressive power, outside every stereotype, whether social or cinematographic
Special Mentions
Freda, by Gessica Généus
For having given us a gallery of incisive female portraits that the gaze of the director follows, in a social and political context of great contrasts, with profound clarity and sensitivity
Nous, étudiants!, by Rafiki Fariala ‘
For the vital immersion in the university reality of the Central African Republic through surprising and innovating directing, which intertwines documentary investigation and psychological insights of great impact
AFRICAN SHORT FILMS Competition
Will My Parents Come to See Me, by Mo Harawe
For the lucid and insightful gaze with which he approaches a controversial and difficult topic, the death penalty, and for the extraordinary emotional participation with which he describes the social and civil distress of Somalia
Special Mentions
Astel, by Ramata-Toulaye Sy
For the sensitivity, including formal, with which she portrays a father-daughter relationship and reflects with a gaze which is both tender and painful on the female role in the Africa of the wide- open spaces and denied rights
Chitana, by Amel Guellaty
For having been able to unite the mystery of growing up and the poetry of research in an allegory which seems almost pained, without rhetoric and full of meaning. A hymn to the freedom which always has a cost, especially for little girls. And if freedom leads to embracing the forest, the trees, encounters and marvellous horses, then it makes sense to follow the beauty of discovery, even when you lose the thing most dear to you
EXTR’A Competition
Mother Lode, by Matteo Tortone
For the extraordinary narrative and stylistic maturity reached by the director Matteo Tortone, capable of taking us to a village in South America full of symbolism and evocations, in which the public is enthralled from the beginning to the end and asked to interpret the splendid images before them. A real lesson of (great) cinema, a multisensory experience, given even further value by the use of a fascinating black and white, capable of evoking films by important maestros such as Alfonso Cuarón with his Roma
Menzioni speciali
Amuka, by Antonio Spanò
Because it is a touching cry of resistance capable of launching a bold, clear and universal message. Union is strength, we are taught by the farmers in this film, full of ideas for reflection which remain at length with spectators after they have seen the film
Rue Garibaldi, by Federico Francioni
For the capacity to tell, with a meticulous and never predictable photography, problems, anguishes, joys and sorrows with honesty and closeness, without ever being invasive. It is a film which photographs “real life” without pretension: change, precarity, the humiliations of those who emigrate and begin again from zero elsewhere. It is a film that looks to the past, to the present and to the future and which, in a certain way, concerns all of us
Special Awards
City of Milan Audience Award
El árbol rojo, by Joan Gómez Endara
CINIT Award
Le départ, by Saïd Hamich
For the linear and thrilling narration, which reflects the lucid ruthlessness of the small main character; for the capacity of showing us all the nuances of abandoning one’s land and loved ones; for the courageous and fertile sacrifice to giving answers and taking up a position which boosts a simple and moving portrait of emigration
SIGNIS (OCIC and UNDA) Award
Freda, by Gessica Généus
The Haitian director, Gessica Geneus, succeeds with great expertise and sincerity in telling us a story where ethic, political and social commitment merges in a desperate film made with a careful eye on Italian neorealism.
The outstanding characters are all women who have to fight on a daily basis against endemic poverty in a rapacious and bloodthirsty masculine-dominated society. It will be women, with their vitality and in particular the beautiful and courageous Freda, who is given importance by the actress Nehemie Bastieu, to bring a glimmer of humanity and hope, with the courageous decision to remain in her unfortunate land
Multimedia San Paolo / Telenova Award
Chitana, by Amel Guellaty
For the fairy-tale-like spirit and the rebellious soul. A film which speaks about femininity and freedom, with two fantastic young protagonists at grips with an adventure that will change them forever
The prize consists of the acquisition of the Home Video distribution rights for Italy.