ALL THE AWARDS OF THE 25TH EDITION
EUROPEAN FILM FESTIVAL
25th Edition
Lecce, 9 – 16 November 2024 | Multisala Massimo
ALL THE AWARDS OF THE 25TH EDITION OF THE EUROPEAN FILM FESTIVAL
EUROPEAN FEATURE FILM COMPETITION “GOLDEN OLIVE TREE”
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“Golden Olive Tree – Cristina Soldano Award” for Best Film
Three Days Of Fish by Peter Hoogendoorn
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Special Jury Prize
Breathing Underwater by Eric Lamhène
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Best Cinematography Award
Wishbone by Penny Panayotopoulou
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Best Screenplay Award
Drowning Dry by Laurynas Bareisa
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Audience Award
Jim’s Story by Arnaud and Jean-Marie Larrieu
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SNGCI Award for Best European Actor
Paulius Markevi?ius for the film Drowning Dry by Laurynas Bareisa
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FIPRESCI Award
Three Days of Fish by Peter Hoogendoorn
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SNCCI Award
Jim’s Story by Arnaud and Jean-Marie Larrieu
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Cineuropa Award
Breathing Underwater by Eric Lamhène
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PUGLIA SHOW Award
Notes to Self by Maria Gorgoglione
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Special Mention to I, Lina by Luana Fanelli
Rai Cinema Channel Award
Eclipse of Earth by Federico Emilio Cornacchia
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Unisalento Award
The Sky is Lost by Fabrizio Fusco
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Mario Verdone Award
Gloria! by Margherita Vicario
Special Mention
Mimi – The Prince of Darkness by Brando De Sica
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Emidio Greco Award
Miranda’s Mind by Maddalena Crespi
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“Cinecittà News Special Mention” for the Cinema & Reality section
The Olive Tree and the Baobab by Serena Porta
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Rotary Club Lecce Award
Art vs. War – Bansky and C215 in Borodyanka, Ukraine by Michele Pinto
The 25th Edition of the European Film Festival directed by Alberto La Monica has come to a successful conclusion. Among the many participating guests who accompanied the films and dialogued with the audience were Ken Loach, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Luciana Castellina, Luca Verdone, Silvia Verdone, Brando De Sica, Fabio Traversa, Alain Smith, Edgar San Juan, Yasemin Samdereli, Laura Delli Colli …
Numerous Italian premieres and special events of feature films from all over Europe were screened. This year, the Festival paid tribute to Tyrone Power with the presentation of Nightmare Alley (1947) by Edmund Goulding, in which the Hollywood star delivered what critics consider to have been his finest acting performance. Present at the screening were his children, Romina and Tyrone Jr., and grandchildren, Yari and Cristel Carrisi, who joined in a conversation moderated by Maurizio Di Rienzo.
“The 25th edition was marked by great cinema, with guests such as Ken Loach, the tribute to the versatile Giovanna Mezzogiorno; and together with the directors of the presented films, we once again gave a voice to the cinema of the future. Now, we must look to the future with the conviction that European cinema still has many stories to tell, many faces to present and many horizons to explore,” said Alberto La Monica.
Alongside more than 100 films in the program, the Festival also featured live music as well as book and album presentations in various city venues through the OFF Festival, the annual offshoot initiative sponsored by the European Film Festival, offering several free events. Highlights included a concert by GiroDiBanda, led by Maestro Cesare Dell’Anna, with an exclusive preview of an excerpt from the film GiroDiBanda by Daniele Cini, produced by Dinamo Film; The Sound of Silents, a live scoring of silent films from the 1920s with original music curated by the Ninotchka musical project; “OOPARTS”, the new concept album by drummer and beatmaker Egidio “Legit” Rondinone; and the presentation of two books by journalist and writer Luciana Castellina.
For the European Feature Film Competition “Golden Olive Tree,” the jury, chaired by Luciana Castellina and composed of Pascal Diot, Francesco Ranieri Martinotti, Hanna Slak, and Heather Stewart, emphasized that “with the presentation of awards, juries communicate with the audience. The reasoning behind the decisions carried out by juries is not always immediately clear. More than an objective judgment, we seek to engage in a dialogue with the public and invite them to reflect alongside us.”
The awards are as follows:
Golden Olive Tree – Cristina Soldano Award for Best Film to Three Days of Fish by Peter Hoogendoorn (Netherlands, Belgium, 2024). While living abroad with his second wife, Gerrie returns to Rotterdam for his annual medical check-up. There, he meets up with his son Dick.
Jury statement: “In addition to the economic and social crisis affecting the entire world today, there is also a serious psychological crisis, impacting especially the younger generations. This results in difficulties and generational misunderstandings within families. The film we are awarding captures this theme with great acuity and sensitivity, not by highlighting a singular dramatic event but by naturally portraying an aspect present in all modern families, where incomprehension intersects with affection as well as with the desire, and therefore the attempt, to reconnect—a motivating factor between parents and children despite the discomfort. We believe that everyone can identify with the characters in this film. The Golden Olive Tree – Cristina Soldano Award for Best Film goes to Three Days of Fish by Peter Hoogendoorn.”
Special Jury Prize to Breathing Underwater by Eric Lamhène (Luxembourg, Belgium, 2024). Emma, who arrives at the emergency room pregnant and bruised, is placed in a shelter for victims of domestic violence. There, she begins to regain her self-esteem and self-confidence. Jury’s statement: “A great feminist and French writer, Simone de Beauvoir, once said: ‘Discovering what it means to be a woman is the work of a lifetime.’ And this is true because a masculine identity, which is not ours, has been imposed on us all. Getting free from it is difficult yet necessary. Emma, the main character of the film, does it in an ‘extreme’ way, but to change the world, one must also be ‘extremist.’ For this reason, we are awarding the Special Jury Prize to Breathing Underwater by Eric Lamhène.”
Best Cinematography Award to Dimitris Katsaitis forWishbone by Penny Panayotopoulou (Greece, 2024). Kostas has recently become a security guard in a public hospital. After the death of his brother, he is forced to take care of his niece and find the money to save the family home. Just as hope fades, a hospital doorman offers him a way out. Jury’s statement: The jury has decided to present the Best Cinematography Award to “a film that consistently combines natural light photography and fluid movements of the camera with the stark reality of the Greek healthcare system.”
Best Screenplay Award to Drowning Dry by Laurynas Bareiša (Lithuania, Latvia, 2024). Ernesta is spending the weekend with her family and that of her sister Juste’s at their country home. After a brush with a near-tragic accident, the two sisters find themselves as single mothers. Jury statement: “For skillfully and audaciously constructing the story of a quiet family weekend, ravaged by two tragic events, and for deconstructing and subverting the narrative, the jury has decided to award the 2024 Golden Olive Tree for Best Screenplay to Laurynas Bareiša for Drowning Dry.”
The Audience Award, voted by the viewers at the end of the screenings at the Multisala Massimo, goes to Jim’s Story by Arnaud and Jean-Marie Larrieu.
SNGCI Award for Best European Actor, awarded by the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists (SNGCI) chaired by Laura Delli Colli, goes to Paulius Markevi?ius for his performance in Drowning Dry by Laurynas Bareiša (Lithuania, Latvia, 2024).
Jury statement: “For his intense and moving performance in a film that transforms the lightness of an ordinarily serene day into sudden tension arising from a dramatic unforeseeable event, where grief unpredictably changes the life of an entire family.”
FIPRESCI Award (International Federation of Film Critics), awarded by a jury composed of Janet Baris, Eusebio Ciccotti, and Michael Ranze, goes to Three Days of Fish by Peter Hoogendoorn, with the following statement: “A sensitive film that deals with the complicated relationship between a father and son who meet only for a brief moment. Shot in beautiful black and white, the film addresses the vulnerability of being human and the difficulties of communicating in today’s world.”
The SNCCI Award (Italian National Syndicate of Film Critics), assigned by the Jury composed of Alberto Tristano, Frederic Pascali, and Francesco Maggiore, goes to Jim’s Story by Arnaud and Jean-Marie Larrieu, with the following reasoning: “For the emotional intensity of a story that tackles the difficulties of family bonds, subjected to the judgment of time and deeper feelings.”
Cineuropa Award, presented by director Valerio Caruso, goes to Breathing Underwater by Eric Lamhène.
“The Cineuropa Award goes to a work that combines refined aesthetics with an intimate and universal narrative, able to touch the deepest chords of the viewer. Through delicate direction and an intense performance, the film explores the fragile balance between vulnerability and resilience, recounting with great sensitivity the inner journey of someone struggling to find their place in the world.”
For the Puglia Show section, the jury, chaired by Cosimo Santoro and composed of Davide Magnisi and Vito Palmieri, awarded the CNC – Italian Short Film Center Prize and the Augustus Color Award for Best Short Film to Note to Self by Maria Gorgoglione with the following statement: “For creating a claustrophobic and oppressive atmosphere through a rigorous staging that interrogates the ghosts of our personalities, coupled with an excellent acting performance.”
Special Mention to I, Lina by Luana Fanelli: “For the narrative freshness and directorial care in telling a provincial story that marks the transition from adolescence to adulthood of two young girls, effectively portrayed by the lead actresses.”
The Rai Cinema Channel Award of 3,000 euros, presented by the jury composed of Maria Federica Lo Jacono and Manuela Rima, goes to Eclissi di Terra by Federico Emilio Cornacchia (2024).
The Mario Verdone Award, given by the jury composed of Carlo, Luca, and Silvia Verdone, goes to Gloria! by Margherita Vicario “for the originality of a debut film—already directed with confidence—that renders music the main character through its imagery. In this story, classic meets pop, becoming a true revolutionary anthem. Gloria! proves that debuting as a director also means to be daring: a first work dedicated to freedom, including creative freedom of young women throughout history.”
Special Recognition of the Mario Verdone Award to Brando De Sica for Mimì – The Prince of Darkness.
Jury’s statement: “A noir fairy tale and fantasy full of suspense, but also poetry, set in an unseen Naples with its supernatural charm. A surprising debut that combines genre taste with an author’s first work that engages the audience without boundaries.”
The Unisalento Award, given by the jury of the DAMS University Program, composed of Stefania Bocco, Giacomo Bove, Viola Calignano, Teresa De Simone, Andrea DiLorenzo, Alessio Elia, Roselena Forleo, Gaia Galasso, Alexia Ganci, Melissa Gjini, Claudio Pasquale Giaconella, Enrico Greco, Carmen Matichecchia, Edoardo Presicce, Melissa Rizzo, Pietro Strusi, Iris Talema, Alessia Trani, Antonio Vetrano, and Nicole Vetrano goes to Il cielo è perso by Fabrizio Fusco “for the great depth with which it takes on the theme of man’s domination over nature as well as his fellow human beings as an intrinsic feature of the human condition. The cinematography highlights this contrast through a use of color that accentuates the difference between natural and artificial elements. The shots, moving from close-ups to long shots, accompany the transition from the particular experience of the characters to a universal sense.”
The Emidio Greco Award, now in its 12th edition, selected by a jury composed of Lia Furxhi (Director of the National Center for Short Films) and Alberto La Monica (Director of the European Film Festival), as well as the Greco Family, goes to Miranda’s Mind by Maddalena Crespi, “for the ability to portray the complexity of the female mind with honesty and avoiding old stereotypes, for the directorial style that is simple yet never cold or sterile, and for the choice and direction of the lead actress of the film (Valentina Bellè’s performance is truly remarkable).”
The Rotary Club Lecce Award, choosing from all the films presented at the Festival, goes to Arte vs Guerra – Banksy and C215 in Borodyanka, Ukraine by Michele Pinto. Jury’s statement: “The director recounts the violence of the war in Ukraine through the eyes of restorers working to recover murals. A project that demonstrates how art and beauty can cultivate hope. These are values that align with the Rotary spirit, committed to transforming the world according to a more equitable, gentler, more compassionate, and more humane vision.”
This year as well, the Cinema & Reality Section is honored with the CinecittàNews Special Mention, awarded by the editorial team of CinecittàNews, the online daily publication dedicated to film journalism under the direction of the Communications department. The award goes to L’ulivo e il baobab by Serena Porta.
Jury’s statement: “A red, in fact a green, thread flows and connects, symbolizing Nature and Mother Earth, in a continuous dialogue between Europe and Africa, with two symbolic trees: the olive tree and the baobab, seemingly exotic to each other but actually quite similar in their resilient essence, creative fertility, and in being mirrors of their respective territories and spirit of their people. These trees are not viewed as mere natural subjects but as expressions of culture, respected, cared for, practically venerated, recognizing their wild beauty but above all their nobility and prestigiousness. The voice of Russell Crowe envelops the narrative, lending an epic quality, as if offering an echo to the soul of the trees.”
The European Film Festival, conceived and produced by the cultural association “Art Promotion,” is part of the “Promote Cinema 2024” initiative, funded by the Puglia Region and implemented by the AFC Foundation using resources from POC Puglia 2014-2020, Axis VI, Action 6.7. It also receives support from the Ministry of Culture-Directorate General for Cinema and Audiovisual as well as from the Municipality of Lecce.
The European Film Festival is a member of the Association of Italian Film Festivals, and takes pride in its collaboration with the Experimental Center of Cinematography, S.N.G.C.I., FIPRESCI, S.N.C.C.I., the Italian Short Film Center and the Lux Audience Award.
Media partners: Cinecittà News, Cineuropa, FRED Film Radio
Festival Partners:Agricole Vallone, Augustus Color, Futuro Remoto Gioielli, Liberrima, Quarta Caffè, Rai Cinema Channel, Rotary Club Lecce
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