The British documentary ‘A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things’ by Mark Cousins won the Grand Prix (Crystal Globe) in the main competition of the Karlovy Vary Film Festival this weekend.
For his portrait of one of the most important figures of British modern art, the painter Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, the director received the Crystal Globe from the festival president Jiri Bartoska.
The Grand Prix of the main competition comes with an award of $25,000, and is awarded jointly to the director and producer of the film.
The jury judged 12 films in the main competition. The directing prize went to Singaporean director Nelicia Low for her feature debut ‘Pierce’. The film is the story of a young fencer, Jie, who dreams of reuniting with his older brother, Han, who is serving time in prison for killing his opponent in a fencing match.
The Special Jury Award, coupled with a $15,000 prize, went to the Norwegian film ‘Loveable’, directed by Lilja Ingolfsdottir, a drama about the breakdown of a marriage and the search for the role of a woman. Norwegian actress Helga Guren’s performance as Maria in Loveable won her the award for Best Actress. The award for male actor was split between the Dutch actors Ton Kas and Guido Pollemans for their roles in ‘Three Days of Fish’.
Two films received Special Mention Awards: German director Noaz Desh’s co-production ‘Xoftex’, set in a refugee camp somewhere in Greece, and Adam Martinec’s feature film ‘Our Lovely Pig Slaughter’, set in a domestic slaughterhouse.
The Daily Pravo Audience Award went to ‘Waves’ by Czech director Jiri Madl, which received a standing ovation for several minutes after its screening at the festival.
In the Proxima Competition, the Grand Prix went to the co-production Stranger by Chinese director, screenwriter and cinematographer Zhengfan Yang.
The Proxima Special Jury Prize went to ‘Night Has Come’ by debut director Paolo Tizon, set in a military environment in Latin America.
The Proxima Special Mention went to the Slovak film ‘March to May’. Alongside the main competition, Proxima is the festival’s second competition section, a space for filmmakers waiting to be discovered as well as for renowned filmmakers looking for new definitions of their work.
This year, the Karlovy Vary Film Festival included 177 feature and documentary feature films and short films. Two domestic films were in the main competition: Adam Martinec’s feature ‘Our Lovely Pig Slaughter’ and Beata Parkanova’s ‘Tiny Lights’.
Next year’s 59th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival will take place on 4-12 July.
