Boris Lojkine’s The Story Of Souleymane and Sandhya Suri’s Santosh were among the winners of the 41st edition of the Jerusalem Film Festival this week.
The Story Of Souleymane won the best international film award in the International Competition. The jury praised “a film full of humanity, masterfully crafted, that never hits a false note.” Lojkine’s film, about a Paris food delivery cyclist preparing for his legal residency interview, debuted in Un Certain Regard at Cannes in May.
Scroll down for the full list of feature awards
Emanuel Parvu received the best director prize for Three Kilometers To The End Of The World, which premiered in Competition at Cannes.
Suri’s Santosh, another Cannes Un Certain Regard selection, won the best first feature award in the First Feature Competition. The jury noted it is “bravely exploring complex human relationships while offering a powerful commentary on India’s caste system and misogyny.”
The seven awards in the Israeli Feature Film Competition included the best Israeli feature prize, won by Yousef Abo Madegem’s Eid, about a young man fighting for his dreams and against the marriage his parents have arranged for him.
The jury credited “its sensitive, completely mature, and authentic portrayal of the preservation of one’s own self-respect in a rigid environment bound by traditions in contradiction with painfully unfulfilled love, yet leading to reconciliation and forgiveness.”
Tom Nesher’s debut feature Come Closer, about a woman whose grief at her brother’s death spirals into obsession, won the most awards at the festival. It received two Israeli Feature Competition prizes – best Israeli first feature and best actress for Lia Elalouf – and one Israeli Cinema Awards prize – best original score for Ginevra Nervi.
Twenty-one awards were handed out across the competitive feature sections, with a total of 1m NIS ($273,699) in prizes.
Further winners included Jonathan Millet’s Ghost Trail, recipient of the best feature film prize in the In the Spirit of Freedom Competition; and Danel El-Peleg’s The Governor, about the director’s military governor grandfather, which took best documentary in the Israeli Documentary Competition.
Sam Spiegel
Jerusalem’s Sam Spiegel International Film Lab also gave out prizes for projects in development at the Lab at a ceremony on Sunday, July 21.
The $50,000 grand prize went to Hillel Rate’s The Good Fence, which revolves around the antagonistic relationship between a right-wing religious settler, and his son who rejects his religious upbringing and joins an extreme left-wing group.
It is Israeli filmmaker Rate’s debut feature, and will be produced by Lev Orlov of Lev Orlov Films.
The $20,000 emerging filmmaker award was presented to Omer Ben-David and Vera Grinblat’s Who Lives There?, about a 15-year-old girl sent to a strict religious school. Estee Meckelberg is producing for 2-Team Productions.
Previous JSFL projects include Laszlo Nemes’ Oscar-winning Son Of Saul and Antonetna Kusijanovic’s Cannes Camera d’Or winner Murina.
“Especially in these challenging times, and despite the events unfolding around us, we are making great efforts and are determined to continue to allow freedom of expression and artistic independence,” said Dana Blankstein Cohen, executive director of the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School.
Jerusalem Film Festival runs until Sunday, July 28.
Jerusalem Film Festival 2024 winners
International Competition
Best international film – The Story Of Souleymane, dir. Boris Lojkine
Best director – Emanuel Parvu, Three Kilometers To The End Of The World
Special mention – Hu Guan, Black Dog
First Feature Competition
Best first feature – Santosh, dir. Sandhya Suri
Special mention – Block Pass, dir. Antoine Chevrollier
In the Spirit of Freedom competition
Best feature film – Ghost Trail, dir. Jonathan Millet
Best documentary – The Invasion, dir. Sergei Loznitsa
Chantal Akerman competition
The Chantal Akerman Prize – Henry Fonda For President, dir. Alexander Horwath
Israeli feature film competition
Best Israeli feature – Eid, dir. Yousef Abo Madegem
Best Israeli first feature – Come Closer, dir. Tom Nesher
Best screenplay – Maya Kenig, The Milky Way
Best actress – Lia Elalouf, Come Closer
Best actor – Shadi Mar’I, Eid
Ensemble award – Youthful Grace
Special mention – Highway 65
Israeli inema awards
Best cinematography – Daniel Kedem, Guy Raz, ADA – My Mother The Architect
Best original score – Ginevra Nervi, Come Closer
Best editing – Shauly Melamed, Neta Dvorkis, Taboo: Amos Guttman
Israeli documentary competition
Best documentary – The Governor, dir. Danel El-Peleg
Best director – Shakked Auerbach, Strange Birds
Special mention – Yaniv Segalovich, Tapes Of Revolution
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