CANDELARIA WINS PRIZE AT VENICE FILM FESTIVAL
The Sørfond-supported film Candelaria by Jhonny Hendrix Hinestroza won the prize for Best Director at Venice Days section during the 74th Venice Film Festival this weekend.
The 14th edition of Venice Days runs concurrently with the Venice Film Festival and are modeled on Cannes Directors’ Fortnight.
Candelaria received support from Sørfond in 2016, and won the main award at the Venice Days-program this weekend. The film is a co-production between Colombia, Germany, Argentina and Norway, with the Colombian production company Antorcha Films as main producer.
The film is a drama about love, moral and difficult decisions. An old couple in their 70s living in Havana awakens their sleeping love life with a video camera. The films they make takes the couple out of a difficult economic situation, and touches on elements in the Cuban society that will both surprise and provoke the audience.
“The film’s reception in Venice was overwhelming,” says the Norwegian co-producer Dag Hoel, representing Dag Hoel Filmproduksjon AS. “I was there together with the main characters, Veronica Lyn and Alden Knight, from Cuba. They became Venice’s most popular couple this year. The prize opens a lot of opportunities for Candelaria, and it is excited to see if Cuban authorities will allow it to be shown in Cuba. Norwegian premiere will be during this year’s Films from the South-festival in November.”
See the interview with director Jhonny Hendrix Hinestroza here.
This year’s Venice Days-jury was led by the Iranian director Samira Makhmalbaf, who praised the film for its remarkable acting, its ability to take unexpected turns and that the film is ”full of social engagement.”
Read the jury’s full statement here.
Venice Days
Venice Days (Giornate degli Autori) were born in 2004, as an independent event on the fringes of the Venice Film Festival, modeled on the prestigious ‘Directors' Fortnight' of the Cannes Festival and promoted by the associations of Italian film directors and authors. The aim of the event is to draw attention to high quality cinema, without any kind of restriction, with special care for innovation, research, originality and independence.
The 74th Venice International Film Festival and the 14th Venice Days was held from 30th August to 9th September 2017.