Colombian producer-director Jhonny Hendrix Hinestroza’s “Candelaria,” a drama about an elderly couple’s travails during Cuba’s economic crisis in the 1990s, has won the Venice Days Award, the top kudo in Venice’s independently run section.
The movie’s septuagenarians find their lives changing unexpectedly thanks to a found video camera, which re-ignites their passions.
The Venice Days jury described “Candelaria” as “one of those rare films that exudes generosity and warmth to the audience by showing a non-conventional way of rediscovering love between two elderly people who are struggling to survive in Cuba.”
French actress Sara Forestier’s directorial debut “M” won the Europa Cinemas Label as Best European Film in Venice Days.
“M,” which is being sold internationally by France’s Mk2, is about a girl with a stutter named Lila, played by Forestier, whose life is turned upside down when she falls in love with a man named Mo, who risks his life by racing in illegal car rallies. A jury made up of European exhibitors praised “M” for being “a charming representation of the relationship between two people scarred by life” and called it “a film with the potential to reach out and touch young audiences.”