“She, A Chinese” Tops Locarno Fest

The 62nd Locarno Film Festival came to a close tonight in Switzerland awarding Xiaolu Guo’s “She, A Chinese” the Golden Leopard in the festival’s international competition. The film is described by the festival as the story of “Mei, a young Chinese girl bored with life in her little village, [who] decides to quit for the nearest town, Chongqing. But life there isn’t much easier either; sacked from a clothing factory shortly after starting work, she makes do with a job in a hairdressing salon. There she meets and falls for Spikey, a local mafia’s contract killer.”

Alexei Mizgirev won the award for best director for “Buben.Baraban” and the film also won a special jury prize, runner-up to the Golden Leopard. Jurors in the international competition included jury president, filmmaker Jonathan Nossiter along with Jean-Marie Blanchard, former Director of the Grand Théâtre de Genève, filmmaker Pascal Bonitzer, filmmaker Hong Sangsoo, actress Nina Hoss, producer Luis Miñarro, and actress Alba Rohrwacher.

A dispatch from the festival will be published separately at indieWIRE and a select list of winners follows.

International Competition

Golden Leopard:
“She, A Chinese,” directed by Xiaolu Guo (United Kingdom / Germany / France)

Special Jury Prize:
“Buben.Baraban,” directed by Alexei Mizgirev (Russia)

Best Director:
Alexei Mizgirev for “Buben.Baraban” (Russia)

Leopard for Best Actress:
Lotte Verbeek in “Nothing Personal,” directed by Urszula Antoniak (Netherlands / Ireland)

Leopard for Best Actor:
Antonis Kafetzopoulos in “Akadimia Platonos,” directed by Filippos Tsitos (Greece / Germany)

Filmmakers of the Present Competition

Golden Leopard:
“The Anchorage,” directed by C.W. Winter and Anders Edström (United States / Sweden)

Ciné Cinéma Special Jury Prize - Filmmakers of the Present Competition
“Piombo Fuso,” directed by Stefano Savona, Italy
Leopard for the Best First Feature:
“Nothing Personal,” directed by Urszula Antoniak (Netherlands / Ireland)

Leopards of Tomorrow

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Golden Leopard “Believe,” directed by Paul Wright, United Kingdom (Scotland) Silver Leopard “Variaciok,” directed by Krisztina Esztergalyos, Hungary Golden Leopard – George Foundation Prize for the Leopards of Tomorrow National Competition “Las Pelotas” by Chris Niemeyer (Switzerland) Silver Leopard – Kodak Prize for the Leopards of Tomorrow National Competition “Nachtspaziergang,” directed by Christof Wagner, Switzerland Prix du Public UBS – Audience Award “Giulias Verschwinden,” directed by Christoph Schaub, Switzerland Variety Piazza Grande Award “Same Same But Different,” directed by Detlev Buck, Germany posted on August 15, 2009 |Share