The L'Etrange Festival wrapped up in Paris last weekend and while we may have one or two more reviews still in the pipe we were eventual informed that there were some award winners at its conclusion.
Lorcan Finnegan's Vivarium took home the Grand Prize Canal+, As part of the award Vivarium will be acquired for a future broadcast on Canal+. The Korean zomcom The Odd Family: Zombie On Sale. And hooray for Canada because Brandon Cronenberg of the family Cronenberg took home the Canal+ Grand Prize for best international short film with his short Please Speak Continuously And Describe Your Experiences As They Come To You.
The complete announcement follows.
L’ÉTRANGE FESTIVAL PARIS 2019 / 25th EDITION4 – 15 SEPTEMBER 2019 / FORUM DES IMAGESPRIZE WINNERS 2019Over the past twelve days, L’Étrange Festival 2019 has presented 7 World premieres, 3 International premieres, 30 French premieres and 10 previously unreleased films in France.Jean-Pierre Dionnet, the founder and editor of the French cult magazine Heavy Metal, has curated a programme of 5 underrated gems. This year’s guests included such luminaries as science fiction and fantasy writer Michael Moorcock, cult director Alejandro Jodorowsky, the legendary Quay Brothers and… many more directors who think out of the box: Fabrice du Welz, Johannes Nyholm, Mati Diop, Jessica Hausner, Jennifer Reeder...Among other events: a Tribute to the Scala Cinema, London’s famous repertory cinema (presented by programmer Jane Giles), a special screening of Gaspar Noé’s reversed cut of his controversial thriller-drama Irreversible (presented by Monica Bellucci). Last but not least, the festival also hosted a unique screening of Alejandro Jodorowsky’s director’s cut of The Rainbow Thief.After a marathon of 134 screenings, L’Étrange Festival announced on Sunday, September 15 the Award winners of its 25th edition:INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM COMPETITION“NOUVEAU GENRE” – GRAND PRIZE CANAL+VIVARIUMLorcan Finnegan – 2019 – Ireland-Belgium-Denmark - 97’ - Mystery / Sci-FiAfter The Spy Gone North in 2018, Vivarium will be acquired for a future broadcast Canal+.AUDIENCE CHOICETHE ODD FAMILY: ZOMBIE ON SALELee Min-Jae – South Corea – 112’ - Fantastic / ComedyINTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM COMPETITIONCANAL+ GRAND PRIZEPLEASE SPEAK CONTINUOUSLY AND DESCRIBE YOUR EXPERIENCES AS THEY COME TO YOUBrandon Cronenberg – Canada – 9’23 - Drama / Sci-FiAUDIENCE CHOICE (EX-AEQUO)VAGABONDAGESGuillaume Pin – France – 7’46 – Documentary / ExperimentalPORTRAIT EN PIED DE SUZANNEIzabela Plucinska – France – 14’47 –ExperimentalL’Étrange Festival is also happy to announce that it attracted over 35,000 rabid filmgoers this year. The closing ceremony was followed by the French premiere of Justin Kurzel’s punk western epic TRUE HISTORY OF THE KELLY GANG.