The sun keeps rising and setting, the earth keeps moving, and film festivals are still happening. They might be partially or fully online, but most of us (and given accessibility, more of us) have been able to still enjoy seeing new films from around the world. And what's more, there are still awards to be given out! Trieste Science+Fiction, Italy's preeminent genre festival, wrapped up recently; having served on a jury there a few years ago, I can attest to the quality of their programming (and juries!). There are some worthy winners that we've covered, and some we hope to see very soon. Congralutations to all!
Asteroide Award
The Award is given to the best science fiction, horror or fantasy first time, second or third movie by emerging directors in the Neon | Competition section. The winner of the competition has been chosen by an international jury of world renowned movie professionals and experts of the fantastic genre. Members of the Asteroide award jury this year were cartoonist and writer Bepi Vigna, scriptwriter and writer Javier S. Donate and producer and screenwriter Brendan McCarthy.
Sputnik by Egor Abramenko (Russia)
A debut film which deftly observes the oppressive self absorbed Soviet bureaucracy of the 1980’s as it fails to recognize the danger of a newly arrived extra-terrestrial creature.The director has created a clever, terrifying and truly remarkable film.
Special Mention:
Come True by Anthony Scott Burns (Canada)
For the careful and precise expressive choices which are meant to represent the loss of control of the protagonist, floating between dream and reality, and which in some scenes create moments of strong emotional impact.
Méliès d’argent Award – Feature film
The competition is organized in collaboration with the Méliès International Festivals Federation (MIFF) and the award goes to the best European production fantastic genre feature length movie. The winner of the competition has been chosen by an international jury of world renowned movie professionals and experts of the fantastic genre. Members of the Méliès d'argent jury this year were the composer Pino Donaggio, the director of the Far East Film Festival Sabrina Baracetti and the director Martin Turk.
The Trouble with Being Born by Sandra Wollner (Austria, Germany)
A poetic and controversial movie, taking the cue from a science fiction theme which soon oversteps the boundaries of the genre to decisively land in the territory of auteur cinema. A complex, evocative work, raising questions about loneliness and, more than anything, love in all its aspects (even the more twisted), creating a simultaneously spellbinding and disturbing rhythm and atmosphere.
Méliès d’argent – Short Films Competition
The Recycling Man by Carlo Ballauri (Italia)
Rai 4 Award
The award is given by the Rai 4 channel of Italian television, media partner of the 2020 Trieste Science+Fiction Festival, to the best movie of the Neon selection.
Post Mortem by di Péter Bergendy (Hungary)
The impeccable historical reconstruction of the times of the Spanish Flu pandemic which swept the world away in 1919 is all the more powerful and shocking in the light of the current global situation. The main theme combines folklore with the superstition of the farming community, the universe of magic and religion with the technological and scientific advances of the beginning of the nineteen hundreds in the fields of photography and phonography, and produces a horror of excellent quality, between realism and the echoes of expressionist cinema.
Special Mention:
Mortal by André Øvredal (Norway, USA, UK)
In a wonderful Scandinavian landscape, mystery and the supernatural slowly emerge, triggering an inner journey and the escape of a very unusual couple from the threats of the narrow-minded foreigners chasing them. Norway smartly reclaims its own myths with no inferiority complex, and the result is a surprising vision ripping the glossy cape off the domineering imagery of the North American fantasy universe of superheroes.
Nocturno Nuove Visioni Award
The award is given to the most innovative movie for the genre film sector by Nocturno, the main Italian magazine in the genre movies field.
Meander by Mathieu Turi
There are movies that win you over by making you sink in a deep, claustrophobic tension, others you immediately love because of the beauty of their monsters, others which play with your expectations and transport you from a nightmare into a dream… and then, there’s a movie which all of this come together.