Teens go wild in Ruben Östlund's Involuntary; gay love set against a background of religious ardor in Haim Tabakman's Eyes Wide Open
Swedish Blockbuster THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO Wins at Palm Springs Festival
Another winner at the 2010 Palm Springs Film Festival was Ruben Östlund's Involuntary, Sweden's official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. The quirky film set during the Swedish summer season received the FIPRESCI Award for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year. Other FIPRESCI winners were best actor Tedo Bekhauri for The Other Bank (Georgia/Kazakhstan), directed by George Ovashvili, and best actress Anne Dorval for I Killed My Mother (Canada), directed by Xavier Dolan.
The John Schlesinger Award for Outstanding First Feature (Narrative or Documentary) went to Haim Tabakman for Eyes Wide Open (Israel), in which a married butcher who falls in love with a younger man in Jerusalem's ultra-orthodox community. Two other films received special mentions: Caroline Bottaro's Queen to Play (France) and Warwick Thornton's best foreign language film Oscar semi-finalist Samson & Delilah (Australia).
The New Voices/New Visions category winner was the drama A Brand New Life (South Korea/France), directed by Ounie Lecomte. Here's the synopsis from the festival's press release: "It's 1975. Jinhee is nine years old, and the life she knows is about to be shattered. Inexplicably abandoned by her father in a Catholic orphanage outside Seoul, Jinhee begins an extraordinary emotional journey marked by rage and hope, death and rebirth."
Honorable mention was given to Vladimir Paskaljevic's Devil's Town "for his audacious and challenging satire of modern day Serbia." Other films screened for this award were: Angel at Sea (Belgium/Canada), Beautiful Kate (Australia), A Brotherhood (Denmark), Heliopolis (Egypt), Huacho (Chile/France), La Pivellina (Austria/Italy), The Man Beyond the Bridge (India), Northless (Mexico/Spain), Nothing Personal (Netherlands/Ireland) and What You Don't See (Germany/Austria).
Letters to Father Jacob (Finland), directed by Klaus Härö, received the Bridging the Borders Award presented by Cinema Without Borders to "the film that is the most successful in bringing the people of our world closer together." Letters to Father Jacob tells the story of a tough ex-con temporarily serving as an amanuensis for a blind pastor in rural Finland.
Photo: Involuntary (Platform); Eyes Wide Shut (Pimpa Film / Riva)