43rd FESTIVAL DES 3 CONTINENTS – AWARDS NANTES
ANCENIS – CLISSON – HÉRIC – SAINT-HERBLAIN – SAINT-NAZAIRE
“Above all, our main satisfaction during the ten days of the festival came from renewing contact with the eager and curious public, who showed up in droves. It goes without saying that we are well aware of the difficulties that film distributors, exporters and cinema owners faced for many long months. If the Festival des 3 Continents can, even on a very small scale, help spark the public’s desire to see movies on the big screen, then we are delighted. In this particularly uncertain context, we must also stand united with the organisers of cultural events, the entire music scene and performance arts. We hope that they can carry out their projects and continue their ABSOLUTELY essential work.” Jérôme Baron, Artistic Director of the Festival des 3 Continents
226 SCREENINGS – 93 FILMS – 42 COUNTRIES
South Africa, Germany, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Colombia, South Korea, Egypt, Spain, the United States, Finland, France, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Mali, Mauritania, Mexico, Niger, Norway, Netherlands, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Czech Republic, Singapore, Slovakia, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Uruguay, Venezuela, Vietnam.
AWARDS
The festival came to a close on Sunday, 28 November 2021at Stéréolux, a space devoted to musical creations and digital creation in Nantes in the Loire-Atlantique region of France.
After the live DJ set by Myako to accompany the film The Breadwinner by Mohamed Abbazzi and Donna Woolf, the awards of the 43rd Festival des 3 Continents were announced and given to the candidates who were present.
The jury says: “After the long months of lockdown that we had just been through, embarking on this hot-air balloon Montgolfière journey in Nantes gave us wonderful news from all over the world. This 43rd edition impressed us with the power and diversity of the film proposals. It took a great deal of courage and energy for all these filmmakers to complete their projects. It also took courage to find and select all these films. We hope that our choices will be worthy of this magnificent selection.”
MONTGOLFIÈRE D’OR
Eight films were selected for the international competition of the 43rd Festival des 3 Continents.
The Jury, composed of Franco-Tunisian producer and international sales agent Saïd Ben Saïd, French actress Agathe Bonitzer, Syrian director Gaya Jiji, Italian director Stefano Savona, and French director Anne Villacèque, decided to grant the Montgolfière d’Or to the film WHEEL OF FORTUNE AND FANTASY (GUZEN TO SOZO) by Japanese director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi.
The Montgolfière d’Or is awarded by the City of Nantes and the festival, accompanied by a prize of 6,000 euros for the film director.
The jury says: “In this selection, one film in particular won us over with its audacity, freedom and absolute mastery. Like other great films of great filmmakers before it, this one takes us beyond stubborn ideological stances that prevent debate. It’s a film with a more far-reaching vision.”
MONTGOLFIÈRE D’ARGENT
The Jury decided to grant the Montgolfière d’Argent in a two-way tie to the two first Indian films PEDRO by Natesh Hegde and SHANKAR’S FAIRIES by Irfana Majumdar.
The Montgolfière d’Argent awards a total of 4,000 euros, shared equally between the two directors, granted by the Regional Council of Loire-Atlantique and the festival.
The Jury says: “We decided to award the Montgolfière d’Argent to two films that touched us in different ways, even though they play off each other and resonate with each other on many levels. Firstly, because these two first films come to us from the same immense country: India. And, more importantly, because they offer us portraits of people that are very intimate and very political at the same time, shedding light on the increasingly violent reality of the relationships between social classes.”
THE YOUNG JURY AWARD
The Young Jury – composed of five men and women aged 18 to 23 who live in the Nantes area: Falmarès, Amira Khedhri, Camille Landu, Mikael Matumaini and Léane Wendling decided to grant the award to the film A NEW OLD PLAY (JIAO MA TANG HUI) by hong kongese director Jiongjiong Qiu.
The Young Jury Award is endowed by Le Damier, a company foundation of the Brémond group, and grants a total of 3,000 euros to the director.
The Young Jury says: “We would like to thank you for keeping the festival lively and exciting, and for taking all of us on a journey filled with emotions and encounters. Being the festival jury will remain an unforgettable experience for us. We know how valuable this award is for the artist who will receive this prize, and we know that our choice may have an impact on the distribution of this film nationwide. This is why we decided to grant this award to a first fiction film, one that is fascinating in terms of its content and format, and one that we would like everyone to discover.”
THE RFI WIK AUDIENCE AWARD
The festival audience voted after each screening and also decided to award the film WHEEL OF FORTUNE AND FANTASY (GUZEN TO SOZO) by Ryûsuke Hamaguchi.
The award is sponsored by Wik, the cultural event magazine, and RFI, Radio France Internationale, accompanied by a prize of 1,500 euros for the director.
20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE PRODUIRE AU SUD WORKSHOPS
The last Produire au Sud Nantes workshop took place on site in Nantes between 20 and 26 November. This was an opportunity to highlight the originality of the aid from the Produire au Sud workshops, the benefit of their yearlong support for the Festival des 3 Continents, and their political commitment to transmit and unite.
Testimonials from participants over the last 20 years offered unforgettable, unique and moving experiences. These 20 years remind us that the young artists of tomorrow need, more than ever, privileged places of learning and discussion to brave the difficulties of the international market and meet their partners.
This place, this Produire au Sud house that has existed in Nantes for 20 years, was celebrated and definitively revealed to the public this week.
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The festival warmly thanks its partners for their support, as well as all the people, volunteers and public who make this event possible.
