[Filmfestivalresearch] [nh] The French production Theo and the Metamorphoses by Damien Odoul wins the Grand Prix of the 21st New Horizons International Film Festival in Wrocław

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The French production Theo and the Metamorphoses by Damien Odoul wins the Grand Prix of the 21st New Horizons International Film Festival in Wrocław 
  The Jury of the 21st New Horizons International Film Festival in Wrocław has awarded the Grand Prix and EUR 15,000 to Theo and the Metamorphoses (Théo et les métamorphoses) directed by Damien Odoul. 
   
  Theo and the Metamorphosis, director Damien Odoul 
  In the spirit of the New Horizons competition – which aims to acknowledge and support visionary, uncompromising artists, who have the courage to follow their own path against the mainstream fashions and to talk about burning matters in their own unique language – we decided to award the Grand Prix to a bold, unexpected work, which takes us on a wild ride and shifts our perspective on both reality and cinema. An initiation journey into adulthood, at the same time enthralling, witty and thought provoking, where a young man not only discovers, but also transforms – by the power of his spirit – the world, his body, the bodies of others, death and love. A journey of self-discovery and self-determination, where the inner world has the power to shape reality, via a free, ever-changing and ever-surprising audio-visual language. The film proves that becoming oneself could be a dazzling and uncalculated performance, where its central character is an inspiration, showing us his vulnerabilities, fears and power, through a poetic yet radical experience. Both a metamorphosis of the main protagonist and of our gaze on reality, the film is an invitation to put ourselves into the Other’s skin and look at the world through his eyes. In the words of writer and human rights activist James Baldwin, it is an urgent reminder, especially nowadays, that “the Other is another you,” – that is the justification for the verdict by a jury consisting of Olga Tokarczuk (chairperson and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature), Catarina Vasconcelos from Portugal, winner of the Grand Prix at the 20th New Horizons for the film The Metamorphosis of Birds, Burhan Qurbani, the German-born son of Afghan refugees and director of Berlin Alexanderplatz - a work awarded five German Film Awards, Adina Pintilie, the Romanian director of Touch Me Not, a film awarded the Golden Bear at the 2018 Berlinale, Jagoda Szelc, screenwriter and director of, among others, Tower. A Bright Day and Monument. 
  The jury also awarded honorable mention to the film Feathers directed by Omar El Zohairy. 
   
  Death of a Virgin, and the Sin of Not Living, director Damien Odoul 
  The audience also selected their favorite film of the 21st New Horizons: This year’s Audience Award, sponsored by OPPO, goes to George Peter Barbari, author Death of a Virgin, and the Sin of Not Living. It is worth noting that all the ratings of competition films were high. 
   
  Sarha, director Jaśmina Wójcik 
  This year's laureate of the scholarship for Best Director in the Shortlist Section is Jaśmina Wójcik, director Sarha - for encouraging people to discover their inner child and look at the world in a way devoid of prejudices and stereotypes, but full of grace, openness and insight. The scholarship is funded by the New Horizons Association. 
  The audience at the Capitol Musical Theater today saw the premiere of the winning short, selected in the Film Your Story competition, which the New Horizons Association had the pleasure to co-organize with OPPO. The directors of the film Lila, Dominika Trybulec and Kacper Świtalski, took home a prize of PLN 10,000. 
   
  End of the World, director Karol Ulman 
  We also know the laureate of the fourth Zuzanna Jagoda Kolska Award, for the youngest artist taking part in New Horizons, funded by Grażyna Błęcka-Kolska and Jan Jakub Kolski. This year's award to Karol Ulman, director of End of the World, which screened at the festival, is a gesture of support for the author's talent. 
  According to the funders of the prize, "the goal of the award is to encourage filmmakers to tell stories in the language of their own sensitivity, to persevere on the uncertain artistic road of development. The Zuzanna Jagoda Kolska Award is, above all, a warm and vivid remembrance of Zuzanna's now-absent voice. We want to reward courage. To support youth. To provide an opportunity for development. To believe that every bit of help carries goodness onward. To remember Zuzia." 
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  The film Theo and the Metamorphoses will screen on the final day of the stationary festival - on Sunday, August 22, at 3:30 PM). Come see the last cinema screening of Death of a Virgin, and the Sin of Not Living at 10:00 AM. Both titles are also available online at nowyhoryzonty.pl. 
  This is not the end of the festival - watch New Horizons films online through August 29! 
  The 22nd edition of the New Horizons International Film Festival will be held on July 21-31, 2022.