Peter Debruge Jessica Kiang Iceland Berlin Bolivia film audience awards Peter Debruge Jessica Kiang Iceland Berlin Bolivia

Sundance Winner ‘Utama’ Takes Top Prize at Transilvania Film Festival

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variety.com

Christopher Vourlias Alejandro Loayza Grisi’s “Utama,” which won the grand jury prize in the World Cinema Dramatic competition at Sundance this year, took home top honors at the closing ceremony of the Transilvania Film Festival on Saturday night.Grisi’s feature debut tells the story of an elderly couple in the Bolivian highlands who refuse to relocate to the city despite the constant threat of drought.

In a glowing review, Variety’s Peter Debruge described the film as a “sublime, quietly elegiac” character study that “looks quite unlike anything else.”“By relying on the simplicity, purity and poetry of his cinematic approach, the director takes the audience on a universal journey, talking about the essence of life, death and everything in between,” said the Transilvania jury, praising a film that “gives the audience a deep, multilayered feeling of how fragile our future is.” “Utama” was also feted with the festival’s Audience Award.

The prize for best director went to Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson for “Beautiful Beings,” which the jury singled out for the “credible, original and brilliant universe” crafted by the Icelandic filmmaker, who won the same award at Transilvania in 2017 for “Heartstone.” Variety’s Jessica Kiang described the film as a “coming-of-age tale radiant with violence and tenderness” in her review after its premiere in the Berlin Film Festival’s Panorama section.A Special Jury Award went to Dovile Sarutyte’s “Feature Film About Life,” a darkly comic story of a woman overwhelmed by memories when she’s left alone to deal with her father’s funeral.

The award for best performance went to Laura Müller and Schemci Lauth for their portrayals of two lovers whose intense romance is consummated over a single.

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