‘Don’t Cry, Butterfly’, UK feature ‘Paul & Paulette Take A Bath’ head Venice Film Festival Critics’ Week winners

Vietnamese feature Don’t Cry, Butterfly and UK title Paul & Paulette Take A Bath were among the winners at the 39^th Venice Critics’ Week, announced on Friday, September 6.

Duong Dieu Linh’s Don’t Cry, Butterfly took the main Grand Prize, awarded by a jury of Kerem Ayan, Yasmine Benkiran and Ariane Labed. The jury selected the film “for its singularity and creativity; because it tests new ideas, mixing comedy, social drama and fantasy; for the way it depicts the complexity [of] ‘mother and daughter’.”

Scroll down for the full list of feature winners 

Duong’s feature debut sees a woman turn to spirits in an attempt to win back her philandering husband. Barunson E&A handles international sales on the film, which is a collaboration between producers from Vietnam, Singapore, the Philippines and Indonesia. The film also won the award for Most Innovative Feature, assigned by a five-person jury of people under the age of 35.

The main jury gave a Special Mention to Alexandra Simpson’s US-Switzerland co-production No Sleep Till, “for the contemporaneity of the topic and the stunning photography, for the tender gaze on its beautiful characters, for its powerful, melancholic and vibrating atmosphere.”

Jethro Massey’s UK debut Paul & Paulette Take A Bath, following a young American photographer and an acerbic French woman with a taste for the macabre, won the Audience Award, with an average score of 4.5/5. Further winners included Michael Premo’s Trump supporter documentary Homegrown, taking the Best Technical Contribution prize.

“The wide variety of this year’s palmares reflects not only the bright outlook of the juries, but also the diversity of the Critics’ Week programme, which once again has presented features that are new, innovative, dynamic, and above all topical, rooted in the present,” said Critics’ Week artistic director Beatrice Fiorentino. “This is also demonstrated by the presence of a young – sometimes very young – audience, always curious and attentive: an encouraging sign for the future of festivals and cinema in general, and a reassurance that those who dare will be rewarded. New cinema is still possible.”

Venice Critics’ Week 2024 winners

Grand Prize – Don’t Cry, Butterfly (Viet-Sing-Phi-Indo) dir. Duong Dieu Linh
Special Mention – No Sleep Till (US-Switz) dir. Alexandra Simpson

Audience award – Paul & Paulette Take A Bath (UK) dir. Jethro Massey

Best Independent Production – Anywhere Anytime (It) dir. Milad Tangshit

Best Technical Contribution – Homegrown (US) dir. Michael Premo

Most Innovative Feature - Don’t Cry, Butterfly (Viet-Sing-Phi-Indo) dir. Duong Dieu Linh

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