Poland’s ‘Marygoround’ wins big at Fantasia

Daria Woszek’s Polish comedy Marygoround was a big winner at the 24th Fantasia International Film festival on Wednesday night (September 2), earning the Cheval Noir Award for best film, director and actress.

Grazyna Misiorowska stars in the story about a virgin approaching the menopause who undergoes hormone therapy and experiences an awakening when her free-spirited niece shows up.

• ’Marygoround’: review

Brea Grant’s US entry 12 Hour Shift won best screenplay, and Jacky Heung was awarded the best actor prize for Hong Kong’s Chasing Dream.

The festival reported more than 85,000 viewers who tuned into the 24th Montreal genre festival’s digital event from August 20-September 2. Festival heads decided in April to move to an online event after the pandemic forced it to abandon its traditional physical berth.

World premieres included PVT Chat, The Curse Of Audrey Earnshaw, Tiny Tim: King For A Day, The Oak Room, Hunted, Unearth, and The Block Island Sound.

The festival hosted 104 features, 200 shorts, and 17 live events, including a John Carpenter masterclass in which the Halloween and Escape From New York director received the Cheval Noir Lifetime Achievement Award (pictured).

There was also an artist talk with Mike Flanagan and Mick Garris, and a conversation between Canadian actors-turned-directors Jay Baruchel and Finn Wolfhard, whose directorial debut, Night Shifts played at the festival.

Fantasia wrapped with the North American Premiere of Kiel McNaughton’s Indigenous Kiwi action/comedy The Legend Of Baron To’a.

Fantasia 2020 awards

Cheval Noir Award For Feature Films

Best film: Marygoround (Poland, Daria Woszek)

Best director: Daria Woszek (Marygoround)

Best screenplay: Brea Grant (12 Hour Shift, USA)

Best score: Shiro Sagisu (Wotakoi: Love Is Hard For Otaku, Japan)

Best actor: Jacky Heung (Chasing Dream, Hong Kong)

Best actress: Grazyna Misiorowska (Marygoround, Poland)

Jury special mention: Cho Jin-woong (Me And Me, South Korea)

 

New Flesh Award For Debut Films

The New Flesh Award for best first feature: Rom (Vietnam, Tran Thanh Huy)

Jury special mention: Me And Me (South Korea, Jung Jin-young)

Special jury mention: Grazyna Misiorowska (Marygoround, Poland)

 

International Short Film Competition

Best film: F For Freaks (Germany, Sabine Ehrl)

Best director: Pei-Ju Hsieh (A Cockerel’s Tale, Taiwan)

Best writer: Marc Martínez Jordán (Your Last Day On Earth, Spain)

Best actor: Aaron Bradshaw (Milk Teeth, USA)

Best actress: Ursula Werner (F For Freaks, Germany)

Special jury mention: Snowflakes (UK, Faye Jackson)

 

Axis: Satoshi Kon Award For Excellence In Animation

Best feature film: The Old Man Movie (Estonia, Oskar Lehemaa and Mikk Mägi)

Best short film: WADE (India, Kalp Sanghvi and Upamanyu Bhattacharyya)

Special jury mention: Genius Loci (France, Adrien Merigeau)

 

Jury AQCC - Camera Lucida Award

AQCC - Camera Lucida Prize: My Punch-Drunk Boxer (South Korea, Jung Hyuk-ki)

Special jury mention: Labyrinth Of Cinema (Japan, Nobuhiko Obayashi)

 

My First Fantasia Award

Poulain Noir - Gold Prize: Cœur Fondant (France, Benoît Chieu)

Poulain Noir - Silver Prize: Œil Pour Œil (France, Thomas Boileau, François Briantais, Robin Courtoise, Alan Guimont, Malcom Hunt, and Mathieu Lecroq)

Poulain Noir - Bronze Prize: La Pêche Miraculeuse (Belgium/France, Fabrice Luang-Vija)

Special jury mention: Attention Au Loup! (France, Julie Rembauville and Nicolas Bianco).

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