Winter's Bone wins in Turin

Winter’s Bone, a drama focusing on family ties amidst the US financial crisis by American director Debra Granik has won the best film prize at the 28th Turin Film Festival.

Turin’s competitive section, which is dedicated to independent fare and a director’s first, second or third work, was judged by an international jury led by Italian director Marco Bellocchio.

Other winners include Canada’s Sophie Deraspe whose Les Signes Vitaux, focuses on a young woman and her motivations behind caring for the terminally ill, which took the Special Jury Award ex-aequo with the Guatemala/France/Mexico co production Las Marimbas Del Infierno about the creation of a marimba band by Julio Hernandez Cordon. The honourcomes with a $13,400 (Euros10,000) prize. 

In the best actress category, the jury selected to Jennifer Lawrence for Winter’s Bone and Erica Rivas for Por Tu Culpa by Anahi Berneri as ex-aequo winners.

Best actor honors were given to Omid Djalili for his role in UK director Josh Appignanesi’s film The Infidel, which focuses on cliches and cultural identity.

The audience award goes to Henry by Italy’s Alessandro Pica.

In other prizes, a separate jury awarded best film in the Italiana.Doc section to Bakroman by Gianluca and Massimiliano De Serio from Italy. The prize comes with $13,400 (Euros 10, 000).

Special jury prize in the section, together with $6,700 (Euros 5,000) goes ex-aequo to Il Popolo Che Manca by Andrea Fenoglio and Diego Mometti and Les Champs Brulant by Stefano Canapa and Catherine Libert.

The Italian Short film Competition awarded Giacomo Abbruzzese for his film, Archipel, a France, Palestine and Italy co-production.

The special jury award in the section went to Sarah Arnold from France for Lecon De Tenebres and a special mention went to Mammaliturci! By Carlo Michele Schirinzi.

In parallel prizes, the Fipresci Award was given to Canada’s Small Town Murder Songs by director Ed Gass-Donnelly.

The festival, which wrapped Saturday, hosted the Turin Film Lab’s third edition which more than $700,000 (Euros 550,000) in production funds to five projects that are mostly independent in vein. The winners are Bait, by Bosnia’s Aida Begic whose first film Snow won the Cannes Critic’s Week prize in 2008; Wolf, a first feature by Romanian Bogdan Mustata; Leones by Argentina’s Jazmin Lopez; Il Sud E Niente, from Italy’s Fabio Molloby; What City Does It Live? from Malaysian filmmaker Liew Seng Tat, whose previous film is Flower In The Pocket.