The 74th edition of the Locarno Film Festival (Switzerland) on Saturday awarded the Golden Leopard to Indonesian filmmaker Edwin for his film
Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash
, which examines the issue of machismo.
Read also: Cinema: in Locarno, the leopard roars again
Presented as a world premiere in Locarno, the film humorously portrays a helpless and angry young man who enjoys a fight and falls in love with a woman after fighting with her, during the 1980s in Indonesia.
Edwin was not present at the awards ceremony because he had already returned to Indonesia.
Speaking in a video published by the organizers of the festival, he was delighted to receive the prestigious prize: “
It's happiness, it's a great support and it motivates.
We need this energy in this not so easy time.
"
“
Indonesian cinema is still young.
This is also the case for most cinemas in the region.
I feel connected to the whole Southeast Asian region because we are more or less faced with the same problems: censorship and violence,
”he said.
“
I think I speak on behalf of my friends who are also in this region.
We are very happy to see our cinema develop.
And even in this very difficult period, we can find the energy to stay together (...) and at the same time criticize and find what we need to do to face our problems through cinema
”, he said. -he adds.
It was the first edition of the festival under the direction of Giona Nazzaro, the French Lili Hinstin having left the artistic direction last year after “
strategic differences
” less than two years after taking office.
To close this 74th edition (August 4-14), a prize - the Lifetime Achievement Award - is awarded to the great maestro Dario Argento for his work and his surprising interpretation in
Vortex
by Argentinian director Gaspar Noé, a film about the end of life unveiled out of competition on Friday in Cannes (France).
This poignant film shows with the codes of the documentary the slow decrepitude of an elderly couple affected by Alzheimer's disease.
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