Success in France for the first feature film by the already well-known Italian documentary maker
Success at Cannes for the first feature film by Roberto Minervini, already a well-known documentary maker, who this time tried his hand at an auteur film, directing and writing the screenplay of “The Damned”, a reflection on violence in war, the American Secession.
Minervini won the award for best director, in the most original section of Cannes, the one dedicated to discoveries, the “Un Certain Regard” section, considered the second most important Cannes competition.
After the ten minutes of applause dedicated to Paolo Sorrentino’s Parthenope, and the excellent welcome to Valeria Golino for “The Art of Joy”, the first official recognition for Italian cinema arrives on the Croisette, with the award to Roberto Minervini who wins ex fair with the film “On becoming a Guinea fowl” by Rungano Nyoni. The film “The Damned” is co-produced by Rai Cinema and is already showing in cinemas, thanks to Lucky Red.
The other awards in the “Un Certain Regard” section
The jury of the second competition of the festival also awarded first prize to the remarkable “Black Dog” by Chinese director Guan Hu; the jury prize and the one for the interpretation of “The Story of Suleymane” by Boris Lojkine who made his film-truth about a Parisian rider. The other half of the award for acting went to the Indian Anasuya Sengupta for the intense female love story “The Shameless”. Finally, a special mention to “Norajh” by Tawfik Alzaidi and, to please the French, a Prix Jeunesse to “Vingt Dieux” by Louise Courvoisier. The choices of the jury chaired by Canadian director Xavier Dolan have been applauded for a long time and ultimately capture the values of this selection dedicated to discoveries well.
The satisfaction of Rai Cinema which produced “The Damned”
“The award to Roberto Minervini in the ‘Un Certain Regard’ section at the Cannes Film Festival confirms the talent of an author who has shown a well-defined idea of cinema over the years and enriches the path of a director now recognized internationally”. Thus Paolo Del Brocco, CEO of Rai Cinema, recalling that “if in 2015, again here in Cannes, Minervini had told the story of the forgotten land of Louisiana, now with ‘The Damned’ he turns his gaze towards a handful of invisible soldiers very far from world. Despair and personal fears are reflected in those of a universal community of men, targeted by a conflict that looks to our contemporaneity. And if the film has captured the favor of the Jury – he underlines – it is also because there is still a need to give voice to those who have none and to those who risk dying every day”. “Rai Cinema has always been at the side of the authors, supports them with trust, invests in their talent – continues Del Brocco – and often, as in the case of Minervini, is at their side from the moment they take their first steps. It participates with passion in those projects and stories that involve challenges and adventurous journeys and this film was that right from the start. When the producer Paolo Benzi of Okta Film presented the project to us – he says – we had the conviction that it would take us far from him and Roberto; Our congratulations go to Minervini and we share this success with them.” “Roberto Minervini’s cinema – adds Nicola Claudio, president of Rai Cinema – is a concentration of reality, and the spectator can always find in his stories new tools to reflect and better understand what surrounds him. The public who will choose to go If you see ‘The Damned’, in theaters these days, you will certainly be able to recognize this quality and we hope that the award received at the Cannes Film Festival will give even more prestige to a film that will certainly not go unnoticed.”
2024-05-24 19:39:18
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