©Alva Film - 5à7 Films - Preludes
Should I stay or should I go? No, these are not (just) catchy song lyrics. It’s a sentence that sums up the three main winners across the competitive sections of Pardi di domani: the Pardino d’oro Swiss Life for the Best Swiss Short Film rewards Lora Mure-Ravaud for Euridice, Euridice, a contemporary spin on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice and the famed escape from the underworld; the Pardino d’oro SRG SSR for the Best International Short Film honors Wara’s work on Soberane, regarding a relationship that is tested by unexpected conflicting feelings about where the couple should live; and the Pardino d’oro Swiss Life for the Best Auteur Short Film marks the triumph of Carlos Segundo’s Big Bang, whose main character, played by Giovanni Venturini, decides he’s had it with an oppressive status quo that continuously demeans him because of his size. The two Pardini d’argento focus respectively on the creative process – Buurman Abdi, (Neighbour Abdi) in the international competition – and the exploitation of animals – Der Molchkongress in the national competition – with the former theme also being part of Hardly Working (Pardi di domani Best Direction Award – BONALUMI Engineering), about the plight of non-playable characters in videogames. The Best Swiss Newcomer Award acknowledges the talent of Michèle Flury and her emotionally powerful handling of a delicate subject with the achingly tender HEARTBEAT. The Medien Patent Verwaltung AG Award, which grants the winning film subtitles in three central European languages, offers the opportunity to the cleverly creative Mulika, a Congolese take on the science fiction trope of the astronaut from the future. And, last but not least, a special mention for Hoda Taheri’s Madar tamame rooz doa mikhanad (Mother Prays All Day Long), a riveting, semi-autobiographical tale of sexuality and bureaucracy revolving around an Iranian asylum seeker in Berlin.
Max Borg
