RIFF 2010 – Italian Filmmaker Michelangelo Frammartino Wins Golden Puffin Award for His Le Quattro Volte

RIFF 2010’s award ceremony took place last night. The Golden Puffin Award has been awarded this year to Italian filmmaker Michelangelo Frammartino for his movie Le Quattro Volte (The Four Times). We will have a review of the movie published later on the website.

“An ambitious and meditative second feature, Michelangelo Frammartino’s Four Times explores Pythagoras’ views on transmigration through four tales of rural life involving an old shepherd, a goat, a tree and charcoal, all connected by the soul that travels through them. Beautifully conceived and shot, the film provokes thought without a single line of dialogue, and with unexpected humor,” according to the Jury’s statement.

The film, that had already won an award at the Quinzaine des Realizateurs during the Cannes Film Festival, receives also the FIPRESCI award “for a brave and fresh approach to the film medium which conveys both spiritually and poetically the inexorable forces of nature. Furthermore, it underlines that narrative cinema does not need to rely on dialogue to fully involve the audience in its means of expression.”

Frammartino, born in Milan in 1968, studied architecture at the Polytechnic School. His first effort as a filmmaker dates back to 1992. His first feature film, Il Dono (The Gift) was awarded in 2003 at several film festivals all around the world.

The Church of Iceland Award went to Marian Crisan’s Morgen (Tomorrow). According to the Jury,“Morgen is a low-key film with a powerful undercurrent. It recounts the friendship of two men, who don’t even share a language, but nevertheless understand each other. The film deals with demanding questions regarding the borders between nations and people, the status of immigrants and refugees and respect for those who are alien to us. This film also takes a clear stand against laws who serve themselves and not the human being. Thus, Tomorrow gives a clear and positive answer to the eternal question: “Am I my brother’s keeper?””.

Special mention to the Polish film Chrzest (The Christening) by Marcin Wrona, “a splendidly made film which tells a haunting story of sacrifice and confrontation, despair and hope. The Christening paints a believable picture of the senselessness of violence. It reflects the guilt of grown-ups in the innocence of the child.”

The RIFF Audience Award for the most popular feature went to Littlerock by Mike Ott. RIFF audience choose their favorite film on the Festival‘s website.

The RIFF Environmental Award went to Canadian director Sylvie Von Brabant’s Earth Keepers documentary, a movie telling the true story of Mikael Rioux, an environmental activist of Trois-Pistoles, Québec. According to the Jury, the movie is “An empowering film, designed to foster the hope we so desperately need. Earth Keepers tells the story of an eco-activist learning from an older activist about other fighters, all over the world. The message is: Local action makes global change possible. Global cooperation between eco-actors and various environmental projects is a vital step to save us from ourselves, if not for us, then for our kids!”

The RIFF Golden Egg Award, a prize to encourage young talent, was awarded to Faroe Islands director, Sakaris Fridi Stora, for The Passenger.

Stay tuned on IcelandChronicles.com for more coverage on the festival’s movies!