Italian Film On Palestinian Suffering Wins Swiss Award

Twenty-nine year-old director Saverio Costanzo’s first fiction film, "Private", focuses on Mohamed, whose home is wedged in between a Palestinian village and an Israeli military base.

When a Israeli army unit takes over the house, Mohamed and his family refuse to budge. The family end up in the living room, while the occupation soldiers set up camp on the first floor, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP) Saturday, August 14.

Inspired by a real story, Costanzo betrays the vivid documentary style he has been used to so far in his observation of the Palestinian family’s frustration, fear and resistance towards the Israeli intrusion.

The film won over the whole seven member jury, which included French director Olivier Assayas, British critic David Robinson and Hong Kong director Yu Lik Wai.

The best actor prize went to Mohammad Bakri for his lead role in the film at a ceremony in the lakeside southern Swiss town.

The film, which had been one of the favourites, faced stiff competition in a contest that included 18 films from 17 different countries.

Strong Message

With US documentary maker Michael Moore’s surprise win at the Cannes Film festival with "Fahrenheit 9/11" in May still fresh in people’s minds, the jury was asked if it had rewarded "Private’s" subject matter or its artistic merits.

"We are looking for good films, it could be a good film because it has a strong story, a strong political message," Robinson said.

Assayas said that "Private" was rewarded for its "formal qualities, in view of its original style".

"The selection was strongly colored by films dealing with political subjects in a somewhat unconventional way, we are obliged to choose from the films that have been selected," he added.

The 57th Locarno film festival – which cannot match the size of Cannes, Berlin and Venice but thrives on a global outlook and a talent-spotting focus on young works – was deliberately turned towards current affairs this year.

Festival Director Irene Bignardi said the films selected for the official competition sought to "unravel our era, to understand the reasons for, and the mysteries of the unstable world we are living in".

Locarno’s annual film fest is also renowned for its night time, open air showing of new big-screen movies and re-edited oldies on the southern Swiss town’s Italianate old square, which is watched by thousands.

In May, famed Israeli director Keren Yedaya, who was awarded the Golden Camera of the Cannes Film Festival, dedicated her prestigious award to the Palestinian people and other peoples who struggle under the yoke of slavery.

Yedaya used her award acceptance speech to lash out at the Israeli occupation troops, saying they humiliatingly enslave three million Palestinians.

In May 2002, a Palestinian movie about the sufferings of the Palestinian people under Israeli oppression won the third-place Jury Prize in the Cannes film festival for its imaginative treatment of moments of life of Palestinians trying to get by while being hindered by Israeli military controls and checkpoints.