“Pieds nus sur les limaces” (“Lily Sometimes”), Fabienne Berthaud’s drama about a pair of sisters trying to cope with the death of their monther, is among the top prize winners in the Directors Fortnight, an independent section of films that runs concurrently with the Cannes Film Festival but is not an official part of the festival.
Olivier Masset-Depasse’s “Illegal,” Michaelangelo Frammartino’s “Le Quattro Volte,” Ionut Piturescu’s Ma“Cautare” and one American short film, Sean Durkin’s “Mary Last Seen,” also won awards.
The Directors Fortnight was created in the 1960s as an alternative to Cannes, and likes to say that it has a “non-competitive nature” that differentiates itself from the main festival. It does, however, allow sponsors to give out their own awards to films screened at the section.
“Pieds nus sur les limaces,” which stars Ludivine Sagnier and Diane Kruger (right), was given the Art Cinema Award, which is sponsored by the International Confederation of Art Cinemas, a group that represents 3,000 screens around the world.
“Illegal” won the SACD Prize, which is given by the SACD management rights society, which includes 48,000 authors of audiovisual works. The award goes to a French-language film and is chosen by a commission chaired by director Bertrand Tavernier.
The Europa Cinemas Label prize went to “Le Quattro Volte.” The award is designed to help a film reach a large audience on a network of cinemas across Europe.
“Cautare” and “Mary Last Seen” were both recipients of the SFR Prize, which goes to the most audacious short films in the competition. The prize is awarded by a jury of professionals and directors assembled by SFR, a European telecom operator.
A tongue-in-cheek award, the “Palm Dog,” went to Vuk, the goatherd’s dog in “Le Quattro Volte.” Last year, the award was given to the animated dogs in Pixar’s “Up.”
