Monotony reigns at Arsenals
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During the closing night of the 19th Riga International Film Forum Arsenals on September 20, Austrian Ambassador to Lativa Hermine Popeller presented the new €1,500 Best Baltic Debutant Award to Monotony, the feature film debut by established Latvian documentary filmmaker Juris Poškus.
Vogelfrei – by Jānis Kalējs, Jānis Putniņš, Anna Viduleja and Gatis Šmits – which won Best Film and Best Screenplay at the local film awards in 2007, picked up two more trophies at Arsenals: the Fipresci Jury award and the €5,000 Best Baltic Film prize. In the Film Angel Studios production, the four filmmakers depict the four stages of a man’s life, portrayed across four seasons.
In the Baltic Film Competition, Veiko Ounpuu’s celebrated Autumn Ball [trailer] won Best Feature Film and the Audience Award went to Ilmar Raag’s The Class [trailer].
The festival’s most popular film was Carlos Reygadas’ Silent Light [trailer], which also won Best International Competition Film, while Ramin Bahrani’s’s Chop Shop was bestowed a commendation from the Interfilm jury.
Annika Pham cineuropa.org