Ukrainian filmmaker Zhanna Ozirna’s claustrophobic marital drama “Honeymoon” received the inaugural Construct Your Dream award at a classy Cannes ceremony atop the JW Marriott on Could 14.
Set in the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian battle, the intimate thriller follows Kyiv newlyweds trapped of their residence and lower off from the surface world, a state of affairs endangering each their lives and their relationship. The venture attracts on testimonies Ozirna gathered within the battle’s early days, together with accounts of households compelled to crawl throughout their flooring to keep away from being seen.
A global jury chaired by Chinese language filmmaker Chen Kaige and composed of Mélanie Laurent, Hafsia Herzi, Yann Demange and Première France editor-in-chief Thierry Chèze awarded the successful director an angular trophy made by Parisian designer Victoria Wilmotte, alongside a $46,539 grant for the filmmaker’s subsequent function.
Melanie Laurent, Zhanna Ozirna, Yann Demange
BYD Europe
Ozirna is now creating two follow-ups, together with the historic drama “Ground Zero,” which follows the rise of communism in Ukraine, and “Intimacy,” which tracks wounded and disabled veterans of the continuing battle as they study to navigate — and discover pleasure in — their new our bodies.
“I began making this film with the desire to speak about my generation — young people who are creative and intellectually free, whose lives have been profoundly shaken by war,” mentioned the filmmaker as she collected the prize. “At a time when independent cinema in Ukraine has become especially difficult, this support means a great deal to me. I believe cinema has the power to preserve memory and human experience, and this award gives me the strength to continue exploring human nature through the language of film.”
The Construct Your Dream award is the results of a collaboration between French leisure large Mediawan and Chinese language automaker BYD, now the world’s main producer of electrical automobiles. The annual prize spotlights debut options launched in French theaters between two editions of the Cannes Film Festival, with a mission to champion new voices in up to date cinema.
BYD Europe
Mediawan CEO Pierre-Antoine Capton and BYD Vice President Stella Li presided over the ceremony on the elegant Albane terrace, the place the prize was first conceived a yr in the past after they met and rapidly discovered frequent floor. Capton and Li renewed the partnership giving speeches at an awards ceremony hosted by Selection‘s Government Editor of Worldwide, Elsa Keslassy, and former Cannes Movie Pageant president Pierre Lescure.
“The award is about two worlds coming together, and two people, Stella Li and Pierre-Antoine Capton, who are both trailblazers in their respective field,” mentioned Keslassy in her introduction. “BYD, through innovation and technology, has become one of the most dynamic global companies of the past few years, and has become world’s leading electric car company. And Mediawan, celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, has built in just a decade one of Europe’s more exciting companies with a truly international footprint that brings together the best talent and producers, like Plan B and Chi-Fou-Mi which are presenting films here at Cannes.”
Earlier that day, the Mediawan backed “Fatherland” premiered in competitors to strong reviews.
Elsa Zylberstein
Franck Castel/MPP
A classy crowd turned out to toast the partnership and rejoice the brand new prize. On one facet of the terrace, Plan B president Jeremy Kleiner, Oscar-winning filmmaker Florian Zeller, Palme d’Or winner Claude Lelouch and French actor Elsa Zylberstein clinked champagne glasses, whereas on the opposite, Gong Li posed earlier than an emerald Denza Z9GT as a promotional movie starring Daniel Craig performed on loop.
Filmmaker Yann Demange — who directed the Craig automobile advert earlier than serving on the inaugural Construct Your Dream jury — instructed Selection the award is designed to deal with a structural business drawback: promising filmmakers who handle to get their first movie made typically battle much more to finance a second.
“There’s a massive falloff, and it’s heartbreaking,” he mentioned. “Anything that gives them a bit of heat, traction, attention — really anything that makes it easier for them to finance that second film. We need to champion voices that manage to break through, because it’s a small miracle to make a film, and anyone who puts their heart into it and makes themselves vulnerable deserves to be celebrated.”
Jury president Chen Kaige — to at the present time the one Center Kingdom filmmaker to win the Palme d’Or — linked the brand new prize to a structural problem he additionally sees within the quickly increasing Chinese language business.
Chen Kaige, Melanie Laurent, Hafsia Herzi, Thierry Chèze
Franck Castel/MPP
“We now have 90,000 screens, but fewer good movies are being made,” he instructed Selection. “Maybe because the market is so big, investors say that success means making a huge amount of money. If you want to express yourself, even if the story is beautiful, that’s not necessarily what they want. So for young directors who have dreams, it’s actually difficult to raise money for personal films.”
Kaige’s jury determined between 10 chosen movies, assembly over Zoom to deliberate. Actor and filmmaker Mélanie Laurent mentioned topicality was a key driver of the dialogue.
“When you decide on a movie for Cannes, you need to talk a little bit about the world and what’s happening today,” she defined. “[‘Honeymoon’] is a movie with emotion, beautiful shots, amazing actors, but also [a strong] subject matter. I will remember one scene for the rest of my life.”
She additionally instructed the inaugural winner was a comparatively unanimous selection — in distinction to her expertise on Spike Lee’s 2021 Cannes competitors jury. “We definitely didn’t agree on many things,” she laughed. “But it’s fun also to fight, because otherwise it’s too easy.”
Franck Castel/MPP
