63rd Locarno International Film Festival

The members of the FIPRESCI jury found many relationships between the films in this year’s International Competition. In particular, we were struck by the correspondences between a pair of Chinese films, which utilize very different tones and formal techniques to create a kind of national portraiture. With this in mind, we would like to make a special mention of Xu Xin’s exceptional and brave documentary Karamay. However, after a long and difficult deliberation, we have decided to award the International Critics’ Prize to a narrative film that plays innovatively with duration inside an impeccable mise-en-scene, and which uses a deadpan comedy style to frame deeper issues about Chinese society — especially its younger generation. That film is Winter Vacation (Han Jia), directed by Li Honqqi.

Locarno International Film Festival: www.pardo.ch