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Jacqueline Lentzou’s “A Day in the Life of Jo: Chapter Phaedra” won the top prize Sunday at the Thessaloniki Film Festival, taking home the Golden Alexander for best feature film in the Arrivals international competition
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The Greek filmmaker’s sophomore feature premiered in the Venice Film Festival’s Horizons strand, where it won the award for best director. It’s since gone on to play at the New York Film Festival, the BFI London Film Festival and the Busan Film Festival.
Inspired by true events, “A Day in the Life of Jo” follows the unruly, melancholic 15-year-old Jo — played by newcomer Evia Andriopoulou — as she navigates the ups and downs of a typical day in a typical teenager’s life. Drifting through a series of seemingly unrelated and inconsequential events, that otherwise ordinary day is turned upside-down with the arrival of Phaedra (Anastasia Gouliamou), a bookish classmate whose warbling rendition of an old love ballad reduces Jo to tears. In an instant, her life — her drab, unremarkable day — becomes full of possibility, hurtling toward both tragedy and transformation.
The film scooped a trio of awards on Sunday, as well as a Special Mention for Andriopoulou.
The Silver Alexander for best director went to Pauline Julier and Nicolas Chapoulier for “Les Indes,” which had its premiere in the Venice Film Festival’s Venice Days strand. The writer-director duo’s feature debut is set in 1652 and follows three men as they transport a painting across a Europe ravaged by wars and uprisings.
Best acting honors in the Arrivals competition went to Caique Copque and Italo Martins for “The Riverbank,” a queer erotic thriller from Brazilian directors Matheus Farias and Enock Carvalho that premiered in competition in Locarno. Best actress went to Arisa Sasaki, for Konstantina Kotzamani’s Cannes Un Certain Regard-premiering debut feature “Titanic Ocean,” an offbeat coming-of-age story set at a boarding school for aspiring mermaids in Japan.
In the festival’s Meet the Neighbors+ competition section, which includes debut or sophomore films from the 36 countries of Southeastern Europe, the Mediterranean and the Middle East, the Golden Alexander for best feature went to “Dua,” by Kosovan filmmaker Blerta Basholli. Premiering in Cannes’ Critics’ Week strand, the director’s sophomore feature tells the story of a 13-year-old girl coming of age in the shadow of the Kosovo War.
The section’s Silver Alexander for best director went to Abdallah Alkhatib for “Chronicles From the Siege.” The winner of the Berlinale’s Perspectives award for debuts, the film presents vignettes of Palestinian lives in Gaza and in refugee camps.
The award for best actor went to Alexis Manenti and Julian Świeżewski for “Flesh and Fuel,” French filmmaker Pierre Le Gall’s story about a passionate love affair between two long-distance truck drivers. Premiering in Cannes’ Critics Week, it took the top prize at the Zurich Film Festival and also earned Le Gall an award for best screenplay Sunday in Thessaloniki. Maria Petrova, the young star of Cypriot filmmaker Myrsini Aristidou’s Sundance Audience Prize-winning “Hold Onto Me,” took home the award for best actress.
In the Film Forward competition section showcasing innovative filmmaking, the Golden Alexander went to Hoda Taheri and Boris Hadžija’s “I Plant My Hand in the Garden,” while the Silver Alexander went to Rob Rice for “Ponderosa,” whose star Alexis Blendel won the prize for best actress. The award for Best Artistic Achievement went to Argyris Germanidis’ “Particles of Dust,” while best actor honors went to Alexis Kalofolias for “Under the Judas Tree.”
Here’s a rundown of the winners in the Thessaloniki Film Festival’s three competition sections:
Arrivals
Golden Alexander: “A Day in the Life of Jo: Chapter Phaedra,” Jacqueline Lentzou
Silver Alexander: Pauline Julier and Nicolas Chapoulier, “Les Indes”
Best actor: Caique Copque and Italo Martins, “The Riverbank”
Best actress: Arisa Sasaki, “Titanic Ocean”
Special Mention: Evita Andriopoulou, “A Day in the Life of Jo: Chapter Phaedra”
Meet the Neighbors+
Golden Alexander: “Dua,” Blerta Basholli
Silver Alexander: Abdallah Alkhatib, “Chronicles From the Siege”
Best actor: Alexis Manenti and Julian Świeżewski, “Flesh and Fuel”
Best actress: Maria Petrova, “Hold Onto Me”
Best screenplay: “Flesh and Fuel,” Pierre Le Gall
Film Forward
Golden Alexander: “I Plant My Hand in the Garden,” Hoda Taheri and Boris Hadžija
Silver Alexander: Rob Rice, “Ponderosa”
Best artistic achievement: “Particles of Dust,” Argyris Germanidis
Best actress: Alexis Blendel, “Ponderosa”
Best actor: Alexis Kalofolias, “Under the Judas Tree”
