 |
| Top prize for A Useful Ghost by Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke in Cannes Critics’ Week Photo: Courtesy of Cannes Critics' Week |
The top accolade in Cannes Critics' Week has been won by Thai director Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke for debut feature A Useful Ghost, the first time a film from Thailand has featured in the Competition.
The announcement comes ahead of this weekend’s major prize ceremonies, including the revelation of the winner of the Palme d’Or in the main Competition.
Boonbunchachoke's unusual story tells of a woman who dies from dust pollution and whose husband finds out that her spirit has been reincarnated in a vacuum cleaner. Although his family are initially disapproving, they soon discover she may have her uses, opening the door to a contemplation of Thai history that is both melancholic and satiric.
 |
| Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke, director of A Useful Ghost: 'One of my first ideas was wondering how a ghost could exist in contemporary society Photo: Courtesy of Cannes Critics' Week |
The director has explained: “Thailand is well known for horror cinema, and we also have a genre that might not travel abroad very much – horror comedy. But with this film, I try not to follow the conventions of both paths. One of my first ideas was wondering how a ghost could exist in contemporary society. Do they need to work? Because the cost of living here is now very expensive.”
The jury, presided over by director Rodrigo Sorogoyen, also included Jihane Bougrine, Josée Deshaies, Yulina Evina Bhara and Daniel Kaluuya. They called it a “bold, free and unclassifiable work. A first feature that plays with genres, bends the rules, and offers a vision that is both intimate and universal. This film surprised, touched and shook us, and it’s this rare blend of humour, melancholy and masterful cinematography that we wanted to salute.”
The French Touch Prize was won by Déni Oumar Pitsaev for his documentary Imago, set in the wild valley of Pankissi in which the protagonist inherits a patch of land where he plans to build a house in the trees. Returning to a village just across the Chechen border where he was born, Déni stirs up old feuds. The director said: “I’m proud of the prize, but also what it means for documentary cinema as a whole.”
Théodore Pellerin who takes the main role in Nino, by Pauline Loquès, scored The Louis Roederer Foundation Rising Star Award with the jurors noting that “The actor never overplayed his hand, never overwhelmed the stage, lending his character depth, vulnerability and density that went beyond what was written. Nothing was forced. No word sounded false. Everything seemed real, lived through, and experienced.”
Among other awards, France’s Writers’ Guild (the SACD) chose Sleepless City by Guillermo Galoe (who also directed) and. Victor Alonso-Berbel. The Spanish-French feature takes place in one of the biggest shanty towns in Southern Europe whose inhabitants are being moved to high-rise apartments on the edge of Madrid.
Prizes awarded by La Semaine de la Critique Jury:
Grand Prize
- A Useful Ghost (Pee Chai Dai Ka) by Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke
French Touch Prize of the Jury
- Imago by Déni Oumar Pitsaev
Louis Roederer Foundation Rising Star Award
- Théodore Pellerin for Nino by Pauline Loquès
Leitz Cine Discovery Prize for short film
- L'mina by Randa Maroufi
Awards given by partners:
Gan Foundation Award for Distribution
- Le Pacte, French distributor for Left-Handed Girl by Shih-Ching Tsou
SACD Award
- Guillermo Galoe and Victor Alonso-Berbel, authors of Sleepless City (Ciudad sin sueño)
Canal+ Award for short film
- Erogenesis de Xandra Popescu
 |
| Théodore Pellerin in Nino, he was praised for giving his character 'depth, vulnerability and density that went beyond what was written' Photo: Courtesy of Cannes Critics' Week |
