It's time to bring the 14th edition of MyFrenchFilmFestival set up by Unifrance, to a close. From January 19 to February 19, 2024, festival-goers from all over the world were able to discover 26 films that testify to the diversity and vivacity of French-speaking cinema.
Discover the complete list of winners of this 14th edition.
The Grand Prize
Composed of Moroccan actor and director Faouzi Bensaïdi, Italian actor Pierfrancesco Favino, Italian-Brazilian director Lillah Halla, Austrian director Marie Kreutzer, and French director Katell Quillévéré, the International Jury has awarded the Grand Prize for Best Feature Film for the 14th MyFrenchFilmFestival to Junkyard Dog directed by Jean-Baptiste Durand, produced by Insolence Productions and sold internationally by BAC Films. This award is endowed with €15,000 to be shared equally between the director, producer, and distributor.
“We awarded the Grand Prix to Junkyard Dog by Jean-Baptiste Durand for the very specific way it depicts the intrinsic, romantic yet violent relationship between these two characters in rural France. The film found an unconventional and universal way to speak to a broader audience.
It addresses the process of coming of age with incredible tenderness and subtlety in its portrayal of the difficulties of communicating, in particular between men. It is surprising, atmospheric, authentic, and simple, but with so many layers. A surprisingly mature first film, which makes us look forward to the director’s future works.”
The International Jury also gave an honourable mention to Polaris by Ainara Vera, noting “an impressive journey into the multi-layered complexity of femininity, free from constraint and devoid of clichés. The mythical journey of a heroine confronted by the natural forces of life and the environment, coupled with her daily struggle to face up to her heritage and assume her destiny.”
The International Press Award for a Feature Film
Composed of non-French journalists Gabriela Bravo Chiappe (Chile), Cathy Immelen (Belgium), Pavlina Jeleva (Bulgaria), Emrah Kolukisaoglu (Türkiye), Iana Murray (United Kingdom), Kalash Nanda Kumar (Malaysia), and Leticia Silva Queiroz (Brazil), the International Press Jury awarded the feature film No Dogs or Italians Allowed by Alain Ughetto “for its delicate narrative, which offers a vision of the little-known history of European migration, for its sensitivity and sincerity, and for the beauty of its formal and technical execution: a poetic and ingenious stop-motion production, with which the director himself interacts by putting his hands into the image and encountering his family’s story.”
The Content Creators Award for a Short FIlm
The Content Creators Jury, composed of Cécilia Jourdan (@hellofrenchnyc), Abdelraouf Meraga & Nadjib Adda (@cilimastation), and Alexandre Neyraud (@diversificationlitteraire), awarded two short films in competition:
“The Content Creators Jury is delighted to give the award to the superb short film Fairplay by Zoel Aeschbacher. This satirical fable impressed us by its energy, stifling pace, and its ability to portray the futility of human behaviour with irresistible cynicism.
We would also like to give an honourable mention to another film we really loved that came very close to taking the award: Life in Canada by Frédéric Rosset. It’s a funny yet sensitive family film with an absolutely fantastic cast whose spot-on acting draws you in.”
The Audience Awards
Once again, festivalgoers turned out in force to vote for their favorite feature-length and short films.
The Audience Award for a Feature film went to No Dogs or Italians Allowed by Alain Ughetto, while the Audience Award for a Short Film went to David Arslaniann's Underdog.
The Unifrance and MyFrenchFilmFestival teams warmly congratulate the winners of this 14th edition, and look forward to seeing you in 2025 for the 15th edition.
