Swedish film shines at Valletta Film Festival

A Swedish film that tells the story of a middle-aged poet who ends up working in a car factory alongside exploited immigrants was victorious at the Valletta Film Festival. The Yard, a debut film by Mans Mansson, won Best Feature Film at the second edition of the nine-day festival held last week. The feature film jury said it had awarded “a moving film with a very minimalist and beautiful cinematic language and a remarkable performance about a new liberal society that leaves us asking ourselves what we do and who we become”. The jury was composed of directors Tamer El Said, Valery Rosier, Carolina Hellsgard and actors Cosmina Stratan and Brontis Jodorowsky. The Yard also took the award for Best Cinematography. The Polish film United States of Love was also awarded two prizes for its director Tomasz Wasilewski and actress Dorata Kolak. Wasilewski was described by the jury as “a risk-taking director who told a touching story about the impossibility of love and recreated a different era with a magnificent eye for every detail”. Best Screenplay was awarded to Carl Gerber and Anna Zohra Berrached for 24 Weeks, a film that explores the moral dilemma of a woman considering a late-term...