Hole wins Grand Prix at Clermont-Ferrand

Hole (Dir. Martin Edralin, Canada, 2014) has won the top International Prize at this year’s Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival.

Already screened at the likes of the Toronto International Film Festival, Hole follows Billy – a middle aged disabled man – who is desperate for intimacy. Edralin shoots much of the film in a documentary style, following Billy as he tries to complete his day to day tasks. Simple procedures such as putting on his trousers or putting items on shelves are shown in long takes that explore reactions to what is considered ‘normal’. Indeed, the film is somewhat an indictment on the fetishation of the disabled that can often happen when associations with sexuality are brought in. Here we’re shown an ordinary man with ordinary sexual desire – it’s just that his disability prevents him from exploring his sexuality fully. The film’s conclusion is an ambiguous one. On the one hand, Billy seems to find the fulfilment he wishes for. Yet there is a tinge of sadness from the way in which this fulfilment is achieved as it brings forth questions about how far a person is willing to go for someone else. 

Hole is a somewhat dark film – both literally and metaphorically – but there’s a humanity and raw honesty that is affecting. This is partly thanks to a great performance from Ken Harrower as Billy as well as Edralin’s direction that veers between documental distance and a more intimate style. It’s already screened at quite a few high profile festivals – aside from Toronto it’s also screened at Locarno – but the win at Clermont will probably mean a resurgence of interest in the film.

Other films awarded in the International Competition included Minsu Kim In Wonderland (Dir. Chan-yang Shim, South Korea, 2013), a film about a woman returning to her home country and finding it to be a strange place which won the Special Jury Prize and Père (Dir. Lotfi Achour, Tunisia/France, 2014) which won the Public Prize. The Best Animation film was Somewhere Down the Line (Dir. Julien Regnard, Ireland, 2014) while the recipient of the Clermont nomination for the 2015 European Film Awards was Smile, And the World Will Smile Back (Dirs. Abdelkarim Al-Haddad, Ehab Tarabieh, Yoav Gross, Diaa Al-Haddad, Shada Al-Haddad & Ahmad Al-Haddad, Israel/Palestine, 2014), a powerful documentary that saw a Palestinian family pick up a camera to record the events when Israeli soldiers came to search their home.

In the festival’s Lab competition, the Grand Prix winner was Seven Times a Day We Complain About Our Fate and at Night We Get up to Avoid Our Dreams (Dir.Susann Maria Hempel, Germany, 2014). Already winning at German festivals including Oberhausen and Hamburg, the film made an appearance in the Cineuropa Top 5 Films of 2014. The special jury prize went to Swedish experimental film Cams (Dir. Carl-Johan Westregård, Sweden, 2014) while documentary S (Dir. Richárd Hajdú, UK/Hungary, 2014), a raw and uncompromising story of an Eastern European sex worker and her pimp, won the Public Prize.

In the National Competition, the Grand Prix went to Ton cœur au hazard (Dir. Aude-Léa Rapin, France, 2014) while the special jury prize went to Guy Moquet (Dir. Demis Herenger, France, 2014) which also picked up the Public Prize.

The full list of winners is:

International Competition

Grand Prix
Hole (Dir. Martin Edralin, Canada, 2014)

Prix Spécial du Jury
Minsu Kim In Wonderland (Dir. Chan-yang Shim, South Korea, 2013)

Prix du Public
Père (Dir. Lotfi Achour, Tunisia/France, 2014)

Prix du Meilleur Film d'Animation
Somewhere Down the Line (Dir. Julien Regnard, Ireland, 2014

Prix du Meilleur Film d'Animation Francophone (SACD)
Deep Space (Dir. Bruno Tondeur, Belgium, 2014)

Prix Etudiant de la Jeunesse
Futile Garden (Dir, Ghazaleh Soltani, Iran, 2014)

Prix Canal +
De Smet (Dirw. Wim Geudens & Thomas Baerten, Netherlands / Belgium, 2014)

Prix des Médiathèques
Thread (Dir. Virginia Kennedy, Malaysia, 2014)

Special Mentions

Père (Dir. Lotfi Achour, Tunisia/France, 2014)

That Day of the Month (Dir. Jirassaya Wongsutin, Thailand, 2014)

Démontable (Dir. Douwe Dijkstra, Netherlands, 2014)

The Beaten Path (Dir. Phurba Tshering Lama, Indonesia, 2014)

Salers (Dir. Fernando Dominguez, Argentina, 2014)

Lab Competition

Grand Prix
Seven Times a Day We Complain About Our Fate and at Night We Get up to Avoid Our Dreams (Dir.Susann Maria Hempel, Germany, 2014). 

Prix Spécial du Jury
Cams (Dir. Carl-Johan Westregård, Sweden, 2014) 

Prix du Public
S (Dir. Richárd Hajdú, UK/Hungary, 2014), 

Prix Canal +
Ser e Voltar (Dir. Xacio Baño, Spain, 2014)

Special Mentions

My Dad (Dir, Marcus Armitage, UK, 2014)
Ser e Voltar (Dir. Xacio Baño, Spain, 2014)
S (Dir. Richárd Hajdú, UK/Hungary, 2014)

National Competition

Grand Prix

Ton cœur au hasard (Dir. Aude-Léa Rapin, France, 2014)

Prix Spécial du Jury
Guy Moquet (Dir, Demis Herenger, France, 2014)

Prix du Public
Guy Moquet (Dir, Demis Herenger, France, 2014)

Prix Egalité et Diversité
Leftover (Dirs. Tibor Bànòczki& Sarolta Szabo, France, 2014)

Prix de la Meilleure Musique Originale (SACEM)
Philippe Dubernet et Guillaume Durrieu for
Black Diamond (Dir. Samir Ramdani, France, 2014)

Prix de la Meilleure Photographie (Nikon)
Anaïs Ruales Borja for
Burundanga (Dir. Anaïs Ruales Borja, France, 2014)

Prix de la Meilleure Première Œuvre de Fiction (SACD)
Son seul (Dir. Nina Maïni, France, 2014)

Prix Adami d'Interprétation / Meilleure comédienne
Julie Chevallier in
Ton cœur au hasard (Dir. Aude-Léa Rapin, France, 2014)

Prix Adami d'Interprétation / Meilleur comédien
Daniel Vannet in
Perrault, La Fontaine, Mon Cul ! (Dirs.Hugo P. Thomas, Ludovic Boukherma & Zoran Boukherma
France, 2014)

and in 

Ich bin eine Tata (Dirs. Ludovic and Zoran Boukherma, Marielle Gautier & Hugo P. Thomas
France, 2014)

Prix Etudiant de la Jeunesse
Perrault, La Fontaine, Mon Cul ! (Dirs.Hugo P. Thomas, Ludovic Boukherma & Zoran Boukherma
France, 2014)

Prix Canal +
Le dernier des Céfrans (Dir. Pierre-Emmanuel Urcun, France, 2015)

Prix de la Presse Télérama
Vous voulez une histoire ? (Dir. Antonin Peretjatko, France, 2014)

Prix du Rire "Fernand Raynaud"
Tarim le Brave contre les Mille et Un Effets (Dir. Guillaume Rieu, France, 2014)

Prix Procirep du Producteur de Court Métrage
Takami Productions

Mention spéciale du jury à l'acteur Jonathan Couzinié in

Ton cœur au hasard (Dir. Aude-Léa Rapin, France, 2014)

Other Prizes
Nomination European Film Awards

Smile, And the World Will Smile Back (Dirs. Abdelkarim Al-Haddad, Ehab Tarabieh, Yoav Gross, Diaa Al-Haddad, Shada Al-Haddad & Ahmad Al-Haddad, Israel/Palestine, 2014), 

Coup de cœur Canal+ Family
Indah Citra Dirs. Sarah Feruglio, Anthony Oliveira, Pierre-Antoine Naline & Maxime Orhnial, France, 2014)

Prix Orange
One Man, Eight Cameras (Dir.Naren Wilks, UK, 2014)