South Korea and Latin America honoured at Fribourg Film Festival

The 14th International Fribourg Film Festival has wrapped up this weekend, with the top prize going to an entry from South Korea. The prize, worth SFr25,000, was given to Jeon Soo-il for his film "The Bird Which Stops in the Air."

The 14th International Fribourg Film Festival has wrapped up this weekend, with the top prize going to an entry from South Korea. The prize, worth SFr25,000, was given to Jeon Soo-il for his film “The Bird Which Stops in the Air,”
which examines the relation between cinema and real-life.

The other big winner of the festival was the young Argentinian filmmaker, Pablo Trapero, for film, “Un Monde de Grues,” about the daily life of a worker, and his relationship with his son. The film, shot in black and white, won a staggering four distinctions.

As well as winning the prize for the best screenplay, it received the special jury prize of the international federation of press cinematographers, an award from the ecumenical jury and also the Don Quixote prize, from the International Federation of Cinema-Clubs. The last prize enables the independent film to be shown in cinema clubs around the world.

Another Argentinian film, “Yepeto,” by Eduardo Calcagno, was also honoured, while the jury prize from the political press was awarded to “Patio 29.Histoires de silences.” The documentary, by the Chilean Esteban Larrain focused on the disappearance of people under the dictatorship of General Pinochet.

Around 18,000 film-buffs flocked to see the 72 films featured at the festival, which aims to showcase the best films from the Third World. The festival was founded in 1980.

swissinfo and agencies