'Memoir of a Snail', 'On Falling' 'Mother Vera' Win at 68th BFI London Film Festival

Adam Elliot wins at LFF for Memoir of a Snail — (courtesy LFF)

Memoir of a Snail, Oscar-winning director Adam Elliot’s stopmotion tale of separated twins in 1970s Australia is the winner of the Best Film Award in Official Competition at the 68th BFI London Film Festival.

The Official Competition jury said, “Our jury was incredibly moved by Adam Elliot’s Memoir of a Snail, which is a singular achievement in filmmaking. Emotionally resonant and constantly surprising, Memoir tackles pertinent issues such as bullying, loneliness and grief head-on, creating a crucial and universal dialogue in a way that only animation can. The jury is delighted to recognie an animated film alongside its live-action peers.”

Director Adam Elliot said, “We could never have imagined when we started making our little blobby film eight years ago, how audiences around the world would connect and engage with our character Grace Puddle. This film was made by so many wonderful artists who toiled very long days, months and years to bring our blobs of clay to life. This award is for them. To win best film amongst such incredible films from around the world shows that stopmotion animation is alive and well and is not a genre but a wonderful medium and vehicle to tell potent and universal stories that can make audiences both laugh and cry. Thank you to the BFI, the jury and the London audiences for supporting our eccentric film.”

On Falling, Laura Carreira’s nuanced portrait of a young Portuguese warehouse employee in Scotland won the Sutherland Award in the First Feature Competition.

Director Laura Carreira said, “I’m so honored to receive the Sutherland award for “On Falling” and for our film to join the long list of winners which includes some of my favourite films and most important cinema reference points. I want to extend my thanks to the jury and everyone involved in this amazing festival. This award is shared with our incredible cast, and crew who brought this film to life. We hope the film speaks to the relentless and dehumanizing growth of neoliberalism while reminding us that human nature will keep resisting. We offer our film in solidarity.”

Co-directed by Cécile Embleton and Alys Tomlinson, Mother Vera, a documentary about a young Orthodox nun who must confront her past as she faces her desires and an uncertain future received the Grierson Award in the Documentary Competition.

Directors Cécile Embleton and Alys Tomlinson, said, “We are thrilled and delighted that our film has been recognised by this prestigious award. It was a great privilege that Vera trusted us with her story and was able to be so vulnerable in sharing her inner world with such honesty. We hope that audiences are moved by the film, which invites us to reflect and meditate on our own lives. We have been incredibly lucky to work with a team that brought tremendous amounts of care, innovation and dedication to this piece of work, and who are deeply committed to the art of documentary and cinema. We would like to highlight the outstanding work of our producer, Laura Shacham, editor, Romain Beck, sound designer, Leonardo Cauteruccio, and colorist, Romain Kedochim. We would like to thank our Executive Producers Vikram Gudi and Murugan Thiruchelvam for their support. We would also like to thank the jury for recognizing and celebrating the film, it means a great deal and we are very grateful and honored.”

Rehab Nazzal’s Vibrations From Gaza, A documentary offering a glimpse into the resilience of Palestinian Deaf children in Gaza, who are living with Israel’s military attacks, won the Short Film Award in the Short Film Competition.

Director Rehab Nazzal said, “I thank the BFI London Film Festival jury for honoring Vibrations from Gaza with the Short Film Award, and for recognizing the experiences of the Deaf children in Gaza— who have known only torment, a suffocating 17-year-long siege, and frequent onslaught by the settler-colonial state of Israel. Since the 1948 Nakba, these children, their parents, and grandparents, have endured ongoing zionist colonization, occupation, apartheid, and now genocide, while some western states continue to arm, finance, and shield Israel from accountability. I intended through this film to awaken our humanity to the cruelty imposed upon 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza, and the use of the costal territory as a testing ground for Israel’s killing machines, including sonic weapons. During dark times such as these, I believe that art can contribute to justice and freedom for all, not just for a few. Thank you, and Free Palestine, from the River to the Sea.”