All the Awards of the 2019 FESCAAL!

"Windows on the World" Feature Film Competition
City of Milan Award to the Best "Windows on the World" Feature Film (8.000 €). The Jury made up of Bushra Abdalla Rozza (President), Jahmil X.T. Qubeka, Laura Luchetti awards the prize to:
Baby, directed by Liu Jie (China).
Jury Motivation: The assured hand of the direction is clearly evident, The film displays a deft touch and confidence of an artist in control of their medium. A story of solitude and hope, with a beautiful performance by the lead actress that shows the horror and desperation of abandoned kids in China, exploring in a very powerful way the strength, passion and courage of a young woman who wants to fight the system.

Special Mention to Los silencios, directed by Beatriz Seigner (Brazil/Colombia/France).
Jury Motivation: A clear portrait of a woman in dire straits, it tells the story of a region that not everybody knows, while capturing the heart with a story about hope and survival.

African Short Films Competition
The Jury made up of Marita Toniolo (President), Eugenio Arcidiacono, Mattia Carzaniga awards the Prize (2.000 €) to:
Brotherhood, directed by Meryam Joobeur (Tunisia)
Jury Motivation: For the skill with which it deals with the contradictions of the contemporary Muslim world with a strong emotional impact and through artistic eyes which are already mature.

Special Mention of the Jury to #Je_Suis_Kamikaze, by Mohamed Touahria (Algeria).
Jury Motivation: For the originality and the poetic touch of the story.

Extr'A Competition
The Jury made up of Mattia Toniolo (President), Eugenio Arcidiacono, Mattia Carzaniga awards the Prize (1.000€) to:
La gita, directed by Salvatore Allocca (Italy).
Jury Motivation: For the ability to make the audience reflect on major problems through a small story very much in the present, with a delicate touch and an excellent work with the young actors.

Special Mention to the film My Home, in Lybia, by Martina Melilli (Italy).
Jury Motivation: A story that starts from personal memories and becomes a thriller anchored in reality, with a courageously experimental language.

City of Milan Audience Prize
For the film receiving the most votes from the public.
Los silencios, directed by Beatriz Seigner (Brazil/Colombia/France).

CINIT Prize
The prize, which consists of the acquisition of the distribution rights in Italy, is awarded to an African short film with educational value. The "Premio CINIT - Cineforum Italiano" Jury made up of Massimo Caminiti, Neda Furlan, Orazio Leotta and Massimo Nardin awarded the prize to:
Yasmina, directed by Claire Cahen, Ali Esmili (France).
Jury Motivation: For the generous interpretation of the young leading character, whose determination, with her final scream, becomes the symbol of redemption of life.

SUNUGAL Prize
The prize, which consists of the acquisition of the distribution rights in Italy, is awarded to the best film that promotes cultural exchange and the fight against prejudices. The Jury made up of Modou Gueye, Paola Del Debbio and Marisa Pontoni awards the prize to:
Brotherhood, directed by Meryam Joobeur (Tunisia)
Jury Motivation: In a dramatic family story, where the generational conflict is consumed in the topic of radicalization, the film offers a universal message; reality is not always and only how it appears and it is necessary to know and understand before judging, deciding and acting. Excellent setting and very good actors.

SIGNIS (OCIC & UNDA) Award
The prize is awarded by the World Catholic Association for Communication. The Jury made up of Christina Beffa, Vanessa Lanari, Ana María Pedroso Guerrero and Riccardo Sorbello awards the prize to:
Divine Wind, directed by Merzak Allouache (Algeria)
Jury Motivation: Very well shot in a splendid but neutral black and white, we are taken to share in the doubts, emotions and despair of two young terrorists who in a desert which is not only material, have to make a choice of death.

Special Mention to Freedom Fields, directed by Naziha Arebi (Lybia).
Jury Motivation: A story of women in a Libya before the revolution seen by female football players, who with the advance of fundamentalism and war, see the few rights they already have annihilated, important to show that Libya is not only that of people traffickers and militia but also a country of dreams.