Los Angeles [US], October 4 (ANI): French director Pierre Le Gall’s passionate love story ‘Flesh and Fuel’ has won the top prize – the Golden Eye at the 22nd Zurich Film Festival on Saturday, reported Variety.
The film premiered at the Cannes Critics’ Week.
‘Flesh and Fuel’, which is Le Gall’s feature debut, follows the story of French long-distance truck driver Etienne. When he meets Bartosz, a fun-loving Polish truck driver, Etienne’s lonely daily routine is turned upside down.
As the story progresses, what starts as a brief encounter blossoms into a romance that transcends national borders.
The film features Alexis Manenti in the lead role, who earlier won a César for Most Promising Actor for ‘Les Misérables’.
At Zurich, the jury stated, “At a time when isolation has become a means of protecting ourselves from the world and from one another, ‘Flesh and Fuel’ offers a compelling and deeply cinematic reflection on the fundamental human need for connection. With exquisite sensitivity, the film explores how the desire to love and be loved demands that we confront and ultimately break through the physical and emotional boundaries we construct around ourselves,” as quoted by Variety.
The narrative film jury consisted of filmmakers Cary Joji Fukunaga and Fernando Eimbcke, along with Ella Rumpf, producer Julie Billy and director, film editor, and screenwriter Walter Fasano.
On the other hand, the Golden Eye for Best Documentary went to Pete Muller’s ‘Bucks Harbor’, which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in the Panorama section. At the time, it won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury.
Special mentions went to Mads Mengel’s ‘The Guest’, Zou Jing’s ‘A Girl Unknown’, ‘One in a Million’ by Itab Azzam and Jack Macinnes, and ‘My Home of Wind and Sand’ by Patrick Wally.
The Audience Award went to Andrina Mračnikar’s ‘Mila/Marija’, and the Critics Jury Award went to Heinz Bütler’s ‘Ebjä! Adolf Wölfli’.
The Science Award was picked up by ‘We Are Stardust’ by Elisabeth Rasmussen.
During the Zurich Film Festival, honourary awards were presented to Julianne Moore, Tom Hiddleston, Naomi Watts, John Turturro and other dignitaries. (ANI)
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