63rd Festival del Film Locarno

The Jury awards a second Commendation to the film Karamay for an excellent and courageous testimony to a huge tragedy. Within a framework of cultural tradition that sacrifices the individuals to collective welfare, the lack of leaders’ integrity brought nearly 300 children to horrific death by fire. Shocking emotional interviews of victims edited with footage of the event, awakens the consciousness to necessary personal responsibility.

Through a series of constructed images, long takes, and brief often humerous dialogue, Li Hongqi describes the last day of a winter vacation in a melancholy but heartwarming point of view.

Nelu, a Romanian market security guard, befriends an illegal Turkish immigrant. Somehow this would be impossible in today’s world.  However, in cinema it is a heartwarming series of events that override language and cultural barriers to unveil similarities in life and compassion for the human experience.