The winning coming-of-age drama from Iceland will be screened at all the network’s festivals, annually gathering over 250,000 viewers.
Aimed to promote promising European film directors, the MIOB New Vision Award is given to the first or second feature films and documentaries that have already had a successful showing during at least one of the participating festivals. Each of the MIOB network members nominee 2 feature films by emerging European film directors, and the winner is selected by the artistic directors of Crossing Europe Film Festival Linz in Austria, European Film Forum Scanorama in Lithuania, Les Arcs Film Festival in France, Palić European Film Festival in Serbia, Trieste Film Festival in Italy, Festival de Sevilla in Spain and Filmfestival Cottbus in Germany.
“Our goal is to highlight European art house film directors with an exceptional cinematic approach and artistic vision, who, to our opinion, deserve wider international recognition. Opening the topic of violence in teenagers' life to the means of magical realism, unhurried and visually grounded Guðmundsson’s second feature film successfully avoids the clichés of a social drama. Therefore, we hope that it will be valued by the arthouse cinema lovers in all seven countries”, told Grazina Arlickaite, the artistic director and founder of the European Film Forum Scanorama, which nominated Beautiful Beings (2022) to MIOB New Vision Award 2023.
“After last year premiere in Berlinale, I did not expect the film to have a second life in 2023. I am grateful to have been chosen by the initiative, encouraging art house films, which too often have a hard time reaching audiences outside of the few festivals. Giving Beautiful Beings this second encouragement makes a difference for its visibility and gives us hope that our film, that we put our heart and soul into making, will continue to reach more people”, commented Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson, the director of Beautiful Beings.
The award, worth 3,000 euros, was presented to the director at the Crossing Europe Film Festival Linz Awards Ceremony on the 30th of April in Linz, Austria. This official announcement of the MIOB New Vision Award-winning film marks the start of a “festival tour” of the film in 2023, which will be shown at all seven festivals, subtitled in French, German, Italian, Lithuanian, Spanish and Serbian and intensively promoted on all networks’ festivals channels.
The plot of the Beautiful Beings follows Addi, a teenage boy raised by a clairvoyant mother, adopting a bullied misfit into his gang of outsiders. Left to their own devices, the youngsters explore aggression and violence but also learn about loyalty and love. The film premiered last year in the Berlinale, where it received Label Europa Cinemas award.
Next to the third-time given New Vision Award and focus to future filmmakers, European film festival network Moving Images - Open Borders (MIOB) is expanding its Green Charter for Film Festivals online platform and further developing topics of audience building, environmental and climate protection, gender and diversity programming. Dedicated to promoting European cinema with its artistic facets, regional characteristics and socio-political upheavals, MIOB is supported by the European Union Creative Europe - MEDIA program.
