Georgian film Corn Island takes top award at Trieste Film Festival

Georgia's Oscar entry Corn Island (Simindis Kundzuli), directed by George Ovashvili has won a top prize at the Trieste Film Festival.

The Georgia-German-French co-production film was honoured by the audience with the Best Future Film Award yesterday at the Italian film festival, which is devoted to cinema from central and eastern Europe.

The Hollywood Reporter film critic Stephen Dalton said the title "weaves a powerful life-and-death fable from simple ingredients in this almost wordless drama”.

The film has been described as a poetic tale on the cycle of life told through the eyes of an old Abkhazian peasant and his teenage granddaughter.

Corn Island made it into the nine-strong shortlist for the Best Foreign Language film in the upcoming Academy Awards. The shortlist was part of the process toward narrowing down the main contenders that are nominated for an Oscar.

In the past 12 months the film won 14 international awards and gained three nominations.

Corn Island was awarded Audience Awards at the 27th Athens European Cinema Festival, the Cottbus Film Festival of Young East European Cinema and the Montpellier Mediterranean Film Festival. 

In addition, the film won the Cristal Glob and Award of Ecumenical Jury at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, the Best Cinematography Award and Grand Prize at the Kinoshok - Open CIS and Baltic Film Festival and the Golden Antigone Award at the Montpellier Mediterranean Film Festival.

Watch the trailer of the Corn Island below: