GENEVA, Aug 18, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – “Vitalina Varela’, Portuguese director
Pedro Costa’s dark portrayal of a Cape Verde woman who flies to Lisbon to
bury her husband, scooped the top prize at the Locarno film festival in
Switzerland Saturday.
The film tells the story of the middle-aged widow Vitalina, who arrives in
the Portuguese capital days after the death of the man who left her to seek
work in Europe a quarter of a century earlier.
The film carries the name of its star, who was also named Best Actress for
her powerful performance.
Now in its 72nd year, the Locarno festival takes place every summer in the
picturesque Swiss town on the shores of Lake Maggiore.
The runner-up Special Jury Prize this year wen to South Korean director
Park Jung-bum’s “Height of the Wave”, while French director Damien Manivel
snapped up the Best Director award for his film “Isadora’s Children”.
Regis Myrupu meanwhile won the award for Best Actor for his role in
Brazilian film-maker Maya Da-Rin’s “The Fever”.