“The film is beautifully shot but the director never allows the audience’s attention to waver from the intensity of the physical and emotional interaction between father and son as they are faced with a fight for survival”
Dutch director Jan-Willem van Ewijk’s Alpha. has won the Europa Cinemas Label as Best European Film in the Giornate degli Autori section of the Venice Film Festival, it was announced today by a jury of four Europa Cinemas Network exhibitors. 2024 marks the twenty first time the Label has been awarded in Venice.
In receiving the Label, Alpha. will benefit from promotional support from Europa Cinemas and better exhibition thanks to a financial incentive for network cinemas to include it in their programming schedule.
The Jury consisted of: Daira Āboliņa (Splendid Palace, Riga, Latvia), António Costa Valente (Teatro Aveirense, Aveiro, Portugal), Andrea Porta (Cinema Teatro Nuovo, Varese, Italy) and Jana Trnková (Head of PR & Marketing, Kino Světozor, Prague, Czech Republic).
The jury issued the following statement:
“Jan-Willem van Ewijk’s Alpha. was our unanimous choice for this year’s Europa Cinemas Label in Venice. We were all very impressed by the script, editing, photography and character development in this dynamic and believable study of the relationship between father and son. We also really liked the choice of music, and the absence of any sentimentality – it does not preach. Their petty grievances and posturing early on in the film are re-valuated against the empty, majestic backdrop of the vast, silent mountains. The film is beautifully shot but the director never allows the audience’s attention to waver from the intensity of the physical and emotional interaction between father and son as they are faced with a fight for survival. A real tour de force which we think audiences will connect with. Congratulations.”
