Maskoon Fantastic Film Festival 2020 online edition wraps after a week of online screenings, the Maskoon Fantastic Lab, an initiative that will pave ways to the production of more Arab genre films, the VFX e-workshop and many awards.
Maskoon Fantastic Film Festival’s organizers announced that the festival will be back in 2021.
The Jury of the Lebanese short film competition composed of Lebanese critic Chafic Tabbara, Programmer Anne Delseth and Greek Lebanese filmmaker Joyce A. Nashawati have awarded 2 prizes and a special mention to the following films:
1st prize, a monetary award of 3,000,000 L.L and a participation in the Short Films selection of Cinemed, Festival International du Cinéma Méditerranéen de Montpellier was attributed to Elpide by Gaëlle Azzam “For the way it manages to immerse us in a haunting singular world in which every detail is crafted with precision. For achieving the difficult task of directing children. For avoiding to force feed its story to the viewer, letting it linger in the mind after the film has ended.”
2nd prize, a monetary award of 1,500,000 L.L. went to Glitch (Khalal) by Charbel Kosseifi “For its narrative ambition, tackling contemporary issues such as ecology through dystopia. For its humorous treatment of these issues and playful art direction. For the acting, with a special mention for the actress playing the mother.”
A Special Mention was given to A Shot In The Dark (Mawt Ahmar) by Roger Helou “For its careful, measured use of narrative time. For its nostalgic playfulness with the codes of genre.”
The Lab
The Maskoon Fantastic Lab also wrapped after a week of intensive meetings and consultations with 6 international experts: Lebanese producer Georges Schoucair, MENA distributor Jessica Khoury, VFX expert Guillaume Nadaud, creative director of Fantastic Fest Evrim Ersoy, filmmaker Rania Attieh and producer and head of Frontières Market Annick Mahnert.
The experts award one prize to Occurrences by Nizar Sfair “for its unique way of examining a turbulent time in Lebanese history through the eyes of a troubled character, strong visual style, excellent script and a dark and insightful vision of the fractured psyche of its main character.”
Occurrences by Nizar Sfair will be invited to be part of the 2021 edition of Frontières in Montreal, the biggest market for genre films in the world.