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Starring Levan Gelbakhiani (“And Then We Danced”) and Karidja Touré (“Girlhood”), “Don’t Let the Sun (Catch You Crying),” the fiction feature debut of multi-prized Swiss documentarian Jacqueline Zünd (“Where We Belong,” “Almost There,” “Goodnight Nobody”) has won the Marché du Film’s first Goes to Cannes Award.
The prize, a €10,000 minimum guarantee for international sales, is sponsored by Sideral, a Spain-based studio dedicated to production, distribution and international sales launched by Elamedia at Berlin last year.
After three introspective doc features, portraying the unspoken thoughts of insomniacs, ageing men and children after their parents’ separation, in “Don’t Let the Sun (Catch You Crying),” Zünd creates an alternative universe where Jonah is employed by an agency that offers human relationships. When he’s hired to work as Nika’s father, he begins to lose control of his tightly disciplined life.
“The film portrays a world that is only a small step away from our reality, not just in terms of human relations but also when it comes to the premise: people have turned night into day, which is a conceivable consequence of our current climate crisis,” producer Louis Mataré of Lomotion told Variety.
“The film’s world is embedded in a city marked by the hard edge of brutalism, but not as densely populated as it might have been. Framed by raw, barren concrete buildings, the images reflect people’s inner landscapes, making their fragility and vulnerability palpable,” he added.
Variety described the film as a “delicate dystopian drama” where Zünd explores once more the “fragile nature of relationships.”
“We loved the project because of the originality of its concept, its visual force and magnetic performances: a small piece that’s left us wanting to see and know more,” said María Oliva, who oversees Sideral distribution and PR.
“Don’t Let the Sun (Catch You Crying)” featured in a five-title showcase presented by the Solothurn Festival, one of 35 works-in-progress highlighted at this year’s Cannes in seven Goes To showcases. They were organized by the Marché du Film and the Adelaide, Queer Screen – Mardi Gras, Solothurn, Golden Horse and Tallinn Black Nights festivals. Projects were also presented by the Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum and Ventana Sur.
