International Competition Award: FUCK THE POLIS by Rita Azevedo Gomes

Georges de Beauregard International Award: FRÍO METAL by Clemente Castor

Special mention of the International Competition Jury: COBRE by Nicolás Pereda

French Competition Award: BONNE JOURNÉE by Pauline Bastard

Georges de Beauregard National Award: HORS-CHAMP, LES OMBRES by Anna Dubosc, Gustavo de Mattos Jahn

Cnap (National Centre for Visual Arts) Award: DES MILLÉNAIRES D’ABSENCE by Philippe Rouy

Special mention of the Cnap (National Centre for Visual Arts) Jury: L’AMOUR SUR LE CHEMIN DES RONCETTES by Sophie Roger

First Film Award: FANTAISIE by Isabel Pagliai

Special mention of the First Film Competition Jury: LOS CRUCES by Julián Galay

Special mention of the First Film Competition Jury: SI NOUS HABITONS UN ÉCLAIR by Louise Chevillotte

Claudia Cardinale Foundation Award: FERNLICHT by Johanna Schorn Kalinsky

Cine+ Distribution support Award in partnership with GNCR: MORTE E VIDA MADALENA by Guto Parente

Flash Competition Award: گل‌های شب ِدریا by Maryam Tafakory

Special mention of the Flash Competition Jury: A PRELUDE by Wendelien van Oldenborgh

Special mention of the Flash Competition Jury: CONTROL ANATOMY by Mahmoud Alhaj

Special mention of the Flash Competition Jury: LENGUA MUERTA by José Jiménez

Alice Guy Award: ABORTION PARTY by Julia Mellen

Renaud Victor Award: BULAKNA by Leonor Noivo

Special mention of the Renaud Victor Jury: SI NOUS HABITONS UN ÉCLAIR by Louise Chevillotte

High School Award: NEXT LIFE by Tenzin Phuntsog

Special mention of the High School Jury: MIRACULOUS ACCIDENT by Assaf Gruber

The Second Chance School Award: NEXT LIFE by Tenzin Phuntsog

Special mention of the Second Chance School Jury: JACOB’S HOUSE by Lucas Kane

Audience Award: LA JUVENTUD ES UNA ISLA by Louise Ernandez

International Competition Award: FUCK THE POLIS by Rita Azevedo Gomes

Georges de Beauregard International Award: FRÍO METAL by Clemente Castor

Special mention of the International Competition Jury: COBRE by Nicolás Pereda

French Competition Award: BONNE JOURNÉE by Pauline Bastard

Georges de Beauregard National Award: HORS-CHAMP, LES OMBRES by Anna Dubosc, Gustavo de Mattos Jahn

Cnap (National Centre for Visual Arts) Award: DES MILLÉNAIRES D’ABSENCE by Philippe Rouy

Special mention of the Cnap (National Centre for Visual Arts) Jury: L’AMOUR SUR LE CHEMIN DES RONCETTES by Sophie Roger

First Film Award: FANTAISIE by Isabel Pagliai

Special mention of the First Film Competition Jury: LOS CRUCES by Julián Galay

Special mention of the First Film Competition Jury: SI NOUS HABITONS UN ÉCLAIR by Louise Chevillotte

Claudia Cardinale Foundation Award: FERNLICHT by Johanna Schorn Kalinsky

Cine+ Distribution support Award in partnership with GNCR: MORTE E VIDA MADALENA by Guto Parente

Flash Competition Award: گل‌های شب ِدریا by Maryam Tafakory

Special mention of the Flash Competition Jury: A PRELUDE by Wendelien van Oldenborgh

Special mention of the Flash Competition Jury: CONTROL ANATOMY by Mahmoud Alhaj

Special mention of the Flash Competition Jury: LENGUA MUERTA by José Jiménez

Alice Guy Award: ABORTION PARTY by Julia Mellen

Renaud Victor Award: BULAKNA by Leonor Noivo

Special mention of the Renaud Victor Jury: SI NOUS HABITONS UN ÉCLAIR by Louise Chevillotte

High School Award: NEXT LIFE by Tenzin Phuntsog

Special mention of the High School Jury: MIRACULOUS ACCIDENT by Assaf Gruber

The Second Chance School Award: NEXT LIFE by Tenzin Phuntsog

Special mention of the Second Chance School Jury: JACOB’S HOUSE by Lucas Kane

Audience Award: LA JUVENTUD ES UNA ISLA by Louise Ernandez

Dawn is breaking over a fisherman’s boat, gently rocked by the waves of the sleeping ocean. From the very first sequence, Leonor Noivo sets up her patient and watchful pace in long shots that capture the pulse of life. While “Filipinas”, the Filipino domestic workers, have already been portrayed in various films that show their working conditions abroad—in Europe and in the Middle East—Leonor Noivo’s first feature film looks at them from the Philippines. And keeping in mind the legacy of Spanish colonization. Always attentive to both the landscape and the people, Bulakna gives each character enough space to exist, and paints a complex, nuanced portrait of the country, focusing on the sweet air and faces, the present moment stretched out in a vaporous atmosphere, and the rain and gray sky shutting the horizon. Through the daily routine based on subsistence—fishing, preparing fish, selling it—conversations unfold, revealing reasons for leaving or staying, the attachment to the country and to loved ones, and the opportunities lying elsewhere. What are the promises made to a youth that nonetheless appreciates the value of this ordinary life, and of the traditions and knowledge that are woven into it? What dreams are smothered by the cruel reality abroad—the loneliness, the hard work, no private life? How and why would they come back? Leonor Noivo weaves several threads and intertwines several registers in her wide-ranging and generous film. Thus, far from a purely observational logic, Bulakna features staged sequences in which the resistance to the arrival of the settlers is performed, and the bodies rise up in beautiful portraits, like so many face-to-face games with the camera. In a lucid and sensitive way, Leonor Noivo turns the Philippines into the heart of a globalized world and its laws, while giving these women the opportunity to tell their own stories and to counter this logic with their own paths to emancipation.

Claire Lasolle

Technical sheet

  • Subtitles:
    English, French
  • Photography:
    Vasco Saltão, Leonor Noivo
  • Editing:
    Francisco Moreira, Pedro Teixeira, Marine de Contes, Telmo Churro, Vasco Saltão, Luisa Homem
  • Music:
    Joee Mejias
  • Sound:
    Vicente Molder, RM Aborque, Xavier Thieulin, Bruno Garcez, Arnel Barbarona
  • Cast:
    Althea Aruda, Norma Linda Canda , Rozel Delgaco Delgaco , Josephine Golajercaringal, Che Villanueva, Daisy Candelaria, Serena Magiliw, Jaime Regaspi, Kidlat Tahimik
  • Production:
    Mathilde Delaunay (BARBEROUSSE FILMS), João Matos (Terratreme Filmes)
  • Contact:
    Terratreme Filmes (Terratreme Filmes)