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

Notes of a Crocodile, Notes of a Crocodile

Daphne Xu

100’

A Chinese woman searches across Cambodia for her ex-lover, who has disappeared mysteriously. She travels from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville, along the proposed route of the Funan Techo Canal, using the symbology of their relationship to unravel clues. The country waits apprehensively for construction to begin on the massive Belt and Road funded waterway that will displace thousands.

“My friend was 26 when she left China. She told me she wanted to be eaten by a crocodile. To die in a mythic way, like the Cambodian princess who was consumed by her lover. If she couldn’t make it out alive, that’s the way she wanted to go. Carried south by the Mekong River, out of China forever.”

Director’s statement

The crocodile itself is a mythic, unknowable figure in the story of the film. It is symbolic, signifying the primordial, the Earth, and all aberrant sexualities. It is also an animal existing in real economic and ecological material conditions in Cambodia. The main character seeks her ex-lover who has disappeared in Cambodia and has written to her about encountering crocodiles. The film explores agony and ecstasy within cycles of grief, and the haptics of illegibility in a queerness that arrives from sensuality and touch between unlikely forms. The film is inspired by the novel Notes of a Crocodile by Qiu Miaojin. Deemed a cult classic, the book helped coin Lala, the term for lesbian in Chinese. The film is not an adaptation of the novel, but I am inspired by its form and effect. The book consists of fragmented diary entries and depicts a crocodile as a repressed queer individual who must put on a “human suit” to fit into society. In the film, I will create a choreography between the local and the foreign, and between the movement of women along the river. The film comments on the current China’s presence in Cambodia in Cambodia and the ongoing violence of hydropolitics, where dams and canals alter floodplains, habitats, and livelihoods beyond the borders of nation-states.

Technical sheet

  • Production:
    Anti-Archive (Daniel Mattes : daniel.mattes@antiarchive.com)
    Lumieria Pictures (Mengchu Hu : hmchuchu@gmail.com)
  • Budget:
    600 000 €
  • Acquired budget:
    40 000 €
  • Funds:
    Hubert Bals Development Fund
  • Shooting countries:
    Cambodia, China