Montecara Film Festival

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Montecara Film Festival
Montecara Film Festival logo.svg
StatusActive
FrequencyAnnual
VenueÇinematèca di Stado
Country Montecara
Inaugurated10 June 1937
Previous event84th Montecara Film Festival
Next event85th Montecara Film Festival
Websitefesta.cinema.mc

The Montecara Film Festival (Montecaran: Fèsta Montecarà di Çìnema) is an annual international film festival held in Montecara. It features premieres of films from all genres, including documentaries, made across the world. Each participating nation is allowed to submit one film for consideration for the festival's grand prize, the Béco aùreo (Golden Goat). Films must be at least 60 minutes in duration, have been completed in the preceding 12 months, and make their premiere at the festival to be eligible for competition. It takes place each year at the Çinematèca di Stado.

Format

The Sàla Marsili screening room at the Çinematèca di Stado
Actress Alisa Kuzmina on the red carpet at the 2019 festival

The weeklong festival takes place annually in mid to late October at the Çinemateca de Stato, a venue built in 1972 expressly for the event. Attendance is by invitation only. Films are evaluated by a jury composed of directors, actors, writers, and other filmmakers associated with past winners of the prize.

The opening ceremony, held at sunset on the first night, is a black-tie event with a red carpet known for its mobs of paparazzi. Couturiers, jewelers, parfumiers, and luxury shoemakers compete with each other to outfit the year's biggest stars, who pause for photographs as they climb the grand staircase into the Çinematèca. Coverage of the red carpet is broadcast live in dozens of countries. The ceremony itself runs approximately one hour and is simultaneously broadcast on huge public screens in Montecara and in theaters around the world. It traditionally opens with the introduction of that year's jury by the Patron of the Çinematèca followed by the entrance, usually to great applause, of the director and cast of the year’s films. The Patron makes a speech, usually about the importance of cinema in some regard, before a musical performance that usually features a song from one of the year's films. The Secretary of State, accompanied by the Secretary of Education and Culture, then comes on stage to officially declare the festival open. The festival's first screening immediately follows.

Films are screened each afternoon and evening. The festival crowd is famous (or notorious) for eagerly expressing its opinions during screenings, routinely cheering, clapping, whistling, and booing as it sees fit. The main screening room is the Sàla Marsili, named in honor of the director of inaugural winner Il Paradiso.

The festival is nearly as famous for its parties as it is for its films. These gatherings, which themselves have notoriously exclusive guest lists, are legendary for their wild antics and great indulgence as well as for being a rare opportunity for the world's greatest filmmakers and actors to rub elbows. Major artists are flown in to perform DJ sets, and the luxury brands that sponsor the parties hand out gift bags that can reach astronomical values.

The last night of the festival features the awards ceremony, where the Béco aùreo, the festival's grand prize, is awarded by the Patron of the Çinematèca di Stado to that year's best film as selected by the jury. The physical prize is a golden statuette of a goat, Montecara's unofficial national animal. Films awarded the Béco aùreo tend to be highly sought-after by distribution companies, many representatives of which are always attendance. Winning the prize is seen as one of the greatest financial blessings an artistic film can achieve, as it all but guarantees that the film will see a wide release and very likely turn a profit.

One of the most anticipated events outside of the screenings is the Fòro dei registi (Directors' forum), where the year's nominated directors have a roundtable discussion with the media. The event has produced memorable verbal sparring, particularly in situations where ill-tempered filmmakers are matched against pugnacious journalists.

A number of other screenings run in parallel to the main competition. Shorts are given their own screening, and an outdoor cinema open to the public is constructed on the beach to show classics from years past. In recent years a special event has also been held to screen student work from top film schools around the world.

List of awards

Year Béco aùreo Country of origin Synopsis
84 2023 The Brotherhood  Surubon A tech noir thriller about a prizefighter named Kemangi, who after winning an underground battle royale is choosen by mafia boss Kejam to act as a security guard for his girlfriend Margeaux. After an intense night and escape from an attempted assassination, the two develop a relationship; when their affair is discovered, they are subjected to a game where the barriers between reality and illusion break down.
83 2022 Iserajta  Aucuria A white-collar employee of a mining conglomerate, sent to secure the arrangements for resource exploration in a village in the Aucurian rainforest, finds himself ensnared in a web of conflicting feelings, buried pasts, and supernatural horror.
82 2021 Jocotero  Ardesia A black-and-white drama film set in the early Estado Novo, following the life of a Vespasian-Ardesian family in Rémont between 1961-1962.
81 2020 Harmony in Ultraviolet  Jindao Based on Helen Dupree's novel of the same name, a girl escapes a troublesome upbringing in rural Shangea. Joining a creed of spirited warriors, she embarks on a journey that reveals man's unmistakable connection with nature.
80 2019 Djoka  Gaullica An orphaned boy follows in the footsteps of a historical Sougoulic war chief in his fight against a Euclean mining development which threatens his home.
79 2018
78 2017
77 2016 Citizen William  Estmere A historical drama biopic based on the life and times of Richard XIII, the last King of Estmere. The film covers his birth at Castle Montcherié at the turn of the century to his death as a private citizen in Garrafrauns in 1984.
76 2015 Vertigem
(Vertigo)
 Ardesia A pyschological crime thriller as a middle aged father is returned into the crazed underground criminal world of Rémont at night.
75 2014 Reis naar het nieuwe oud
(Voyage to the New Old)
 Hennehouwe A black comedy film retelling the voyage of the Uí Mealla clan and the foundation of the Kingdom of Maltaire under Eleanora of Caldia.
74 2013 Śwartnes
(Darkness)
 Azmara A social realist film showing the aftermath of a mine explosion in the small mining village of Gyldsmer in 1967 as the community struggles to rebuild.
73 2012
72 2011
71 2010
70 2009 Us Ûnferskilligens
(Our Indifference)
 Alsland A film following the lives of two teenagers in Jõgeru in the weeks preceding the 1976 Jõgeru massacre and its aftermath.
69 2008 Mârasi  Mabifia An old man recounts the massacre of his village during the final stages of the Bahian Mutiny to a group of young guerillas during the First Mabifian Civil War.
68 2007 Sakiko  Senria A black comedy about a Senrian woman's attempts to break out of a loveless marriage, a dead-end job, and a miserable life.
67 2006 Golden Rain  Shangea A romantic drama set in early 20th-century Shangea about a peasant woman moving to a city and attempting to make sense of the changes convulsing society.
66 2005 Gelada
(Icy)
 Paretia A dark comedy-drama about an upper-class Paretian women who protects her family from her siblings who wish to seek revenge on her.
65 2004 Tegul Tauta to iš Manes Reikalauja
(Let the Nation Demand it of Me)
 Aucuria A period film focusing on the presidency of Adrianas Volpis, his efforts at reform, and his eventual deposition and murder by Albertas Kalvaitis.
64 2003
63 2002 Ni Suri
(The Two Pickpockets)
 Senria A drama focusing on a pair of teenage pickpockets in 1700s Senria, their romance, and the conflict between their life of crime and their hopes for the future.
62 2001 Сто ліг від вас
(One Hundred Leagues from You)
Vinalia A romantic drama, focusing on a Vinalian girl who falls in love with a resistance fighter but both are separated during the outbreak of the First Vinalian Civil War, and find themselves on opposing sides.
61 2000 List 1  Sabaw A documentary film set documenting the Taydemtist revolution in Sabaw and the violence that occurred during the revolution and the subsequent purges.
60 1999 A Secret  Satavia An epic romance that tells the story of a pair of young lovers whose relationship causes a scandal in early 1900s Satavia.
59 1998 Amici ed amànti
(Friends and lovers)
 Montecara A divorced man hosts a dinner party at his villa to celebrate his engagement to his second wife-to-be; the guest list includes his ex-wife, her new husband, her stepchildren, and his fiancée's adult daughter.
58 1997 Urpičas  Aucuria The story of Dolorė Kispis, commonly known by her pseudonym Urpicha, a Runanca author who defied the Kalvaitis and Sprogys regimes by writing anti-government novels.
57 1996 Chloé  Gaullica An animated retelling of the story of Saint Chloé.
56 1995 Le chéile le haghaidh grá
(Together for Love)
 Caldia A Weranic soldier falls in love with a Caldish school teacher amid the volatile Occupation and is met with condemnation and a court-marshal for his same-sex relationship.
55 1994 Kaze no Hai
(Ashes in the Wind)
 Senria A Senrian mother in Shangean-occupied Senria desperately attempts to save her two young children from the Senrian Genocide.
54 1993 німий німий
(Dumb Dumb)
 Vinalia A black comedy anti-war film criticizing North and South Vinalia, and their ideological struggle.
53 1992
52 1991
51 1990
50 1989 Dzokera kumba
(Separation)
 Rwizikuru An Irfanic and Sotirian couple living in Yekumavirira prior to the Mabifian-Rwizikuran War has to fight separation from both their land, and from each other because of their two faiths.
49 1988
48 1987
47 1986 Akayama
(Red Mountain)
 Senria A Senrian soldier during the Great War grapples with the bloodshed of the conflict and the loss of his comrades-in-arms.
46 1985
45 1984
44 1983
43 1982 Inácio  Ardesia A rise and fall narrative of a fictionalized Rémont drug trader Inácio Romão during the Rémont Drug War.
42 1981
41 1980
40 1979
39 1978 Gin'noken
(The Silver Sword)
 Senria A historical fiction film retelling the life of the rounin Hyouzaemon Nabesima and his role in the doomed Kyoutoku Rebellion.
38 1977 O Fora da Lei
(The Outlaw)
 Halland
 Maracao
A mafia defector finds his life in danger as he is hunted by the mafia and shunned by the government.
37 1976
36 1975 O Último Imperador de Tzapotlan
(The Last Emperor of Tzapotlan)
 Ardesia A historical pseudobiographical drama set in the collapse of the Tzapotlan empire by Ardesian conquistadores in the view of the Zapoyan emperor Cuauhtemoc.
35 1974 Tarp Šešėliai
(Among the Shadows)
 Aucuria A private investigator in 1920s Aucuria must go up against criminal gangs and corrupt officials in his efforts to take down a protection racket.
34 1973
33 1972
32 1971 Il Cangròxo
(The Big Shot)
 Montecara A plan to smuggle drugs through Montecara turns into a fiasco of backstabbing, lies, and murder.
31 1970
30 1969 King Daris  Sabaw An epic biopic following the life of Daris II of Saab from his ascension to the throne to his assassination by his own palace guards after the Treaty of Skikjel.
29 1968
28 1967 Кешков
(Keshkov)
 Soravia A scientist slowly drives himself into insanity attempting to comprehend the technological capacity of a distant fictional planet known as Keshkov.
27 1966
26 1965 O Cipriacano
(The Ciprianan)
 Ardesia The historical chronicles of an Ardesian gaúcho Octávio Xisto in 1830s Cipriano.
25 1964
24 1963 Yakusoku
(Promise)
 Senria A romantic drama about two lovers, torn apart by circumstance, and their quest to reunite.
23 1962 Lu, màma
(You, Mama)
 Montecara A distant adult son tries to forge a relationship with his free-spirited mother when he finds out that she is dying.
22 1961
21 1960 Bodehourege
(The Red Queen)
 Mabifia A deep criticism of Pierre-Julien Onziema's socialist regime, concealed within an animated fable about Leïla Calougite, the commoner who married a Hourege and initiated a bloody purge of society.
20 1959 Kakusareta Yousai
(The Hidden Fortress)
 Senria A samurai film about a samurai's efforts to destroy an abandoned fortress being used by brigands to harass and extort Senrian peasants.
19 1958 Василий Велики
(Vasil the Great)
Tengaria An epic film about the life of Vasil the Great, the first Vladetel of Tengaria, who brought Tengaria to its greatest heights in the midst of the Iconoclasm controversy and the tumultuous collapse of the Empire of Arciluco.
18 1957
17 1956
16 1955
15 1954
14 1953
13 1952
12 1951
11 1950 Giàn il sìmplio
(John the Simple)
 Montecara An intellectually disabled man tries to survive during the Etrurian occupation of Montecara.
10 1949
9 1948
8 1947
1946 Not held due to the Etrurian occupation
1945
1944
7 1943
6 1942 Solitary Spring  Shangea A four-hour epic set during the 1660s in Shangea and its aftermath chronicling a poet dissuaded with the political and social chaos of the period.
5 1941
4 1940 Pasmerktieji
(The Damned)
 Aucuria A group of Aucurians who had collaborated with Entente occupation forces attempt to flee capture by trekking to Satucin through the Sythe-Juoda rainforest.
3 1939
2 1938
1 1937 Il Paradiso  Montecara A foreign diplomat is drawn into a world of scandal and intrigue by an intoxicating Montecaran cabaret dancer, with disastrous results.