Winter’s Bone wins Torino Film Festival – Update

Correcting the HR paragraph below. It turns out that Winter’s Bone won 4¬†prizes at Torino: Best Film,¬†Best Screenplay, the Achille Valdata audience award, and Best Actress shared by Jennifer Lawrence¬†for WB and Erica Rivas for Por Tu Culpa, directed by Anahi Berneri. (Thanks to Eduardo Grinovero for the correction.)¬†¬†Additional winners are listed at the TFF website.

Adding to its swag from Sundance, the Gothams, the NBR, the Seattle and¬†Palm Springs Film Fests,¬†not to mention¬†its 7 Spirit nominations, Winter’s Bone has won the main prize at the 28th Torino Film Festival, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The festival’s five-member jury headed by director Marco Bellocchio chose Winter’s Bone out of 16 main competition films, making it the first U.S. production to take home the main prize since David Gordon Green’s George Washington in 2000. The award carries a cash prize of ‚Ǩ25,000 ($32,500).

Jennifer Lawrence, the protagonist in Winter’s Bone, split the best actress award with Anahi Berneri, who was honored for her work in Port u Culpa. Omid Djalili was given the best actor prize for his role in The Infidel.

It’s quite something to see this little slice of Americana with its dark mood and big mythological themes winning acclaim not only here in the US, but in Europe as well. BIFA nominated it for Foreign Film, filling the same slot as last year’s The Hurt Locker. I doubt if Winter’s Bone can go all the way to a best picture win, but it’s looking like a real contender for several nominations, including best picture, Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, adapted screenplay and possibly even Debra Granik as director.