By Jill Lawless
LONDON (AP) --Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev's "Loveless," a piercing drama about a divorcing couple whose son disappears, won the best picture prize at the London Film Festival on Saturday.
The award was Zvyagintsev's second top trophy from the London festival. He received the best picture award in 2014 for "Leviathan," a tragic satire of small-town corruption that brought the director criticism from Russian officials.
British director Andrea Arnold, president of the judging panel, said "Loveless" turned one family's story into "a universal tragedy."
"Loveless" is also an indictment of social flaws, with resonance well beyond Russia. Festival director Clare Stewart said the film's depiction of parents so consumed with their own lives they don't initially realize their son is missing "is such a powerful metaphor for what is happening with many children around the world."
Stewart said "Loveless" asks audiences, "Are we caring for our future?"
The festival's prizes were awarded during a ceremony at London's 17th-century Banqueting House. South African director John Trengove won the first feature trophy for "The Wound," a drama about masculinity and sexuality set against the backdrop of a Xhosa initiation ritual.
The documentary prize went to Lucy Cohen's "Kingdom of Us," a portrait of a family trying to recover after a suicide. Patrick Bresnan's "The Rabbit Hunt" was named best short film.
Paul Greengrass, the English director of "United 93" and three of the Jason Bourne thrillers, received the British Film Institute Fellowship, a career honor.
The 12-day festival ends Sunday with Martin McDonagh's "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri," a small-town tragicomedy starring Frances McDormand and Woody Harrelson that is being tipped as an Oscar contender next year.
The 61st London festival has featured glitzy galas for other potential awards season favorites, including Guillermo del Toro's fantastical "The Shape of Water," Sean Baker's vibrant "The Florida Project" and directing duo Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris' tennis drama "Battle of the Sexes."
But it has also been shaken by the allegations of sexual harassment and assault against powerful Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.
Stewart said the accusations had "reverberated very strongly during the festival."
The London festival has sought in recent years to encourage diversity in the film industry. About one-quarter of the 242 features in this year's lineup were directed by women — a higher share than many festivals manage.
"It's been very important for us, given our history of championing strong women, to really support the women who are brave enough to come forward and speak out," she said.
Stewart said she hoped exposure of Weinstein's behavior over decades would be a turning point.
"I think that this will lead to change," she said.
Review: Director-Writer Megan Park’s “My Old Ass”
They say tripping on psychedelic mushrooms triggers hallucinations, anxiety, paranoia and nervousness. In the case of Elliott, an 18-year-old restless Canadian, they prompt a visitor.
"Dude, I'm you," says the guest, as she nonchalantly burns a 'smores on a campfire next to a very high and stunned Elliott. "Well, I'm a 39-year-old you. What's up?"
What's up, indeed: Director-writer Megan Park has crafted a wistful coming-of-age tale using this comedic device for "My Old Ass" and the results are uneven even though she nails the landing.
After the older Elliott proves who she is — they share a particular scar, childhood memories and a smaller left boob — the time-travel advice begins: Be nice to your brothers and mom, and stay away from a guy named Chad.
"Can we hug?" asks the older Elliott. They do. "This is so weird," says the younger Elliott, who then makes things even weirder when she asks for a kiss — to know what it's like kissing yourself. The older Elliott soon puts her number into the younger's phone under the name "My Old Ass." Then they keep in touch, long after the effects of the 'shrooms have gone.
Part of the movie's problem that can't be ignored is that the two Elliotts look nothing alike. Maisy Stella plays the coltish young version and a wry Aubrey Plaza the older. Both turn in fine performances but the visuals are slowly grating.
The arrival of the older Elliott coincides with her younger self counting down the days until she can flee from her small town of 300 in the Muskoka Lakes region to college in Toronto, where "my life is about to start." She's sick of life on a cranberry farm.
Park's scenes and dialogue are unrushed and honest as Elliott takes her older self's advice and tries to repair... Read More