The actress and director from Barcelona, Aina Clotet, won this Wednesday the breakthrough award of the Critics’ Week, the parallel section of the Cannes Festival dedicated to discovering new voices, for her performance in Viva, which is also her debut behind the camera as a director.
“Thank you for believing in our film and for opening the doors to the world for us,” she said emotionally upon going on stage, after the announcement of this award that the Critics’ Week gives in association with the Louis Roederer Foundation.
About the film, which tells the story of a woman – played by Clotet herself – who has overcome breast cancer and experiences a deep desire to live, the jury chaired by Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia highlighted that the protagonist is a “radical” and “difficult” character who is equally lovable. They also emphasized the “visceral” and “extremely funny” performance achieved by Clotet.
The actress also thanked the entire team that accompanied the film, such as its producers or the co-writer alongside her of the script, Valentina Viso, or her brother, the actor Marc Clotet. “To make a film it is very important to have a good team and I have had the best I could dream of,” she stressed.
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In Viva, Clotet (Barcelona, 1982) tells the story of Nora, a woman who wants to take control of her life again after overcoming breast cancer, but with the fear of death still very present. Thus, she takes on new professional challenges and, above all, surrenders to the desire she feels for Max (Marc Soler), a much younger man, while reconsidering her family project with Tom (Naby Dakhli), her lifelong partner. It is a “fierce carpe diem,” assures the actress and director, who also explores love dependencies and their relationship with the deep fears of human beings, with a cast that includes names like Guillermo Toledo as her father.
The main award of the Critics’ Week, which is an independent section of the main festival that selects only first or second feature films to showcase new directors from around the world, went to the French film La Gradiva, by Marine Atlan.
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