Israeli director Or Sinai has been awarded the First Prize at Cannes in the Cinefondation section for “Anna.” Cinefondation is arguably the world’s most prestigious film competition for students, and certainly the most high-profile. Eighteen shorts competed in this year’s lineup; Cannes received over 2,350 entries.
Sinai will receive a cash prize totaling about $17,000, and she’s also guaranteed that her first feature will screen in Cannes’ Official Selection. The rising talent is a student at Israel’s Sam Spiegel Film & TV School. “Anna” is a drama centered on a woman in her thirties who unexpectedly finds herself alone in her small hometown. According to Variety, Anna “[yearns] to feel like a woman again, even in a stranger’s arms.” Sinai wrote the short as well.
Another female filmmaker took home honors too. Hungary’s Nadja Andrasev tied for Third Prize with the memorably titled “The Noise of Licking,” an animated short focused on a cat. Andrasev attends Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design.
Japanese director Naomi Kawase headed the Cinefondation jury. Kawase is a regular at Cannes: after winning the Caméra d’Or award at the 1997 fest, she’s gone on to screen a number of films there, including the 2007 Grand Prix-winner “The Mourning Forest.”
Check out a trailer for “Anna” below.
