Here is their press release:
The award was determined by a jury of seven aspiring film critics, Alastair Livesley, Hanna Kubicka and Liam Bartie from the University of Glasgow; Helen Aitken and Rebecca Raab from the University of Edinburgh; Harrison Kelly from the University of Dundee and Ross Hamilton from the University of St Andrews who were under the guidance of international film critics Jonathan Rosenbaum, former critic for the Chicago Reader; Dana Linssen, chief film critic of leading Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad and editor-in-chief of the Dutch monthly De Filmkrant; and London Evening Standard critic Derek Malcolm.
The Student Critics Jury citation read: "Whilst we have seen a diverse and colourful selection of films this year, none were more compelling or innovative than our chosen film. Telling a deeply harrowing story through an accomplished central performance and a rigidly disciplined single-camera setup, this remarkable feat of filmmaking left the whole jury speechless."
Jon Sadler, Head of Marketing, Arrow Films said: "We are totally thrilled that STATIONS OF THE CROSS is gaining more festival accolades after its Berlin win and it is especially pleasing coming from a young jury who have obviously responded so positively to the film and its young protagonist. At a time when society is increasingly debating the role of faith in schools and how young people are brought up within strong religious environments it's rewarding to see a film that addresses those issues so uncompromisingly being so well received. We very much hope that more young people seek out the film on the back of this win. "
STATIONS OF THE CROSS is the allegorical adventures of a young girl on the edge of adulthood filmed in 14 long takes corresponding to the 14 stations of the cross. The parents of 14-year-old Maria belong to a fundamentalist Catholic community and have raised her according to the tenets of their strict faith. At school, Maria must face the jeers of her secular classmates for trying to remain true to her religion, while at home she lives under the constant disapproval of her mother who demands ever-more painful self-abnegations from her.
Maria lives her everyday life in the modern world, yet her heart belongs to Jesus. She wants to follow him, to become a saint and go to heaven - just like all those holy children she's always been told about. Maria goes through 14 stations, just like Jesus did on his path to Golgatha, and reaches her goal in the end. Not even Christian, a boy she meets at school, can stop her, even if in another world, they might have become friends, or even lovers. Left behind is a broken family that finds comfort in faith, and the question if all these events were really so inevitable.
" Image from EIFF website"
Origin: invocation-rituals.blogspot.com
