Laura Carreira's wins award at London Film Festival
The Portuguese director won the debut feature competition at the 68th London Film Festival, UK, with "On Falling," which had already won in San Sebastián.
What?
Laura Carreira’s “On Falling” claimed the Sutherland Award in the first feature competition for debut filmmakers, becoming the first British winner of the prize since Clio Barnard in 2010.
The jury described On Falling as “a richly layered portrait of a world driven by corporate profit motives, as seen in the story of an immigrant woman whose deep sense of alienation is told with masterful cinematic precision and subtlety, brought to life through the performances,” according to a statement released by the festival’s organizers.
For the jurors, On Falling is a "powerful, hypnotic, and bold" debut feature film.
Background
In all her films, Laura Carreira explores issues related to work and precariousness.
On Falling follows Aurora, played by Joana Santos, a young Portuguese woman struggles to make ends meet across one week in her adopted home of Glasgow, Scotland.
Long days spent grabbing packages off shelves for an anonymous e-commerce giant barely cover the bills and leave her exhausted and desperate for something more.
The movie is set against a landscape dominated by an algorithm-driven gig economy that is designed to keep us apart.
Read what we wrote previously about the movie and Laura Carreira here.