The dark, haunting and brooding music intensifies the experience of watching the film. Beautifully written, with an intelligent use of piano effects, the score works like an extra character added to the unfortunate family. From beginning to end, the music captivates the underlying tensions, the hidden truths and lies, and guides you through the story, without being too overtly present.

The simplicity and clarity of the costumes intensify the images and underline the substantial message of the film. The clash between the human element and the natural environment is reflected in the texture, the colours and the design of the costumes, at the same time contributing to the personality of the characters and giving them life. They form an integral part of the storytelling, along with all the other visual elements, and together they create a powerful viewing experience.

From the very beginning, Robin Campillo's editing underlines perfectly the desperate personal urgency of the ACT UP activists and their manifestations. Be it at a pharmaceutical corporation or at a conference, the edit makes the tempo and contributes to the urgency of the film in perfect harmony with framing and story.

In BRIMSTONE, Leendert van Nimwegen, with make-up and hair, helps the characters and their development throughout the film, from play- and colourful, to sober and sinister, the good, the bad, the young, the old. It is a perfect combination of hair and make-up to describe characters, so beautifully done, and making them real.

With great artistic sensibility, the production design in THE SQUARE elevates the film by creating a world at the edge to the surreal. In this way the scenography is able to integrate and interact with the story without ever dominating over it. This is the great artistic quality of Josefin Åsberg.

Ghent

Uppsala

Valladolid

Cork

Rotterdam

Clermont-Ferrand

Tampere

Krakow

Vila do Conde

Locarno

Sarajevo

Venice

Drama

The sound design in A MONSTER CALLS is the power of imagination. Sonically, it takes us into a completely new, unknown world, and does exactly what the filmmaker wants the audience to feel when they're watching something unfold on screen: It creates a sense of eeriness, a sense of mood, a sense of darkness ... resulting in a well-crafted collaboration between sound and visuals.

The cold eye of Michail Krichman guides us through the film's dark universe, consequently constructing an intense feeling of discomfort. The camera conveys a strong sense of darkness, emptiness and sadness. The choice of what is shown and what stays hidden, gives tremendous weight to every movement of the camera, every carefully constructed frame. Ascetic and well-measured cinematic means evoke an uncanny sense of anxiety, a slight internal tremor.

"HEARTSTONE is a story about exploration of identities and growing up within an isolated Icelandic community. It highlights the pressure placed on people to conform to particular gender conventions and social norms. The film offers an individual and unique perspective on the difficulty of experiencing and suppressing same-sex attraction in small, disconnected communities. As an up and coming talent, Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson delivers an immersive story visualized by overwhelming natural landscapes and beautiful performances. It stands out not only because it is a good film, but also because it explores relevant contemporary issues within today's society."