"This award is intended to acknowledge and support an up-and-coming filmmaker from around the world for their achievements in narrative filmmaking whom the Award Jury expects will make significant contributions to the art of film in the course of their filmmaking career. We have selected Sofia Djama's stunning debut film The Blessed. Working from her own script and aided by a brilliant cast, Djama displays an uncommon command of cinematic language, as she weaves together a multigenerational narrative that follows a couple, their teenage son and his friends over a 24-hour period as they navigate their lives in the wake of decade-long Algerian Civil War. With keen observation, deep empathy and a sophisticated understanding of history and psychology, Djama takes us to a place and time where every encounter threatens to sow more division, open old wounds, and pose new dangers. Yet, Djama succeeds in illuminating this bleak view of her world via intimate and compassionate portraits of people caught in the nightmare of history."
