The 83rd Venice International Film Festival came to a close with awards for three titles developed by TorinoFilmLab. The International Jury chaired by French director, actress and screenwriter Valérie Donzelli assigned the awards to the films in competition in the Orizzonti section.
Jacqueline Lentzou received the Best Director Award for A DAY IN THE LIFE OF JO: CHAPTER PHAEDRA. The Greek director developed her second feature film with TorinoFilmLab in 2024, participating in FeatureLab and Green Film Lab Athens – she also won the €10,000 ARRI Award –. Lentzou had previously been a ScriptLab 2017 alumna, where she worked with TFL on the screenplay of her debut feature, Moon, 66 Questions, presented at the 2021 Berlinale.
THE CHILDREN OF THE MONKEY by Tommaso Landucci won the Best Screenplay Award – written by the Italian director and Damiano Femfert –, while the Best Actor Award went to Riccardo Scamarcio, who is also among the producers. In 2022, Landucci worked on the development of his debut feature film thanks to TFL Alpi Film Lab programme.
At the 41st SIC – Settimana Internazionale della Critica, meanwhile, OUR SHARE OF SAND by Shalini Adnani received the Audience Award. The Chilean director of Indian descent joined the TFL community by participating in TFL Extended 2019, where she worked on her debut feature film, which was presented in Venice. Last year, she took part in ScriptLab 2025, developing the screenplay of her next film.
TFL is so proud of all of you!
The awarded titles:
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF JO: CHAPTER PHAEDRA (Mia mera sti zoi tis Tzo: Kefalaio Faidra)
Director: Jacqueline Lentzou
Production: Avion Films (Greece), Atalante Productions (Greece), Kelek Film (Germany), 4A4 Productions (France), Haris&Co (Greece)
Synopsis: Jo, melancholic, wild and only fifteen, dreams of her last breath. Tiny nuances, signs and symbols of the dream plane will quietly pop up during the day, yet she recognises nothing. All she knows is that she missed the school bus, and her mom does not offer a helping hand. School feels boring and uneventful: a boyfriend that hasn’t learnt how to kiss yet, a class of no interest, random gossip. Thankfully, in singing lesson, out of the blue, everything shifts: Phaedra’s angelic voice mesmerises the whole class and makes Jo cry. In the library’s labyrinth, Jo randomly picks a shiny book but finds Phaedra. After a song, and a couple of important confessions, Jo maybe finds her first real friend ever. The two young girls set up shyly a date for the night, while the sun has his own mystic dance. However, by a simple twist of fate, Jo won’t make it tonight.
THE CHILDREN OF THE MONKEY (I figli della scimmia)
Director: Tommaso Landucci
Production: Lungta Film (Italy), Lebowski (Italy), Mosaicon Film (Italy)
Synopsis: Dario is the father of a child with a disability, to whom he devotes all his care and attention, and shares a close bond with his teenage nephew. As their relationship grows increasingly intense, he begins to see in the boy the son he had always wished for, assuming the role of the father he might have been. A tangle of projections and unspoken desires that will ultimately fracture Dario’s inner equilibrium and tear through the entire family.
OUR SHARE OF SAND
Director: Shalini Adnani
Production: Fifth Mirror Pictures (United Kingdom), Suitable Pictures (India), Heretic (Greece)
Synopsis: After years apart, 12-year-old Maya returns to India with her mother to reunite with her father – a sandmining businessman. Immersed in a world where labour, legacy and extraction collide, she forms a fragile bond with Kiran, a young worker. After a tragic accident, a police investigation turns Maya into a key witness, with her father relying on her to absolve him. Torn between loyalty and a growing unease she cannot name, Maya begins searching for the truth. As her mother quietly unravels, Maya uncovers a pattern of silence, exploitation and repeated harm forcing her to confront her father’s deception and the family’s complicity she must choose to break.
In the picture: a still from I figli della scimmia