“Sirat” won Gold Hugo for Best Film at the 61st Chicago International Film Festival.
Via a video sent from the location of his current production, director Oliver Laxe accepted the award in the International Feature Film competition.
In a Best of the Fest slot, “Sirat” screens 3 p.m. Sunday at AMC NewCity 14, 1500 N. Clybourn Ave. (Standby tickets only.) This thoughtful thriller is set in the Moroccan rave scene with geopolitical chaos in the distance. It gets a limited Chicago release on Feb. 10 by the distributor Neon.
“Sirat” is Spain’s submission to the Academy Awards for Best International Feature. Laxe opens his intriguing and gripping road movie with a title stating the Arabic word “sirat” means a bridge between hell and paradise that’s as “thin as a strand of hair and sharp as a sword.”
On Friday night at AMC NewCity 14, festival juries gave 15 other awards in the New Directors, International Documentary, OutLook and Short Film competitions. Winning features include: “Bouchra,” “Oca,” “Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk,” “Short Summer,” “Sound of Falling,” “The Tale of Silyan,” “The Voice of Hind Rajab” and “A Useful Ghost.”
Individual craft awards went to screenwriter Paolo Sorrentino, cinematographer Gergely Pálos, and actors Wagner Moura and Eszter Tompa. The annual Chicago Award saluted “One Golden Summer,” a Chicago Little League documentary by Chicago director Kevin Shaw.
Besides “Sirat,” 20 other features screen Sunday, the last day of this year’s festival. Schedule and ticket info are at on the film festival’s website.