Film Critics Award – In Memory of Angela Baldassarre

The Toronto Film Critics Association Jury voted Claudio Giovannesi’s Fiore as Best Film at the Italian Contemporary Film Festival in Canada. The Prize was announced by Jim Slotek, representing the Jury, during the Closing Gala of the Festival.

“Other people have spoken earlier about the universality of the films at this festival. And it’s true that you do not have to speak Italian or be Italian to be touched by the themes in the films we’ve seen – and particularly in the film we’ve chosen as the winner.
Fiore is the story of a teenage girl who is arrested for theft and ends up in reform school. It suggests that we share with Italian society the belief that a person who commits a crime should be sent to the most dehumanizing place we can create. And somehow they will become a better person there.
Ironically, the central character in Fiore does become a better person – in spite of her surroundings. We hate her at the beginning of the movie and we cheer for her at the end.
Only the best filmmakers can pull off this kind of character arc. And only the best actresses can make it work.
The Toronto Critics Association is proud to give its award this year to… FIORE!”

Toronto Film Critics Association Jury

JIM SLOTEK
KAREN GORDON
GILBERT SEAH
ANDREW PARKER