Villa Medici Film Festival: Winners of the Sixth Edition

The sixth edition of the Villa Medici Film Festival in Rome has come to a close, as every year, with all five days selling out (5,000 attendees). The festival takes place in the magnificent setting of the French Academy in Rome. The jury for this edition, dedicated to the memory of Lili Hinstin, who was a central pillar of the festival, was composed of Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Rosa Barba, and Radu Jude, and it announced the winners: two prizes and a special mention among the 12 feature films in competition. The recognition for Best Film and the Jury Prize provide a prize of €5,000 and €3,000 respectively, in addition to the opportunity for the winning filmmakers to undertake a residency at Villa Medici. The Villa Medici Award for Best Film went to Marie Madeleine by Gessica Généus; the Jury Prize was awarded to Tutti Frutti by Céline Sciamma; finally, the film by Dean Wei The Apple doesn’t fall… received the Special Mention.

The awarded films at the sixth edition of the Villa Medici Film Festival

1. Marie Madeleine: In Jacmel, Haiti, Marie Madeleine lives off prostitution. Her path crosses with Joseph, a young evangelist. Between these two beings at opposite ends of the spectrum, a relationship is born. While Joseph’s faith wavers, Marie Madeleine drags him into a world where desire and the pursuit of freedom make everything possible. Gessica Généus is a Haitian actress, director and producer. She founded Ayizan Production to promote and produce cinema from Haiti. Her documentary Douvan jou ka leve (2017) has won prizes at several festivals. Her feature Freda (2021) drew attention at Cannes, confirming her importance in Caribbean cinema. Motivation of the jury: “For her exploration of what happens when faith becomes both a refuge and a prison, when morality becomes a weapon and when the desire for freedom begins to shake all that we were taught to believe; for the courage of her vision and the extraordinary humanity of her cinema, the Villa Medici Award for Best Film goes to Marie Madeleine by Gessica Généus.”
2. Tutti frutti: Since she began creating her own images, alone, with her tools, Céline Sciamma has accumulated an intimate archive. Put together, these fragments — from AI to ASMR, from commitment to Adèle Haenel’s process — compose a filmed diary and a treatise on what the image becomes today. A graduate in screenwriting from the FEMIS, Céline Sciamma directed her first film, Naissance des pieuvres, in 2007, followed by Tomboy (2011) and Bande de filles (2014). Parallel to her work as a filmmaker, she pursues screenwriting, notably for Ma vie de courgette (2016) and Quand on a 17 ans by André Téchiné. In 2019, Portrait de la jeune femme en feu (Ritratto della giovane in fiamme) won the prize for best screenplay at Cannes. Motivation of the jury: “For her refusal of the logic of the ‘more and more’, for her ability to weave together the political and the personal, the story and the present, cinema, painting, literature, music, and even TikTok, and for her way of embodying Stan Brakhage’s desire to see professional cinema inspired by amateurs, the Jury Prize goes to Tutti Frutti by Céline Sciamma.”
3. The Apple Doesn’t Fall… In a house, a father, a mother and a teenage daughter follow their own routines, intersecting without ever meeting. A choreographed theatre-film that blends contemporary dance and painted scrolls to observe a family imprisoned by their rituals. Born in Germany, Dean Wei is a graduate of the Beijing Film Academy. Now based in Beijing, he works as a director, composer and cinematographer. His previous film, Ke wai huo dong (Extracurricular Activity), co-produced with Xu Yidan, was selected at the Berlinale Shorts 2025 for the Best Short Film prize. Motivation of the jury: “For its staging of the complexity, often silenced, of family relations, for its singular cinematographic language and deep acuity, the jury awards a Special Mention to The Apple doesn’t fall by Dean Wei.”