ICS Finds a Hidden Love Letter in Trenque Lauquen
Honoring films shown worldwide in 2022.
The enigma of time and the surreal questioning of existence itself characterized our winning film at this year’s ICS Awards. Despite only four nominations, Trenque Lauquen came back to write its own destiny with a surprising best picture win, while Laura Citarella tied for best director. The 4-hour Argentine saga tells the uncanny story of a woman who obsessively pursues one mystery after another, while her own disappearance is being investigated by two men who love her, but don’t really know her. This eerie masterpiece also took top honors for its weirdly engaging original screenplay by the two Lauras, Citarella and writer-actress Laura Paredes, and for its outstanding ensemble cast.
The other directing award went to Albert Serra for Pacifiction, in which white-suited politician De Roller (Benoît Magimel) tries to unravel the murky intentions of an admiral and his crew, as dubious characters lurk in the shadows of his island paradise and an alluring woman smiles at him. It soon becomes apparent that if there really is anything fishy going on, he will be the last to know. Jordi Ribas and Bruno Tarrière took a prize for the film’s immersive sound design; and Artur Tort was honored for his glorious cinematography, capturing both the sunlit surface of paradise and its dark underbelly.
Aftersun became our other most-awarded film with four wins, including Charlotte Wells for best debut feature and Blair McClendon for the film’s impactful editing. Paul Mescal took lead actor honors as a depressed father, mired in despair, yet still hoping to connect with his 11-year-old daughter on their vacation trip to Turkey. And as the young girl coming of age, Frankie Corio, in a delightfully natural turn, earned our breakthrough performance award.
Guslagie Malanda (Saint Omer) won lead actress for her stunning portrayal of a Senegalese immigrant accused of killing her child, as she is caught in the cultural divide between the French legal system and her belief that the baby was cursed by witchcraft. Supporting actress went to Kristen Stewart for her very strange turn as a surgery groupie in David Cronenberg’s return to body horror, Crimes of the Future; that film also swallowed up the production design trophy for the gut-wrenching work of Carol Spier, Dimitris Katsikis and Kimberley Zaharko. And in Patricia Mazuy’s dark thriller Saturn Bowling, our supporting actor winner Achille Reggiani gave a mind-blowing performance as a rejected son metamorphosing into a monster.
Winners of the adapted screenplay award were Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch for Le Otto Montagne, their poetic rendering of the novel by Paolo Cognetti about a lifelong friendship. And EO, the wandering donkey movie, won best score for composer Pawel Mykietyn’s evocation of a little donkey’s emotional journey.
From artwork to film, politics to religion, Covid lockdowns to refugee camps, best documentary winner Tales of the Purple House gave us a fascinating view of modern Lebanon, courtesy of filmmaker Abbas Fahdel and his wife, artist Nour Ballouk. Finally, in a very tight race, the animated film award went to Alain Ughetto‘s No Dogs or Italians Allowed, another exploration of the migrant experience, this time set amongst Italian workers in France in the early 20th century.
The full list of ICS winners and nominees appears below.
PICTURE
01. Trenque Lauquen
02. Pacifiction
03. Aftersun
04. Saint Omer
05. TÁR
06. EO
07. The Fabelmans
08. Saturn Bowling
09. The Maiden
10. Godland
11. The Banshees of Inisherin
12. Crimes of the Future
13. Decision to Leave
14. Coma
15. Tommy Guns
16. The Novelist’s Film
17. Alcarràs
18. Unrest
19. Showing Up
20. You Have to Come and See It
DIRECTOR
Winner: Laura Citarella – Trenque Lauquen
Winner: Albert Serra – Pacifiction
• Alice Diop – Saint Omer
• Todd Field – TÁR
• Patricia Mazuy – Saturn Bowling
• Jerzy Skolimowski – EO
• Charlotte Wells – Aftersun
ACTOR
Winner: Paul Mescal – Aftersun
RU: Benoît Magimel – Pacifiction
• Colin Farrell – The Banshees of Inisherin
• Cosmo Jarvis – It Is In Us All
• Luca Marinelli – Le Otto Montagne
• Park Hae-il – Decision to Leave
ACTRESS
Winner: Guslagie Malanda – Saint Omer
RU: Cate Blanchett – TÁR
• Vicky Krieps – Corsage
• Rosy McEwen – Blue Jean
• Park Ji-Min – Return to Seoul
• Tang Wei – Decision to Leave
SUPPORTING ACTOR
Winner: Achille Reggiani – Saturn Bowling
RU: Ingvar Sigurðsson – Godland
• Alessandro Borghi – Le Otto Montagne
• Barry Keoghan – The Banshees of Inisherin
• Ke Huy Quan – Everything Everywhere All at Once
• Luis Zahera – As Bestas
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Winner: Kristen Stewart – Crimes of the Future
RU: Pahoa Mahagafanau – Pacifiction
• Hong Chau – Showing Up
• Kerry Condon – The Banshees of Inisherin
• Dolly de Leon – Triangle of Sadness
• Michelle Williams – The Fabelmans
ENSEMBLE
Winner: Trenque Lauquen
RU: Alcarràs
• The Banshees of Inisherin
• The Fabelmans
• Les Amandiers
• Triangle of Sadness
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Winner: Trenque Lauquen – Laura Citarella, Laura Paredes
RU: Saint Omer – Amrita David, Alice Diop, Marie NDiaye
• Aftersun – Charlotte Wells
• The Banshees of Inisherin – Martin McDonagh
• Pacifiction – Baptiste Pinteaux, Albert Serra
• TÁR – Todd Field
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Winner: Le Otto Montagne – Charlotte Vandermeersch, Felix van Groeningen
RU: A Flower in the Mouth – Eric Baudelaire, Anne-Louise Trividic
• Bones and All – David Kajganich
• Both Sides of the Blade – Claire Denis
• EO – Ewa Piaskowska, Jerzy Skolimowski
• Women Talking – Sarah Polley, Miriam Toews
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Winner: Pacifiction – Artur Tort
RU: Godland – Maria von Hausswolff
• Aftersun – Gregory Oke
• Decision to Leave – Kim Ji-yong
• EO – Michal Dymek
• The Kings of the World – David Gallego
EDITING
Winner: Aftersun – Blair McClendon
RU: Decision to Leave – Kim Sang-beom
• Everything Everywhere All at Once – Paul Rogers
• Moonage Daydream – Brett Morgen
• Pacifiction – Albert Serra, Artur Tort, Ariadna Ribas
• TÁR – Monika Willi
PRODUCTION DESIGN
Winner: Crimes of the Future – Carol Spier, Dimitris Katsikis, Kimberley Zaharko
RU: Bardo: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths – Eugenio Caballero
RU: Decision to Leave – Ryu Seong-hie
• Coma – Anna Bonello, Gaston Portejoie, Daphné Yvon
• Pacifiction – Sebastian Vogler
• Saturn Bowling – Thierry François, Dorian Maloine
SCORE
Winner: EO – Pawel Mykietyn
RU: Decision to Leave – Jo Yeong-wook
• Aftersun – Oliver Coates
• Crimes of the Future – Howard Shore
• Nope – Michael Abels
• Stars at Noon – Tindersticks
SOUND DESIGN
Winner: Pacifiction – Jordi Ribas, Bruno Tarrière
RU: Unrest – Roland Widmer, Miguel Moraes Cabral, Guido Keller
• Aftersun – Jovan Ajder
• EO – Radoslaw Ochnio, Marta Weronska, Suraj Bardia
• Nope – Johnnie Burn, José Antonio Garcia
• TÁR – Deb Adair, Stephen Griffiths, Andy Shelley, Steve Single, Roland Winke
ANIMATED FILM
Winner: No Dogs or Italians Allowed – Alain Ughetto
RU: Fairytale – Aleksandr Sokurov
• Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood – Richard Linklater
• Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio – Guillermo del Toro
• Inu-Oh – Masaaki Yuasa
• Marcel the Shell with Shoes On – Dean Fleischer Camp
DOCUMENTARY
Winner: Tales of the Purple House – Abbas Fahdel
RU: All the Beauty and the Bloodshed – Laura Poitras
• Anhell69 – Theo Montoya
• De Humani Corporis Fabrica – Verena Paravel, Lucien Castaing-Taylor
• Malintzin 17 – Mara Polgovsky Ezcurra, Eugenio Polgovsky
• Moonage Daydream – Brett Morgen
DEBUT FEATURE
Winner: Aftersun – Charlotte Wells
RU: The Maiden – Graham Foy
• Blue Jean – Georgia Oakley
• Eismayer – David Wagner
• It Is In Us All – Antonia Campbell-Hughes
• Safe Place – Juraj Lerotić
• Saint Omer – Alice Diop
BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE
Winner: Frankie Corio – Aftersun
RU: Guslagie Malanda – Saint Omer
• Eden Dambrine – Close
• Kayije Kagame – Saint Omer
• Gabriel LaBelle – The Fabelmans
• Nadia Tereszkiewicz – Les Amandiers