Film Festival | Two first features in competition, nominated for the Oscars and prized with a Lion in Venice screening on Tuesday at IFFAM

Macau (MNA) – The Tuesday round of films in competition at the International Film Festival and Awards • Macao (IFFAM) brings two first features from directors based in the UK and France, which have already collected awards and nominations.

My Pure Land

My Pure Land is Sarmad Masud’s first feature film and the UK’s choice for submission to this year’s foreign language Oscar category. The feature premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in June. Mr. Masud’s debut short film Two Dosas (2014), which was funded by Film London, was voted best film in its London Calling Plus category by Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts director David Yates.

Synopsis

The true story of a young woman called Nazo who, together with her mother and sister, are forced to defend their home after a bitter family feud leads to her father’s incarceration. In their isolated farmhouse in Pakistan, the women find themselves surrounded by armed men hired by their uncle Mehrban to take back the land. But Nazo is not easily beaten and when two of his men are killed in the attack, Mehrban calls in a local militia group of 200 armed bandits. But even with only a handful of bullets left, Nazo refuses to give in.

Custody

Custody is the first feature film of French director Xavier Legrand, premiered in competition at the Venice Film Festival in September, winning the best director and Lion of the Future award for best debut film in the festival. The movie is an expansion of Mr. Legrand’s first short Just Before Losing Everything, which was nominated for an Oscar for best live action short film and won the best short film Cesar Award in 2014.

Synopsis

Myriam and Antoine Besson have divorced, and Myriam seeks sole custody of their 12-year old son Julien to protect him from a father she claims is violent and abusive. Antoine effectively pleads his case as a scorned man and the appointed judge rules in favour of joint custody. But his disturbed father really does have ulterior motives to regain control of his traumatised ex-wife’s life, and Julien is held hostage to the escalating conflict between his parents. The boy is pushed to the edge to prevent the worst possible outcome.

The films are being screened at the Macao Cultural Centre. A total of ten films are in competition, with some still being screened until tomorrow, December 13. Read MNA previous reports from December 9 and December 10 to know the full list.