After a first virtual edition, Reims Polar welcomed cinema fans and more particularly thrillers for 5 days. A festival which notably paid tribute to Vincent Lindon, and unveiled its big winners on April 9. Awards.
Passion, emotions and palpitations: here is a brief summary of what this 2nd edition of Reims Polar made the public feel. From April 5 to 10, the City of Coronations was indeed adorned in black to crown the most beautiful detective films of the year, from all walks of life. From Spain to Poland, from Kazakhstan to Ukraine, from China to France, genre cinema has put on its finest finery and allowed spectators to travel around the world.
After a first 100% virtual year, the event settled in Reims in front of a large crowd, and paid tribute to masters of the genre such as Walter Hill (Driver), Martin Campbell (Casino Royale), and Rodrigo Sorogoyen (El Reino), without forgetting Vincent Lindon who was awarded an honorary prize by Claire Denis.
At the end of 5 days of festival, the jury chaired by Niels Arestrup awarded its Grand Prize to Assault, a film directed by the Kazakh Adilkhan Yerzhanov and describing a hostage-taking in a high school lost in the middle of the snow of Kazakhstan. If it also received the Critics’ Prize, this feature film is not the only one to score a double since The Execution, by Russian Lado Kvataniya, won the Jury Prize and the Special Police Prize.
For their part, the jurors of the Sang Neuf selection, led by Marie Drucker, rewarded Cadejo Blanco (Guatemala) and Fires in the plain (China), while the Audience Prize was awarded to the Lithuanian film The Generation of Evil .
ALL REIMS POLAR 2022 AWARDS
Grand Prize
Assault, by Adikhan Yerzhanov (Kazakhstan)
Jury Prize
Are you lonesome tonight?, by Wen Shipei (China
The Execution, by Lado Kvataniya (Russia)
Special Police Award
The Execution, by Lado Kvataniya (Russia)
Critics’ Prize
Assault, by Adikhan Yerzhanov (Kazakhstan)
Audience Award
The Generation of Evil, by Emilis Velyvis (Lithuania)
New Blood Price
Cadejo Blanco by Justin Lerner (Guatemala)
New Blood Prize of the Young Jury of the Grand Est Region
Fires in the plain, by Zhang Ji (China)