‘Soumsoum, The Night of the Stars’ Wins Fipresci Honor, ‘Moscas’ Wows Ecumenical Jury

Berlin competition titles Soumsoum, the Night of the Stars, and Moscas won over the independent juries at this year’s Berlinale, with Soumsoum, from Franco-Chadian auteur Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, taking top prize for best film from the Fipresci jury of international film critics, and Moscas from Mexican Director Fernando Eimbcke, winning the top honor of this year’s Ecumenical jury.

Soumsoum follows a 17-year-old girl haunted by visions and supernatural powers she cannot understand. In our review, The Hollywood Reporter critic Jordan Mintzer called the film “a modern-day fable of adolescence and resilience that plays, at times, like a classic teen horror flick — minus the jump scares but with similar twists and motifs.” Films Boutique is handling worldwide sales.

The black-and-white drama Moscas plays on a sweeter register, following a young boy who, while waiting for news of his hospitalized mother, slowly breaks down the resistance of a lonely woman who…