The 21st edition of the Troia International Film Festival (Festroia) concluded last Saturday evening (June 4) with the announcement and presentation of the Dolphin and Audience Awards, held in the historic Forum Luisa Todi, the Festival’s main screening venue. The Gold Dolphin Prize, for the Best Film in the Festival’s Official Competition section, was awarded to TURTLES CAN FLY, a humanistic drama from Iran, directed by Bahman Ghobadi. The film, which follows the story of several refugee ch...

The FIPRESCI jury gave their nod to my own personal favorite, "Bombon El Perro" (BOMBON, The Dog), an Argentine film by Carlos Sorin who won a jury prize here two years ago with “Minimal Stories”. This director works characteristically with non-professional actors who appear in his films under their real names, “Bom-Bon” is the name of a docile white mastiff who shares the lead with a gentle man from Patagonia by the name of Juan Villegas. Juan is a dog raiser and “expositor” �...