Russian Leviathan wins top honour at Camerimage

Mikhail Krichman receives the "Golden Frog" for Leviathan at the Camerimage festival. Photo: PAP/Tytus Żmijewski

This is the latest in a growing list of accolades won by the film in recent weeks, including Best Screenplay at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival.

Leviathan is a modern-day interpretation of the Book of Job, an Old Testament which addresses the theme of human suffering.

In the film, a local land owner, Dmitri, battles a corrupt mayor who wants to take over his plot. Further despair ensues as Dmitri employs an immoral lawyer to help him.

“The pleasure of the film lies in its forensic skill at unpicking the intersecting layers of governmental corruption and calumny that doom the working class from the outset,” wrote Sight and Sound magazine in a glowing review.

The Russian feature film is the country’s official entry to this year’s Academy Awards.

Other wins at Camerimage included Omar (Palestine, dir. Hany Abu-Assad) and Mommy (Canada, dir. Xavier Dolan), which won the Silver and Bronze prizes respectively.

Camerimage is a world renowned festival dedicated to cinematography. It has been held since 1993. (rg)

Source: PAP