The jury prize went to the social drama “The Story of Solomon” by director Boris Luzhkin. As for the debut feature by Somali-Austrian director Mo Haraway, “The Village Next To Paradise,” which was also nominated for an award, it left empty-handed.

This year's Best Director award was shared by Roberto Minferfini (The Damned) and Rungano Nyoni (On Becoming a Guinea Fowl). The jury, headed by Canadian director Xavier Dolan, chose Abu Sinjari for the movie “The Story of Solomon” as the best actor, while Anasuya Sengupta for the movie “The Shameless” won the best actress award. Louise Courvoisier won the Young Talent Award for the film “The Sacred Cow,” while the film “Noura” by director Tawfiq Al-Zaidi received a special mention.

Award favorite “The Village Next to Paradise” went empty-handed

The film “The Village Next to Paradise” by director Hawari, who also wrote the screenplay, did not win an award. In his first feature film, the director, who was born in Mogadishu in 1992 and came to Austria as a refugee at the age of 17, is now an Austrian citizen and has made a name for himself in the short film scene as an autodidact. It tells the story of a family and their fears in a village in Somalia and gives an insight into the difficult and unfamiliar daily life in this East African country.

Høyer can still hope for an award, as he is also eligible for the Caméra d'Or for Debut Film. These prizes will be awarded tomorrow, Saturday, on the Croisette – the same day as the prizes in the main competition. However, there is no Austrian film competing for the Palme d'Or here.