Courmayeur Noir in Festival Awards 'Headhunters' with Top Prize

ROME – The Courmayeur Noir in Festival on Saturday presented Hodejegerne (Headhunters), a thriller from Norwegian director Tyldum Morten with the Valle d’Aosta Black Lion Award as the festival’s top film.

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The film festival, which got underway Dec. 5, has been held each of the last 21 years year in the village of Courmayeur, in the shadow of Mont Blanc, high in the Alps in northwestern Italy. It focuses on noir films and has attracted a cult following from around Europe and elsewhere.

The five-member jury, headed by U.S. novelist and screenwriter Lawrene Block, awarded Hodejegerne for a film style the jury said was “engrossing, entertaining, and full of suspense.” The film tells the tale of a successful headhunter who takes great risks to own a valuable work of art owned by a mercenary, and his notable for telling its story without relying on a fixed point of view.

The jury awarded its special jury prize to Hashoter (Policeman) from Israeli director Nadav Lapid, and it recognized Jean-Pierre Darroussin as best actor for his work in the noir drama De Bon Matin (Early One Morning), saying Darroussin showed “great skill in playing a complex character.”

Earlier, the festival gave its Raymong Chandler Award for literature two European writers: Andrea Camilleri and Petros Markaris.

Though the festival handed out its prizes Saturday it officially closes after a final round of screenings and side events on Sunday.