Two Gates of Sleep takes top prize at CPH PIX

US director Alistair Banks Griffin’s feature debut, Two Gates of Sleep – ”a strong spiritual experience, which we admired,” per the jury – won the New Talent Grand PIX award at Copenhagen’s CPH PIX international film festival, which ended Sunday.

Griffin’s received the €30,000 ($44,400) prize from the jury - Danish, Paris-based producer Marianne Slot, New York arthouse curator Jackie Raynal, German director Benjamin Heisenberg – during the closing ceremony at Copenhagen’s Pressen. His film follows to brothers on an upriver journey to honour their mother’s final wish.

The Politiken Audience Award, with DKK 100,000 ($20,000) support for the Danish release, went to Italian director Saverio Costanzo’s The Solitude of Prime Numbers (La solitudine dei numeri primi), while Norwegian composer Gaute Storås left with the Nordic Film Composers’ €10,000 ($14,800) honour for Lise I Osvoll’s Elias and the Hunt for the Gold of the Sea (Elias og jakten på havets gull).

While Danish cinemas were about 40% down in April earnings, due to exceptional weather and holidays, the fourth CPH PIX will most likely match last year’s 40,000 admissions, at least get very close, according to festival director Jacob Neiiendam, still waiting for the statistics from the extended, 18-day event.

”It is difficult to judge how much the extra eight days of festival has given us, but my feeling is what we will do it again. A rather slow start, with the focus on the Andrzej Zulawski retrospective – he is not well-known here, still audience flocked to his films – was made up for by a huge influx for the competition directors.

”We have also been very fortunate that a lot of local filmmakers have participated in our events, and met with international festival guests and colleagues,” Neiiendam concluded. – The programme of this year’s CPH PIX, which ends on Wednesday, has included 160 new films and more than 400 screenings.