Gabriel and the Mountain / Gabriel e a montanha by Brazilian director Fellipe Gamarano Barbosa was the winner of the France 4 Visionary Award at the 56th edition of the Critics' Week, the parallel section of the Cannes Film Festival dedicated to first and second feature films.
The Brazilian film becomes the second Latin American production to win this award, after the César Augusto Acevedo's Land and Shade / La tierra y la sombra from Colombia in 2015. The France 4 Visionary Award is given to a film for its outstanding creativity and innovation, and it comes with a cash prize of €4,000.
In Gabriel and the Mountain—based on a real story—Gabriel Buchmann decides to travel the world for one year before entering a prestigious American university, . After ten months on the road with his backpack full of dreams, immersed at the heart of various countries, he arrives in Kenya determined to discover the African continent. Until he reaches the top of Mount Mulanje, Malawi, his final destination.
Barbosa's film was also the winner of the Gan Foundation Award for Distribution, which comes with a cash prize of €20,000 destined to the French distribution of the film. This year's jury of the Critics' Week included Brazilian filmmaker Kleber Mendonça Filho and Colombian producer Diana Bustamante. The 56th edition of the the Critics' Week took place May 18-26 in Cannes, France.
