“THE POOL OR DEATH OF A GOLDFISH” WINS THE YOUTH JURY AWARD
The short animated film The Pool or Death of a Goldfish, directed by Daria Kopiec, has received the Best Short F(r)iction Youth Jury award at this year’s FrontDoc International Film Festival. The festival took place from 8 to 15 November in Aosta – a small, picturesque town in northern Italy.
FrontDoc – Festival Internazionale del Cinema di Frontiera has been held in Aosta since 2008. Initially conceived by Luciano Barisone and Carlo Chatrian as a showcase of documentary cinema for the local audience, it has, since 2016, grown into a fully fledged international festival organized by the Associazione Promozione dell’Audiovisivo Valle d’Aosta ETS.
The festival offers an extensive programme centered around an international competition featuring works of high artistic value. Each year, over 700 films from around 100 countries are submitted for selection. The theme of this year’s edition emphasized that borders are not walls but rather “fractures in the body of the world” – spaces of tension, control, but also of everyday, often invisible resistance. True to its mission, FrontDoc focuses on stories that explore these liminal areas: from documentary and fiction to animation and radical experimentation.
It is within this framework that Daria Kopiec’s award-winning animation finds its place. “The Pool or Death of a Goldfish” tells the story of Maria, trapped under the control of a possessive mother. Years of suppressed anger lead the protagonist toward an inner and physical metamorphosis – a slow immersion that becomes a metaphor for liberation and self-acceptance. The film is a moving parable about guilt and forgiveness, crafted in a visually evocative and emotionally charged style.
More information about the festival and the awarded films can be found here.