Kafkaesque court drama Loynes wins LABO section, special mention goes to Someone to Steal Horses With

The winners of the experimental film section LABO, which presented ten films offering unexpected combinations of traditional techniques with new technologies and fresh approaches to narrative and visual form, were decided by poet and writer Marek Torčík, visual artist Václav Jirásek, and musician Pavla Bastlová, performing under the pseudonym Tokyo Drift.

The main prize, along with a €1,000 award, went to the Kafkaesque court drama Loynes by Belgian director Dorian Jespers, set in 19th-century Liverpool. In this surreal film, a corpse without a name or past finds itself on the defendant’s bench. The jury praised the film, saying: “For a multi-layered study of characters who, in their multitude, seem to emerge from the shadows and then return to dreams. For a screenplay that could stand on its own in literary form. And also for the work with non-professional actors.”

The LABO section’s special recognition was awarded to Someone to Steal Horses With by American multimedia artist Dylan Pailes-Friedman. The film’s main character is a horse who, on the occasion of the release of its new book, reflects on the nature of memory – disrupting the everyday life of the inhabitants of the city of Grand Theft Auto: Los Santos. “Above all, for the wisdom of horses and their archetypal language, which would work even with closed eyes. And also for visual innovation,” the jury stated.

Both films will be available to watch online as part of the festival’s digital program on the streaming platform KVIFF.TV from March 1 to 22. 

The partner of the LABO competition is the fashion brand Medicine.