by Inkoo Kang

Italian director Laura Bispuri has won the third annual Nora Ephron prize at the Tribeca Film Festival. Awarded to female filmmakers "with a distinctive voice" since 2013, the recognition comes with a $25,000 cash prize. Bispuri earned the award with her transgender odyssey "Sworn Virgin," about an Albanian woman who becomes a chaste man (per custom) to avoid marriage, then reclaims her female identity years later.

In an interview with Women and Hollywood, Bispuri said of her film, "This story contains important and contemporary reflections about femininity and, in general, about the meaning of human freedom. I think this is an original story and it takes the viewer into a little known story, then invites the viewer to consider universal questions."

Read more

Source: http://blogs.indiewire.com/