Light up the Void  

Lucile Hadžihalilović, a well-established critical and international acclaim

With The Ice Tower, released in 2025, Lucile Hadžihalilović delivers a film that marks a decisive step in her career and confirms her unique place in the landscape of international auteur cinema. True to her sensory and enigmatic style, the director offers a dark and hypnotic reinterpretation of Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen, featuring a performance by Marion Cotillard.

The film first gained recognition at major festivals. Selected for the official competition at the Berlinale, The Ice Tower received the Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution, a major award that recognized the film's aesthetic coherence and visual power. This award established Lucile Hadžihalilović among European filmmakers whose work is acknowledged for its formal rigor and artistic singularity.

The film's international career continues at specialized festivals. At the Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival, The Ice Tower won the Narcissus Award for Best Feature Film, confirming the resonance its universe has found in the field of fantasy and experimental cinema.

This institutional recognition is widely reported in the press. In France, Le Monde praises a work of great visual mastery, evoking an "enchanting" fable and highlighting the filmmaker's ability to make the tale a space of unease and fascination, where the image takes precedence over the explanatory narrative.

Internationally, The Guardian hailed the film as one of the cinematic events of the year. The British newspaper praised it as a "strange and captivating fairy tale," driven by icy direction and remarkable performances from the actresses, and ranked The Ice Tower among the best films of 2025 in the UK. This critical acclaim confirms the film's appeal beyond the strictly French art-house cinema scene.

Following Innocence, Evolution, and Earwig, The Ice Tower emerges as a film of maturity, both demanding and widely acclaimed. Awarded by juries and supported by French and Anglo-Saxon critics, Lucile Hadžihalilović has established herself in 2025 as one of the most consistent and respected voices in contemporary auteur cinema.