White Snail


White Snail is a 2025 German-Austrian romance film written and directed by Elsa Kremser, and Levin Peter. Starring Marya Imbro, and Mikhail Senkov, it follows Masha, a model pursuing her dream job in China, and Misha, a painter working in a morgue, in a fragile love story of two outsiders who turn each other's worlds upside down.
The film had its world premiere in the main competition of the 78th Locarno Film Festival on 8 August 2025, where it won the Special [Jury Prize (Locarno International Film Festival)|Special Jury Prize] and the Pardo for Best Performance for Imbro and Senkov.

Cast

  • Marya Imbro as Masha
  • Mikhail Senkov as Misha
  • Olga Reptuh as Olga
  • Andrei Sauchanka as Andrei

    Production

The film directed by Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter is inspired by real-life stories of non-professional actors, was shot in Belarus. It won the Perspektive Deutsches Kino – Kompagnon-Fellowship at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival in 2017 and participated at the TorinoFilmLab.
In 2021, it was selected at the TorinoFilmLab in the FeatureLab alongwith 9 other films.
In 2022, Eurimages supported the film with €300,000.
Principal photography began on 12 June 2023 on the location of Minsk in Belarus, and Daugavpils in Latvia.
The filming ended on 15 September 2023.

Release

White Snail had its World Premiere at the 78th Locarno Film Festival on 8 August 2025, and competed for Golden Leopard. A week later, it competed for Heart of Sarajevo award in the Competition Programme - Feature Film at the 31st Sarajevo Film Festival on 18 August 2025.
It was presented in Features at the Vienna International Film Festival on 19 October 2025.
It was presented in the 'Spotlight: Austria' at the 29th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival on 7 November 2025, and also in 'From The Festivals - 2025' section of the 56th [International Film Festival of India] in November 2025. It competed in Golden Olive tree Competition at the Lecce [European Film Festival] on 21 November 2025.
Rome-based Intramovies acquired the world sales rights to the film in July.

Accolades

AwardDate of ceremonyCategoryRecipientResult
Berlin International Film Festival18 February 2017Kompagnon-Fellowship – Perspektive Deutsches KinoLevin Peter and Elsa Kremser for White SnailWon
Locarno Film Festival16 August 2025Golden LeopardWhite SnailNomitated
Locarno Film Festival16 August 2025Special Jury PrizeWhite SnailWon
Locarno Film Festival16 August 2025Pardo for Best PerformanceMarya ImbroWon
Locarno Film Festival16 August 2025Pardo for Best PerformanceMikhail SenkovWon
Sarajevo Film Festival22 August 2025Heart of SarajevoWhite SnailNomitated
Sarajevo Film Festival22 August 2025CICAE AwardWhite SnailWon
Vienna International Film Festival28 October 2025Erste Bank MehrWERT AwardWhite SnailWon
Lecce European Film Festival23 November 2025Golden Olive – Cristina Soldano Award for Best FilmWhite SnailWon