Matilde Gioli

Highlights of the Awards Ceremony of the 73rd Venice Film Festival. 10th September 2016, hosted by Sonia Bergamasco. Sala Grande theatre, 10th September 2016

The whole show!

Daniele Parisi the main actor of ORECCHIE was awarded the Premio Nuovo Imaie as best debuting actor. The Premio Nuova Imaie is awarded to two Italian debutant and already talented actors who moved the Lido's audience with their interpretation. It is organized in collaboration with the Union of Cinema Critics.

ORECCHIE, directed by Alessandro Aronadio, is a fresh Italian comedy from this year's Biennale College Cinema section. 

Haven't seen it yet? Catch it up on Sala Web where it is available for screening until Sunday 11th !

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ORECCHIE (Ears)
a film by Alessandro Aronadio (Italy)
with Daniele Parisi, Silvia D’Amico, Pamela Villoresi, Ivan Franek, Rocco Papaleo, Milena Vukotic, Piera Degli Esposti, Massimo Wertmuller, Andrea Purgatori, Paolo Giovannucci, Niccolò Senni, Francesca Antonelli, Re Salvador, Silvana Bosi, Masaria Colucci
World Premiere - Biennale College Cinema
Italian with English - 90 min. - black & white


 

After his brilliant debut feature ‘Due Vite per Caso’ (which was selected in more than 50 festivals including the Berlinale in 2010, and has won 15 awards), Italian director Alessandro Aronadio is back with a black & white comedy screening at the Biennale this year.

SYNOPSIS

A man wakes up one morning with an annoying ringing sound in his ears. A note on the fridge says: "Your friend Luigi has died. P.S. I took the car". The problem is that he does not even remember who this guy Luigi is. This is just the beginning of a tragicomic day during which he will be plunged into the folly of the world. One of those days that changes your life forever.

SCREENINGS

Thursday 01 September @ 11:30 – Sala Giardino (Public & Accreditation)
Thursday 01 September @ 17:00 – Sala Giardino (Public & Accreditation)
Thursday 01 September @ 21:00 – Sala Web (streaming)
Friday 02 September @ 20:00 – Sala Pasinetti (Public & Accreditation)

ATTENDING

Alessandro Aronadio (director/writer) : Aug. 31 – Sept. 11
Daniele Parisi (actor) : Aug. 31 – Sept. 4
Silvia D’Amico (actress) : Aug. 31 – Sept. 2
Costanza Coldagelli (producer) : Aug. 31 – Sept. 11

Please send your interview requests to barbara@theprfactory.com& julie@theprfactory.com

PRODUCTION

MATRIOSKA – Costanza Coldagelli (Italy)
With the collaboration of ROMA LAZIO FILM COMMISSION, FRAME BY FRAME, REC, TIMELINE

UNESCO jury has awarded the XXIIIrd Prix "Enrico Fulchignoni" to Shubhashish Bhutiani for his movie HOTEL SALVATION (Mukti Bhawan).
 
Jury's motivation : "For the values finely expressed on the importance of family, time passed together in respect and with love, and those valuesof human rights which we all share.
 
The maturity and depth of emotions and cinematic vocabulary used to display these belie the young age of the director, and we look forward to seeing many more of his films in the future.
 
HOTEL SALVATION is part of the Biennale College - Cinema program at the Venice Film Festival which gives support since 2012 to the young filmmakers to bring their vision to the big screen and in this case the effort has borne marvelous fruit. "
 
CICT-Unesco Jury was composed by :  Jasmina Boijc (founder and director UNAFF, Stanford University),  Pierpaolo Saporito (President  of OCCAM, the UN Observatory on Cultural Communication and v.president  of CICT-UNESCO,  Gabriel Griffin-Hall (Author and Poet), Eliana Bantchev  (CICT-UNESCO General Secretary Delegate).
 
The Prix Enrico Fulchignoni was awarded in the past years to among others: 'Beasts of No Nation' by Cary Fukunaga, 'Miral' by Julian Schnabel, 'Land of Plenty' by Wim Wenders, 'Tsion, Auto-emancipatie' by Amos Gitaï or 'Porto da minha infancia' by Manoel de Oliveira.

Three years ago, Shubhashish Bhutiani’s short film KUSH had won the Orizzonti Award for Best Short Film. 
 

Starring Adil Hussain (Life of Pi), Mukti Bhawan is a joyful tale of love and leave-taking.

It takes place in a hotel where people check in to spend the last days of their lives. However, the story is not that much about death but much more about a special father/son relationship and their capacity to let go.

It seems the audience in Venice was carried away by this universal story of love, redemption and mourning. 

When Daya, a 77 year old man, wakes up from a strange nightmare, he knows his time is up and he must get to Varanasi immediately in hope of dying there to attain salvation. His dutiful son, Rajiv, is left with no other choice but to drop everything and make the journey with his stubborn father, leaving behind his wife and daughter. 

The two of them check into Mukti Bhawan/Hotel Salvation, a hotel devoted to people hoping to spend their last days there. Rajiv finds himself having to live and take care of his father for the first time in his life.
 

If you've missed the screenings in Venice, check it out on Sala Web where it is still available until September 12th ! 

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MUKTI BHAWAN (Hotel Salvation)
a film by Shubhashish Bhutiani
with Adil Hussain, Lalit Behl, Geetanjali Kulkarni, Palomi Ghosh,
Navnindra Behl, Anil K Rastogi
World Premiere - Biennale College Cinema
Hindi with English & Italian subtitles - 103 min. - color



Click here for press material

After receiving the Orizzonti Prize for Best Short Film for his short ‘Kush’, Indian director Shubhashish Bhutiani is back to Venice with his feature debut ‘Mukti Bhawan’ (Hotel Salvation).

SYNOPSIS

When a 77 year old man, Daya, wakes up from a strange nightmare, he knows his time is up and he must get to Varanasi immediately in hope of dying there to attain salvation. His dutiful son, Rajiv, is left with no choice but to drop everything and make the journey with his stubborn father, leaving behind his wife and daughter. The two of them check into Mukti Bhawan/Hotel Salvation, a hotel devoted to people hoping to spend their last days there. Rajiv finds himself having to live and take care of his father for the first time in his life. While Rajiv struggles to juggle his responsibilities back home, Daya starts to bloom as he finds a sense of community in the hotel, and a companion in the 75-year old Vimla. As the days go by and Daya shows no sign of letting up, Rajiv is faced with the dilemma of whether to remain there with his father or fulfil his duty back home.

SCREENINGS

Friday 02 September @ 11:15 – Sala Giardino (Public & Accreditation)
Friday 02 September @ 17:00 – Sala Giardino (Public & Accreditation)
Friday 02 September @ 21:00 – Sala Web (streaming)
Saturday 03 September @ 20:00 – Sala Pasinetti (Public & Accreditation)

ATTENDING

Shubhashish Bhutiani (director/writer) : Aug. 31 – Sept. 11
Adil Hussain (actor) : Sept. 1 – Sept. 5
Sanjay Bhutiani (producer) : Aug. 31 – Sept. 11

Please send your interview requests to barbara@theprfactory.com& julie@theprfactory.com

PRODUCTION & WORLD SALES

RED CARPET MOVING PICTURES - Sanjay Bhutiani (India) - www.redcarpetmovingpictures.in

Juan Sebastián Mesa, the 27 year old director, wins the Circolo del Cinema di Verona Audience Award for LOS NADIE (The Nobodies) at the 73rd Venice Film Festival.

Seventeen years after the victory of Mondo Grúa, the film that revealed the talent of Argentinean Pablo Trapero, Latin America triumphs again in the Venice International Film Critics’ Week thanks to the Colombian film Los Nadie, winner of the Circolo del Cinema di Verona Audience Award of this 31st edition.

Camilo, Mechas, Manu, Ana and Pipa are five friends going through that blended trance of intense unrest, sense of astonishment, contained tenderness and manifest rage typical of the end of adolescence. They survive at the edge, both physical and symbolic, of a city, Medellin, that attracts and excludes them, that lures them with promises but rejects them with hostility, but which they embrace by transforming the dominant logics of fear that come from above, from the powers that be and from their parents. Music, street art and friendship are their weapons of resistance, and fuel their hope for a journey, a rite of passage that will convert them into someone else.

“This is a film – says Mesa – that speaks about a generation of disenchanted dreamers that feel the need to embrace the unknown and to explore the world by themselves, in order to escape from the problems and the violence that surrounds them on a daily basis”, offering at the same time a portray of “a movement, the anarcho-punks, which is one of the most enigmatic and radical movements of our time”

THE NOBODIES (Los Nadie)
by Juan Sebastián Mesa (Colombia)

Music, street art & friendship, a brilliant portrait of youth culture in Medellin

with Maria Angélica Puerta Montoya, Maria Camila Castrillón Del Gallego,
Diego Alejando Pérez Ceferino, Maria Esteban Alcaráz Ruíz, Luis Felipe Alzate Cortez
International Premiere - Critic's Week
Spanish with English subtitles - 84 min. - Black & White



 

Trailer available here

The first feature from Colombian director Juan Sebastián Mesa, after his short ‘Kakashnikov’ (2013) nominated for best national short film by the Colombian academy Awards.

SYNOPSIS

Camilo, Mechas, Manu, Ana and Pipa are five friends going through that blended trance of intense unrest, sense of astonishment, contained tenderness and manifest rage typical of the end of adolescence. They survive at the edge, both physical and symbolic, of a city, Medellin, that attracts and excludes them, that lures them with promises but rejects them with hostility, but which they embrace by transforming the dominant logics of fear that come from above, from the powers that be and from their parents. Music, street art and friendship are their weapons of resistance, and fuel their hope for a journey, a rite of passage that will convert them into someone else.

After winning the Premio Nuovo Imaie yesterday, ORECCHIE (Ears) wins two other awards: the Arca CinemaGiovani award(Young Cinema award) and the FEDIC Award with an honorable mention.

Arci CinemaGiovani Award (Young Cinema award) is an award given by a jury of young European aged from 18 to 25 year old to the best Italian film at the Venice Film Festival.

ORECCHIE won a special mention from the FEDIC award for proposing  the most significative scene in relation with food and alimentation. 

ORECCHIE's main actor, Daniele Parisi, won The Premio Nuova Imaie, organized in collaboration with the Union of Cinema Critics.

Directed by Alessandro Aronadio, ORECCHIE (Ears) is a fresh Italian comedy from this year's Biennale College Cinema section. 

 
Haven't seen it yet? You can still watch it during the whole weekend on Sala Web ! 

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ORECCHIE (Ears)
a film by Alessandro Aronadio (Italy)
with Daniele Parisi, Silvia D’Amico, Pamela Villoresi, Ivan Franek, Rocco Papaleo, Milena Vukotic, Piera Degli Esposti, Massimo Wertmuller, Andrea Purgatori, Paolo Giovannucci, Niccolò Senni, Francesca Antonelli, Re Salvador, Silvana Bosi, Masaria Colucci
World Premiere - Biennale College Cinema
Italian with English - 90 min. - black & white

Fien Troch won Best Director Award for her film HOME @ Venice Film Festival tonight.

HOME portrays the struggle between two generations. Teenagers who explore a thin line between trust, friendship and loyalty and adults who seem alienated from their past younger selves. The clash can be more brutal than expected.

17-year-old Kevin, sentenced for violent behavior, is just let out of prison. To start anew, he moves in with his aunt and her family and begins an apprenticeship at her store. Quickly he adapts to his new home and gets along well with his cousin Sammy, in his last year of highschool. Through Sammy and his friends, Kevin meets John. Upon discovering John's unbearable situation with his mother, Kevin feels the urge to help his new friend. One evening fate intervenes and questions of betrayal, trust and loyalty start to direct their daily lives more then ever.

HOME, together with 17 other films was competing for the Orizzonti section which aims to represent the latest aesthetic and expressive trends in international cinema. This edition's international jury of the Orizzonti section was chaired by French director Robert Guédiguian and composed  by US film critic and historian Jim Hoberman, Egyptian actress Nelly Karim, Italian actress Valentina Lodovini, Korean actress and director Moon So-ri, Spanish film critic and scholar Josè Maria (Chema) Prado, and Indian director Chaitanya Tamhane.

"In Home, I want to explore the field of tension between two generations. How do adults go about their responsibilities towards teenagers and how do these young people try to find their way into adulthood themselves. In this community of two struggling generations, I looked for a storyline that centers on the themes of parental love, freedom, loyalty, betrayal and violence." - Director, Fien Troch -
 

 
[Fien Troch on stage, receiving the award]

HOME already received a lot of enthusiasm form the press in Venice :
 
Troch handles this complex material with assurance and secures convincing performances from her entire cast with stand-out work from Sebastian Van Dun who invites comparisons with James Dean or the young Sean Penn as the deceptively self-effacing Kevin. SCREEN INTERNATIONAL
 
Troch has coaxed fine, wholly unaffected work from her spiky, largely untested young ensemble, many of them first-timers, with Guidotti particularly heart-rending as the tormented, critically unsupported John. VARIETY
 

[left to right: Nico Leunen & Fien Troch]
 

Original soundtrack is from Johnny Jewel who worked on Drive and Lost River among others.

After it's World Premiere in Venice, HOME will continue its international journey to Toronto Film Festival where it will be screened on Tuesday in the Platform section.
 

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HOME
a film by Fien Troch (Belgium)
with Sebastian Van Dun, Mistral Guidotti, Loïc Batog, Lena Suijkerbuijk,
Karlijn Sileghem, Els Deceukelier, Robbie Cleiren
World Premiere - Orizzonti
Dutch with English subtitles - 103 min. - color

SYNOPSIS

17-year-old Kevin, sentenced for violent behavior, is just let out of prison. To start anew, he moves in with his aunt and her family and begins an apprenticeship at her store. Quickly he adapts to his new home and gets along well with his cousin Sammy, in his last year of highschool. Through Sammy and his friends, Kevin meets John. Upon discovering John's unbearable situation with his mother, Kevin feels the urge to help his new friend. One evening fate intervenes and questions of betrayal, trust and loyalty start to direct their daily lives more then ever.

The Constitution (Ustav Republike Hrvatske), Croatia, Czech Republic, UK, Slovenia, Macedonia

Directed by Rajko Grlic; written by Ante Tomic & Rajko Grlic; cast: Nebojsa Glogovac, Dejan Acimovic, Ksenija Marinkovic, Bozidar Smiljanic...

The Story: Four characters (or rather three and a half, since the father of the protagonist is tied up to a deathbed with amputated legs, hardly able to speak) live in the same building, yet separated by different social status, political and ideological affiliations, sexual orientation, and of course, their nationalities. The protagonist is a grumpy professor from a wealthy bourgeois family, far-right oriented patriot (his surname is Kralj - in English King), but also a homosexual and transvestite that lives with his father – an ustasha from NDH (WWII Croatian Nazi soldier), while in the small one-room apartment in the basement lives a poor married couple - a Serb employed as a police officer (who changed his name to a Croatian one and voluntarily fought in the war on the Croatian side in order to keep his job), and his Croat wife, a caring nurse. One evening, the professor dressed as his female alter ego Katarina, gets beaten by a group of young homophobes and ends up in the hospital during the shift of his attentive neighbor. She continues taking care of professor’s recovery in his apartment, starts helping his immobile father, while her concern whether her dyslexic husband is going to pass mandatory the Republic of Croatia Constitution exam begins to grow (literal translation of the film’s original title is The Constitution of Republic of Croatia). Scared that her husband might fail (and therefore lose his job), she asks the professor to help him, and he agrees. Is it possible to find some foundation for full-of-platitudes Constitution of one state in the harsh reality that still suffers from maladies of the past, eroded by intolerance and strong prejudices of all types?  

In spite of all the difficulties that have struck the 40th anniversary edition of Montreal World Film Festival, the once worldwide very prestigious manifestation has ended with a superb award-winning piece, I would say the most well-deserved Grand Prix in the at least past 8 years since I started following this event.

This delicate, an extraordinary “love story about hate” (as the film promotional material suggests) is the work of renowned Croatian filmmaker Rajko Grlic, who started his professional career in the early 1970ies in former Yugoslavia. But, the credit for this outstanding movie goes to Ante Tomic as well, a successful Croatian writer with whom Grlic wrote his internationally most acknowledged films, the last three in a row (the other two are The Border Post / 2006 and Just Between Us /2010). It is simply inevitable to emphasize the importance of screenwriting here because the greatness of The Constitution owns so much to its extremely well-written script, that is to say, carefully structured story, tighten dialogue and, above all, well-developed, colorful characters. Namely, Grlic is a rare filmmaker from former Yugoslav countries who genuinely appreciate the process of screenwriting insisting on its long-term development, i.e. many drafts (not much common for European cinema, either). Built on such a solid foundation and with Grlic’s vast experience in filmmaking, exceptionality of the final result should come as no surprise.

The Constitution is meticulously crafted, with simple and elegant camera work and compelling performances, especially by famous Serbian actor Nebojsa Glogovac as the lead; his stellar, nuanced performance (with great depth and acuity) of such a complex character, is hard to expect to be seen soon from aforementioned region. This immensely bold and brutally honest top-notch melodrama produced on a modest scale, which contains Grlic’s trademarks as dramatic conflict explored with intense emotional investment, seasoned with a refined sense of humor, skillfully deals with once again increasing intolerance in Croatia, yet its intelligent, deeply profound and insightful multilayered texture goes far beyond local, addressing an urgent global problem. Grlic’s polished and subtle directing evokes the best pieces of Douglas Sirk or Rainer Werner Fassbinder.       

According to Croatian media, Grlic’s Constitution has been announced as the most anticipated film of the year over there. And it absolutely should be, because this extremely important film, at the same time brutal and gentle, thoroughly human, healing movie is not only a peak of Grlic’s oeuvre (which is the most consistent, solid and durable in contemporary Croatian cinema) but, considering how hard it is to deliver this kind of achievement, also could stand at the very top of regional production in the last two and a half decades, or since Yugoslavia broke apart. Finally, perhaps the most appropriate comment on Grlic’s accomplishment is to borrow the title of his early, breakthrough movie: Bravo maestro!            

The Short Short Story Film Festival is a competitive international festival of films that tell a story in under six minutes in its 10th year. 

There is no fee to submit.

Click here for more information:
http://www.mergingartsproductions.com/Film/SSS/Submissions.aspx

by ALEX DELEON

There were many outstanding films at the 73rd Venice Film Festival this year but the awards on closing night, September 11, were as usual "iffy" to say the least. Venice has become known for good films and bad calls when it comes to dishing out the coveted Golden Lions at the end of the festival week.  To start at the bottom the worst call of all was the Best Director Silver Bear award to Amat Escalante, for the Mexican porno-horror miscarriage "La Region Salvaje" (the Untamed).  This was a totally repulsive piece of horrendous homosexual and masturbatory perversion which the jury must have been on substance abuse to select this monstrosity as a companion piece to Andrei Konchalkovsky's brilliant off-beat Holocaust study "Paradise" which got high viewer marks all week long. The outstanding absurdity of the awards evening was seeing the old Russian master and the young Mexican upstart standing side by side on the festival stage  displaying their Ex Aqueo headless flying horse statuettes in tandem.

Whether viewed as an insult to Konchalovsky or as a tribute to a younger Latino upstart half his age this was a most embarrassing juxtaposition the tension of which was only slightly relieved when the elder Russian helmer put an arm around Escalante in a gracious gesture of justification for an egregiously ridiculous jury decision.

Other selections were not quite as quizzical but were still far from satisfactory.

The big loser of the night was the one that most thought would be a big winner.  JACKIE starring Natalie Portman as the bereaved First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in the days after the assassination of the century was granted what amounted to a booby prize for the screenplay when it was the acting and direction that would have walked off with awards anywhere else under ordinary circumstances. The circumstances at Venice, however, are anything but ordinary.

For one thing the rules here demand that no film can get more than one prize in order to "spread the wealth around" -- but why give the best actress prize to Emma Stone for a lightweight comedy role in "La la Palooza Land " when Natalie Portman's Jackie was a far more profound,  indeed towering performance -- that can rank with the absolute best of recent years -- think Mirren as The Queen or Streep as Thatcher -- and then hand the film a far lesser award for screenplay.

Which is not to say that Noah Oppenheim's screenplay was not the Best Screenplay in the running -- but only that the pic should have gotten that as well as acting, direction, and Picture awards -- But Venice is not about quality -- it's about spreading the wealth. Noah was so far from expecting this that he had left town long before and had to phone in his acceptance speech by overseas hookup.

All the Italian dailies were in unanimous agreement that Jackie got robbed, only the way they put it was to say diplomatically that the film "had to be content with" a (mere) screenplay award. Content my foot! -It was just a case of nitwit wealth distribution.

The big winner of the night, and a mighty surprise winner it was at that, was the nearly four hour long (225 minutes to be exact) Philippine film  Ang babaeng humayo  (The Woman Who Left), directed by veteran Pilipino helmer Lav Diaz in black and white, which walked off with the Golden Lion best film top prize. I will have to reserve comment since I did not manage to see it as the exceptionally long running time kept overlapping with other films I wanted to see. For the same reason not very many other people saw it, however, in order to justify this oddball call, the Main Competition jury commander, distinguished British director Sam Mendes, stated that "we are here to encourage people to see unusual films" ~ implication,  not to push mainstream big star vehicles. 

Nevertheless, at least two Hollywood star vehicles were rewarded:

The Grand Jury Prize silver lion for best director going to texan Tom Ford for "Nocturnal Animals" starring Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhall, 

and a Best Actress Volpi Cup to Emma Stone for her role in La-La Land, which also featured Ryan Gosling and Oscar winner J.K. Simmons.

Emma Stone is a very capable actress, one of the best of the younger Hollywood batch, but she clearly was not expecting to out rank Portman for best actress and, like Oppenheimer, left early and had to call in her surprised thankyous via overseas hookup.

Let's face it: When the eventual winners themselves do not expect to be in the running -- to the extent that they don't even bother to attend the awards ceremony --this is a sign that there is something fishy in the soup.  

The awarding of a special jury prize for an American film called "The Bad Batch" directed by Ana Lily Amirpour, described as "A dystopian love story in a Texas wasteland and set in a community of cannibals", was met with a cascade of boos and catcalls, defiantly shaken off by the director receiving her prize.

Young German actress Paula Beer, 20,  receiving a "promising newcomer" prize, was so ulpy and gulpy that she could barely get her words of thankfulness out and seemed like she was about to collapse or faint. The film in question was called ."Frantz", by major French director François Ozon.

Filipino director Lav Diaz, 57, holding his Best Picture Golden Lion.

He was probably as surprised as anyone and didn't bother to rent a tux for the occasion.

Lavrente Indico "Lav" Diaz is a Filipino independent filmmaker. He is known as one of the key members of the slow cinema movement, having made several of the longest narrative films on record. 

At the Oldenburg International Film Festival in Germany, the European Film Academy has announced this year’s nominations for the EUROPEAN DISCOVERY – Prix FIPRESCI, an award presented annually in co-operation with the international federation of film critics to a young and upcoming director for a first full-length feature film. This year’s nominations were determined by a committee comprised of EFA Board Members Dagmar Jacobsen (Germany) and Angeles González-Sinde (Spain), filmmaker and 2015 nominee Tom Sommerlatte (Germany), expert Mihai Chirilov (Cluj FF, Romania), and FIPRESCI representatives Isabelle Danel (France), Krzysztof Kwiatkowski (Poland), and Neil Young (UK). On invitation by the festival, the committee met in Oldenburg and decided on the following nominations.

EUROPEAN DISCOVERY 2016 – Prix FIPRESCI: NOMINATIONS

The European Film Academy congratulates the nominees. The nominated films will soon be submitted to the more than 3,000 EFA Members to elect the winner. The European Discovery 2016 – Prix FIPRESCI will then be presented at the European Film Awards Ceremony on Saturday, 10 December, in Wroclaw, European Capital of Culture 2016. Streamed live on  - streamed live on www.europeanfilmawards.eu. 

The Toronto International Film Festival®announced its award winners at a ceremony at TIFF Bell Lightbox today, hosted by Piers Handling, CEO and Director of TIFF, and Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director of the Toronto International Film Festival. To watch the presentation, visit tiff.net/ceremony. The 41st Festival wraps up this evening.
 
The short film awards below were selected by a jury comprised of American filmmaker Abteen Bagheri (That B.E.A.T.), French filmmaker Eva Husson (Bang Gang), and Canadian filmmaker Jeff Barnaby (Rhymes for Young Ghouls).
 
SHORT CUTS AWARD FOR BEST CANADIAN SHORT FILM
The Short Cuts Award for Best Canadian Short Film goes to Alexandre Dostie’s Mutants. The jury remarked, “Mutants takes a summer in Quebec and infuses it with a ribald lyricism. Awkward moments of sexual awakening paired with self cannibalism and self immolation rise it above standard nostalgia. It was a film that took chances with both its subject matter and humour, and framing it through the eyes of children. Congratulations.” The award offers a $10,000 cash prize.
 
SHORT CUTS AWARD FOR BEST SHORT FILM
The Short Cuts Award for Best Short Film goes to Raymund Ribay Gutierrez’s Imago. The jury remarked, “Some films are not easy to watch. But it's a beautiful thing to find a filmmaker who has a daring voice. We feel that with this movie we witnessed a bold, cinematic statement, and we cannot wait to see what features this director will give to the world.” The award offers a $10,000 cash prize.
 
The jury gave honourable mentions to Or Sinai’s Anna, and Orlando von Einsiedel’s The White Helmets.
 
The Canadian awards below were selected by a jury comprised of producers Luc Déry (Incendies, Monsieur Lazhar) and Anita Lee (Stories We Tell, Invention), filmmaker Mina Shum (Double Happiness, Ninth Floor), and cultural critic and novelist Hal Niedzviecki.
 
CITY OF TORONTO AWARD FOR BEST CANADIAN FIRST FEATURE FILM
The City of Toronto Award for Best Canadian First Feature Film goes to Johnny Ma’s Old Stone (Lao shi). The jury remarked, “For its remarkably mature, powerfully rendered portrait of an innocent taxi driver caught in a proto-capitalist China, the jury is pleased to select Old Stone.” This award carries a cash prize of $15,000, made possible by the City of Toronto.
 
CANADA GOOSE AWARD FOR BEST CANADIAN FEATURE FILM
The Canada Goose Award for Best Canadian Feature Film goes to Mathieu Denis and Simon Lavoie for Those Who Make Revolution Halfway Only Dig Their Own Graves (Ceux qui font les révolutions à moitié n'ont fait que se creuser un tombeau). The jury remarked, “For its uncompromising, electrifying portrait of youthful idealism and democratic exhaustion in contemporary Canada, and for its capacity to stir both heart and mind, the jury is thrilled to select Those Who Make Revolution Halfway Only Dig Their Own Graves.” This award carries a cash prize of $30,000 and a custom award, sponsored by Canada Goose.
 
THE PRIZES OF THE INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF FILM CRITICS (FIPRESCI PRIZES)
The Festival welcomed an international FIPRESCI jury for the 25th year. The jury members composed of jury president Steffen Moestrup (Denmark), Neta Alexander (Israel), Michael Sicinski (USA), Diego Faraone (Uruguay), Jake Howell (Canada), and Louis-Paul Rioux (Canada).

Prize of the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) for the Discovery programme is awarded to Mbithi Masya for Kati Kati. The jury remarked, “With a generous and poetic tone, not without a degree of anger at personal and political injustice, FIPRESCI is pleased to present the prize in the Discovery programme to an exciting and unique new voice in cinema, Mbithi Masya for his debut feature Kati Kati.”
 
Prize of the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) for Special Presentations is awarded to Feng Xiaogang for I Am Not Madame Bovary. The jury remarked, “For its ambitious rendering of a woman’s Kafkaesque struggle as she takes on the Chinese legal system, and sophisticated play of both form and content, FIPRESCI presents the prize in the Special Presentations programme to Feng Xiaogang’s I Am Not Madame Bovary.”
 
NETPAC AWARD
As selected by a jury from the Network for the Promotion of Asian Pacific Cinema for the 5th consecutive year, the NETPAC Award for World or International Asian Film Premiere goes to Maysaloun Hamoud’s In Between (Bar Bahar). Jury members include jury chairperson Jeannette Paulson Hereniko (USA), Bina Paul (India), and Sabrina Baracetti (Italy). The jury remarked, “A confident debut about three contemporary Palestinian women living in Tel Aviv whose strong bond of sisterhood supports an exploration and shift in relationships, careers, and sexuality.”
 
TORONTO PLATFORM PRIZE
This is the sophomore year for Platform, the Festival’s juried programme that champions director’s cinema from around the world. The Festival welcomed an international jury comprised of legendary filmmakers Brian De Palma and Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, and acclaimed actor Zhang Ziyi, who awarded the Toronto Platform Prize to Pablo Larraín for Jackie. The jury remarked, "Our decision was unanimous. We found one film that combined an extraordinary script with precise direction and unforgettable acting. For its exploration of the myth of American Camelot and its preeminent performance by Natalie Portman, the 2016 prize goes to Jackie.” The award offers a $25,000 cash prize and a custom award.
 
The jury awards a special mention to Khyentse Norbu’s Hema Hema: Sing Me a Song While I Wait (he-mà he-mà), “for a film that is a metaphor for our time. In an age of technology, this film uses masks to reconnect its characters with human instinct and emotion.”
 
GROLSCH  PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARDS
This year marked the 39th year that Toronto audiences were able to cast a ballot for their favourite Festival film for the Grolsch People’s Choice Award. This year’s award goes to Damien Chazelle’s La La Land. Writer-director Damien Chazelle captures the story of Mia, an aspiring actress, and Sebastian, a dedicated jazz musician, who are struggling to make ends meet in a city known for destroying hopes and breaking hearts. Set in modern day Los Angeles, this original musical about everyday life explores the joy and pain of pursuing your dreams. The award offers a $15,000 cash prize and custom award, sponsored by Grolsch. The second runner up is Mira Nair’s Queen of Katwe. The first runner up is Garth Davis’s Lion.
 
The Festival presents a free screening of the award-winning film La La Land tonight at 6 p.m. at Roy Thomson Hall. Tickets will be available on a first-come, first-served basis beginning at 4 p.m. at Roy Thomson Hall.
 
The Grolsch People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award goes to Ben Wheatley’s Free Fire. Justine has brokered a meeting in a deserted warehouse between two Irishmen and a gang led by Vernon and Ord who are selling them a stash of guns. But when shots are fired in the handover, a heart stopping game of survival ensues. The second runner up is Julia Ducournau’s Raw. The first runner up is André Øvredal’s The Autopsy of Jane Doe.
 
The Grolsch People’s Choice Documentary Award goes to Raoul Peck for I Am Not Your Negro. With unprecedented access to James Baldwin’s original work, Raoul Peck completes the cinematic version of the book Baldwin never finished — a radical narration about race in America today that tracks the lives and assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and Medgar Evers. The second runner up is Fisher Stevens’ Before the Flood. The first runner up is Steve James’ ABACUS: Small Enough to Jail.

DROPBOX DISCOVERY PROGRAMME FILMMAKERS AWARD
The Dropbox Discovery Programme Filmmakers Award goes to Yanillys Perez for Jeffrey. Jury members include Lane Kneedler, Director of Programming at AFI, producer Caroline Benjo of Haut et Court, and Alice Tynan of Dropbox. The jury remarked, “A true collaboration between subject and storyteller, Jeffrey weaves verite and socially conscious observation together with poetic moments of magical realism. With this beautiful combination, director Yanillys Perez not only captures the boundless spirit and imagination of her protagonist, but also offers new possibilities for narrative filmmaking. We believe people will love discovering Jeffrey." The production team is awarded a free Dropbox for Business account.

#TIFF16

FILMS IN PROGRESS 30 INDUSTRY AWARD

SPOTLIGHT ON CANADA – OIAF ANNOUNCES 2016 COMPETITION WINNERS

The 40th Anniversary of the OIAF features a number of Canadian prize winners.

OTTAWA (September 24, 2016) - The Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF), North America’s leading animation film festival, announced the winners of its 2016 Official Competition today at an awards ceremony held at Saint Brigid’s Centre for the Arts. This year, the OIAF received a total of 2311 entries from 86 different countries. Of those, 80 short films and 7 feature films were chosen for competition.

The Nelvana Grand Prize for Independent Short went to Diane Obomsawin’s J’AIME LES FILLES (I LIKE GIRLS), a colourful series of narratives where women recount the discovery of homosexual desire in short, sweet vignettes. The Grand Prize for Features went to LOUISE EN HIVER, directed by Jean-François Laguionie who won a Grand Prize at the OIAF in 1982 with La traversée de l’Atlantique à la rame.

This year’s Short, Feature and Kids Competition screenings were judged by 3 official juries. The Competition Short Jury included animator Ann Marie Fleming (Canada), Brooke Keesling (USA) - Director of Animation Talent Development at Disney Television Animation, and Sarina Nihei (Japan), animator and winner of the OIAF 2015 Grand Prize for Short Animation. The Competition Feature Jury includes animation historian Giannalberto Bendazzi (Italy), former Grand Prize winner and animator Peter Millard (UK), and animation director and optical effects specialist Elise Simard (Canada). The third jury is comprised of Ottawa-area children between the ages of 8 and 12 who judge the Shorts and Series for Young Audiences Competition.

A selection of the Festival’s award-winning films will be screened on Sunday, September 25 at 7:00 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. in the BEST OF OIAF 16 screening at the ByTowne Cinema (325 Rideau Street). Tickets are available online at www.animationfestival.ca and will be sold at the Box Office.

OIAF 2016 AWARDS

Nelvana Grand Prize for Independent Short Animation

J’AIME LES FILLES (I LIKE GIRLS)

Diane Obomsawin

Canada

2016

FROM THE JURY

"Fresh, funny, sweet. We were delighted by the charming coming of age tales, told from different perspectives. The vignettes were strong. The design and colours were excellent. Simple, lovely animation."

Grand Prize for Best Animated Feature

LOUISE EN HIVER

Jean-François Laguionie

France & Canada

2016

Honourable mention

CAFARD, Jan Bultheel (Belgium/France/The Netherlands)

CATEGORY AWARDS

Cartoon Network Award for Best Narrative Short Animation

L’AVEUGLE, VAYSHA (BLIND VAYSHA)

Theodore Ushev

Canada

2016

FROM THE JURY

“A beautiful retelling of an old world tale with contemporary relevance. It had an interesting and moving message. The stylized woodblock prints were beautiful."

Award for Best Experimental or Abstract Animation

SUIJUN-GENTEN (DATUM POINT)

Ryo Orikasa

Japan

2015

FROM THE JURY

"Loved the texture. The granularity of the sound and medium had a visceral quality. Poetic beauty and integration of text, texture and sound. It was mysterious. I don't know what it was... but I was moved."

Award for Best Undergraduate Animation

CIALO OBCE (FOREIGN BODY)

Marta Magnuska

Poland

2016

FROM THE JURY

"A unique story. A mesmerizing metaphor for self-acceptance. Raw sound design was delightfully disturbing."

Walt Disney Animation Award for Best Graduation Animation

FRANKFURTER STR. 99

Evgenia Gostrer

Germany

2016

FROM THE JURY

"Subtle but very beautiful. Surprising narrative and emotional impact was achieved by minimalist technique ... a touching story about everyday life of a member of society that is often invisible."

Award for Best Commissioned Animation

HONDA ‘PAPER’

PES

USA

2015

FROM THE JURY

"A tour de force. The handmade qualities stood out. Appreciated the complex planning and execution of this brilliant piece."

Award for Best Short Film Made for Young Audiences

THREE LITTLE NINJAS DELIVERY SERVICE

Karim Rhellam & Kim Claeys

Belgium

2016

Honourable Mentions

ACCIDENTS, BLUNDERS, CALAMITIES, James Cunningham (New Zealand)
NOVEMBRE, Marjolaine Perreten (France)

Award for Best Animated Series Made for Young Audiences

SHAUN THE SHEEP ‘THE FARMER’S LLAMAS’

Jay Grace

UK

2015

Honourable Mentions
SUMMER CAMP ISLAND, Julia Pott (USA)

HEY DUGGEE ‘THE OMLETTE BADGE’, Grant Orchard (2015)

 

CRAFT AWARDS

Award for Best Script

FIRED ON MARS

Nick Vokey and Nate Sherman

USA

2016

FROM THE JURY

"Clever and funny... and kind of sad."

Award for Best Design

THE ABSENCE OF EDDY TABLE

Rune Spaans

Norway

2016

FROM THE JURY

"Grotesque and beautiful. Amazing to see painting style translated into CG. Appreciated the sophisticated colour palettes and the unique character design."

Award for Best Animation Technique

VELODROOL

Sander Joon

Estonia

2015

FROM THE JURY

"Inventive use of perspective. Great sight gags - unique and not your typical go-to. Does what animation does best - transforms. Loved the sparse colours and design."

Award for Best Sound

SQUAME

Nicolas Brault

Canada

2015

FROM THE JURY

"Powerful, dramatic, enveloping, moving. Surprising developments for this piece: We found ourselves enveloped in the perfect marriage of sound and picture. Dramatic as the sounds and story moved. Pleasantly surprised that it was the body was made of sugar."

OTHER AWARDS

DHX Public Prize

FIRED ON MARS

Nick Vokey and Nate Sherman

USA

2016

Canadian Film Institute Award for Best Canadian Animation

BLIND VAYSHA 

Theodore Ushev

Canada

Narrative Short Animation

Honourable mentions

4MIN15 SEC AU REVELATEUR, Moia Jobin-Paré

BEGONE DULL CARE, Paul Johnson

VIA Rail Award for Best Canadian Student Animation

NIHIL

Khoebe Magsaysay

Sheridan College

2016

Honourable Mentions

DER TOD IST EIN DANDY, Daniela Vargas (Vancouver Film School)

THE CLITORIS, Lori Malepart-Traversy (Concordia)

DE RACINES ET DE CHAINES, Francis Lacelle & Robert M Lepage (INIS)

BOUNCING BLUNDERS, William Martin (Sheridan College)

The Holland Film Meeting has announced the award winners of both the Co-Production Platform and the Work-in-Progress selection of its 29th edition.