Press Release
‘Sweet Mud’, ‘Cashback’ share Best Narrative Feature Award at BIFF 2007
Category: Arts and EntertainmentBermuda International Film Festival
Hamilton, Bermuda: Sunday, March 25, 2007 -
Sweet Mud, by Israeli director Dror Shaul and Cashback, by British director Sean Ellis, have shared the Mary-Jean Mitchell Green Award for Best Narrative Feature at the 10th Bermuda International Film Festival.
The awards were made at the festival’s Wrap Party and Awards Ceremony at Fairmont Hamilton Princess Hotel on Saturday night.
Producer Arthur Rankin represented Peter Green and his sons Andrew and Alexander, who sponsor the award in memory of their late wife and mother, who passed away in 1990 at the age of 38 of breast cancer.
The Cats of Mirikitani, by director Linda Hattendorf of the United States, was named Best Documentary Feature while I Want to be a Pilot, by Spanish director Diego Quemada-Diez, won the M3 Wireless Bermuda Shorts Award.
The Bacardi Limited Audience Choice Award, which is voted on by filmgoers, was won by A Sunday in Kigali, director Robert Favreau. The award includes a cash prize of $3000. Vernon Pemberton, Bacardi Brands Manager for Bermuda Premium Spirits Ltd., presented the award to Mr. Favreau.
Mr. Shaul and Mr. Ellis share a $5000 cash prize, while Mr. Quemada-Diez wins $3000.
The narrative features jury of writer/actor Carrie Fisher and actor/director/producer Richard Dreyfuss gave a Special Mention to the sex scene in Does It Hurt? The First Balkan Dogma, by director Aneta Lesnikovska.
Documentary jurors Stanley Nelson and Lucinda Spurling, both documentary filmmakers, gave Special Jury Prizes to Beyond the Call, by director Adrian Belic, and Living With Lew, by director Adam Bardach. Mr. Belic, and Ms. Claire Didier, the editor of Living With Lew, were on hand to accept their awards.
The short film jury of KinoShock Short Film Festival producer and co-owner Tamara Tarasova, Oscar-winning actor Ben Newmark and director Vito Rocco gave Special Jury Prizes to My Backyard, by Bermudian director Choy Aming, and t.o.m., by directors Tom Brown and Daniel Gray. Mr. Aming was present to receive his award from Darlene Davis of award sponsors, M3 Wireless.
Ms. Fisher had high praise for Sweet Mud, an emotionally vivid coming-of-age story that shatters the utopian myths surrounding the kibbutz, saying: “I love films that are made from the point of view of children. The child in the film has a mentally ill mother, and tried so hard to make his mother okay. When that proved to be impossible, he got away. Ultimately, Sweet Mud is a very sad but hopeful film. It is a dark film with a light at the end of the tunnel. The story was very inventive.”
Cashback takes us into the poetic world of Ben, a young art student who after being dumped by his girlfriend copes by literally freezing time and the people around him.
Mr. Dreyfuss says: “The film had a perfect whimsy that didn’t try to become something that it was not. The ambition of the film has a narrow niche … and it hit the mark, it did not become unbalanced. It had a strong script, and it was exactly right.”
The Cats of Mirikitani tells the story of 85-year-old Japanese American street artist Jimmy Mirikitani, who is invited into the filmmaker’s home when the World Trade Centre is attacked. Originally planned as a short film documenting the four seasons of a homeless man’s life, the film becomes a beautiful and moving feature as the filmmaker begins to piece together the puzzle of Mr. Mirikitani’s past.
“The film works on many levels to blend history and a story of personal suffering,” juror Mr. Nelson says. “From the natural beginning of an unlikely friendship it takes us on a fantastic journey to reaffirm the redemptive power of caring and understanding.”
Beyond the Call is an Indiana Jones meets Mother Teresa adventure about three middle-aged men, former soldiers and modern day knights, who travel the world delivering life saving humanitarian aid directly into the hands of civilians and doctors in some of the most dangerous yet beautiful places on Earth – the front lines of war.
Juror Ms. Spurling says: “Beyond the call is a spirited tale of three ordinary men and their extraordinary life’s work. It shows us that no challenge is too large for these freelance humanitarians … even world poverty.”
Living With Lew tells the story of Scott Lew, who is diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Despite this devastating news and the rapid progession of his disability, Mr. Lew forges ahead and makes a choice to make his first feature film, a heartfelt comedy entitled Bickford Schmeckler’s Cool Ideas. Over three years, the director Mr. Bardach documents Mr. Lew’s trials and triumphs.
Mr. Nelson says: “Through the courage of the subject to face his disease with the constant intrusion of the film crew, the film reveals the simple joys of life and the power to realise one’s ambitions.”
I Want to be a Pilot tells the story of 12-year-old Omondi, who lives in the Kibera slum in Nairobi, Kenya. He sees planes fly overhead and dreams of becoming a pilot so that he can go far away from the ghetto to escape corruption, poverty, disease and death, and to find a land where his dreams can come true.
Shorts juror Mr. Newmark said I Want to be a Pilot is “a film that made us all sit and think. It has a very important message.” Added Mr. Rocco: “The message transcended the specific location of the film. It is an important movie for people to see.”
Mr. Aming, a biologist, made My Backyard over the period of one year. It explores the diversity of Bermuda’s marine life, featuring Tiger Sharks, Humpback Whales and a host of unusual sea creatures including the inch-long Flamingo Tongue.
Mr. Newmark says: “Choy could have made a very beautiful film about fish, but he chose to communicate an environmental message, asking what we are doing to the ocean and its inhabitants. The message is very important.” Added Mr. Rocco: “It is clear that Choy is a passionate filmmaker. For a first film, it was a lot of fun and very educational. We hope he goes on to make more films.”
t.o.m. is a three-minute animated film about the journey of a young boy, Tom, who wakes up, starts his day, dresses for school, leaves the house, and then removes his sweater, shirt, pants, socks, shoes – and underwear.
Mr. Newmark said the film was “very well done … short and very funny” while Mr. Rocco said it was “an original idea … well-executed and funny.”
Since 2005, BIFF has been recognised as a qualifying festival for the Short Film Oscar® by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. This means that I Want to be a Pilot will automatically qualify for Oscar® consideration, provided the film meets the Academy’s other qualifying criteria.
Eighty-five films from 32 countries screened at BIFF 2007. In addition to the competition categories, the line-up included a World Cinema Showcase featuring award-winning films from international festivals, a Czech Republic sidebar, several Special Presentation films, BIFF Kids (children’s films), Midnight Madness and a From the Onion Patch presentation of a documentary film by director Andy Mckay about Bermudian sculptor Bill Ming.
Legendary Bermudian actor Earl Cameron was honoured with a film retrospective and an afternoon “Conversation With” event, which looked at the career of the 89-year-old actor. Mr. Cameron, who was one of the first black actors to gain leading man status in British cinema, recalled his path from an unknown working-class young man, to his rise through theatre and cinema.
The popular Chats With lunchtime panel series included “The Rise and Rise of the Documentary Film”, “From Script to Screen: Getting Your Short Film Into the Can”, “Tales from Hollywood” with Carrie Fisher and Richard Dreyfuss, and “World Cinema: East and West.”
The Bermuda International Film Festival seeks to advance the love of independent film from around the world, and create a community welcoming to filmmakers and filmgoers.
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