The 24th Leeds International Film Festival has announced the winners of its several competitions. “Tuesday, After Christmas” by Radu Muntean wins the Golden Owl Award at the 24th Leeds International Film Festival 2010. A Special Mention wentto Hitoshi Yazaki’s “Sweet Little Lies”.
“Tuesday, After Christmas” is “an exquisitely crafted portrait of a married man who has fallen in love with another woman, and a stunning example of the Romanian New Wave. The subtelty and compassion with which Muntean presents these people – for they feel like people, not characters – is incredible, and results in a truly powerful piece of cinema that feels so utterly human you can’t help but become completely immersed. Through wonderfully understated performances and situations, our emotional response to the three people involved is complex and sympathetic, skillfully showing a common human situation in full colour, when it is all too often stereotyped into black and white. A wonderful find. The cake eating scene is tremendous.”
Leeds International Film Festival also announced the winning films from the Méliès Competition. Both the winning feature and short film will go forward to compete for the Méliès d’Or Prize at Sitges in Spain next year.
Méliès d’Argent Feature Winner
The Last Employee (Der Letzte Angestellte), Germany, 2009, Dir. Alexander Adolph
Special Mention – Feature
Savage, Ireland, 2009, Dir. Brendan Muldowney
Méliès d’Or Short Nominee
Yuri Lennon’s Landing on Alpha 46, Germany / Switzerland, 2010, Dir. Anthony Vouardoux
Special Mention – Short
Amock, France, 2009, Dirs. Xavier Goubin, Sarah Matuszack, Martin Vaissié, François Vico