Film Festivals

2018 IDFA to Open with Afghan Documentary KABUL, CITY IN THE WIND

[caption id="attachment_32383" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Kabul, City in the Wind[/caption] Kabul, City in the Wind by Aboozar Amin, a sobering, intimate and warm account of daily life in Kabul during the silent intervals between suicide bombings, will open this year’s 31st International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) on Wednesday November 14th.
The bombings that happened, and those that will, define life for the film’s characters; a father who works as a bus driver, and two young boys whose policeman father is away due to murder threats.
“Amini introduces himself as an original uncompromising artist of film, he absorbed the work of Abbas Kiarostami and made it his very own,” Artistic Director Orwa Nyrabia comments. Aboozar Amini (Bamiyan, Afghanistan, 1985) arrived in the Netherlands as a teenager and graduated from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in 2010. Amini returned to reside in Afghanistan after his studies in the Netherlands. Kabul, City in the Wind is a co-production between Afghanistan, Japan and the Netherlands and was made with support from the IDFA Bertha Fund. IDFA also revealed the the complete list of nominees for the Feature-Length Documentary, First Appearance and Dutch Documentary competitions. IDFA’s main competition consists of 12 titles by established filmmakers; the IDFA Competition for First Appearance consists exclusively of first films, including opening film opening film; and 11 unique films – both in terms of subject matter and form – compete in the IDFA Competition for Dutch Documentary.
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DOCNYC 2018: Syrian Women Find Strength Through Theater in WE ARE NOT PRINCESSES [Trailer]

With intimate footage and stunning animation, We Are Not Princesses follows how a theater workshop group of Syrian refugee women, living in a Beirut refugee camp, find laughter and purpose behind the scenes, as they come together to perform the ancient Greek play, Antigone. This film focuses on the strong, resilient, and often hilarious Syrian women who are moving forward in spite of the ever-worsening situation back home. We Are Not Princesses directed by Bridgette Auger and Itab Azzam will World Premiere at DOC NYC on November 14, 2018. In 2014, the Open Art Foundation put together a theater workshop with Syrian women refugees in Beirut to create a space for community and to provide tools to help the women process their trauma as a result of the ongoing conflict in Syria. We Are Not Princesses focuses on the strong, resilient, and often hilarious Syrian women who are moving forward in spite of the ever-worsening situation back home. With intimate footage and stunning animation, the film follows how this group of women find laughter and purpose behind the scenes, as they come together to perform the ancient Greek play, Antigone. Whether they are gossiping at a seaside café or engaging in long-forgotten pleasures at a night-time fairground, these poignant scenes are where intense discussion and transformation take place. Smoking cigarettes and wearing makeup become acts of rebellion against societal and patriarchal authority. And never far from the surface are the horrifying backstories which brought the women to Beirut. Mona tells of the death of her child; Fedwa hyperventilates as she attempts to rehearse the story of her son whom she was unable to bury; Heba remembers her starving brother’s last wish for noodles and yogurt. These stories provide context for the Syrian war, and also establish the women’s point of access into the story of Antigone, a story through which the women begin the work of processing their personal and national traumas. We Are Not Princesses focuses strong Syrian women picking up the pieces of their broken society and moving forward. WORLD PREMIERE SCREENING AT DOC NYC Wednesday, November 14, 2018 at 7:45 PM – Cinepolis Chelsea
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THE HATE U GIVE, UNITED SKATES Win Audience Awards at 54th Chicago International Film Festival

[caption id="attachment_32085" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] THE HATE U GIVE[/caption] George Tillman, Jr.’s powerful and moving The Hate U Give has been voted winner of the Audience Award for Best English-language feature at this year’s 54th Chicago International Film Festival. Amandla Stenberg stars as Starr Carter, a young woman who is constantly switching between two worlds: the poor, mostly black neighborhood where she lives and the rich, mostly white prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Now, facing pressures from all sides of the community, Starr must find her voice and stand up for what’s right. Pernille Fischer Christensen’s Becoming Astrid, a biopic about Astrid Lindgren (author of the Pippi Longstocking books), takes home the best foreign-language feature Audience Award. Variety called the film “a gorgeous piece of heritage filmmaking,” and it played to packed houses at ChiFilmFest! [caption id="attachment_29156" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] UNITED SKATES[/caption] Dyana Winkler and Tina Brown’s United Skates, a rousing tribute to roller skating’s pivotal role in the African American community, wins the Documentary Audience Award honor. Facing discriminatory policies and rink closures, committed skaters from around the country—including Chicago’s own Buddy Love—fight to preserve a space for people to come together and express themselves in sliding, bouncing, snapping glory. The Audience Award for Best Short Film goes to Darius Clark Monroe’s Black 14, a reflection on power and control in 1960’s America that uses archival footage to tell the story of a racial protest at the University of Wyoming.
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Glenn Close to Receive Maltin Modern Master Award at Santa Barbara International Film Festival

[caption id="attachment_32359" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Glenn Close in The Wife[/caption] Glenn Close, most recently gracing the silver screen in Sony Pictures Classics’ The Wife. will receive the prestigious Maltin Modern Master Award at the 34th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival. “Glenn Close is one of the great actresses of our time. Versatility is her hallmark, and there is clearly nothing she can’t do. She became a star with her first feature film, The World According to Garp, and has gone on to play everyone from Cruella de Vil to aging silent-film star Norma Desmond in the stage musical of Sunset Blvd. I can’t wait to spend an evening with her onstage at the Arlington Theater,” states Maltin. Directed by Berlin Silver Bear-winner Björn Runge, The Wife is adapted by Jane Anderson from the Meg Wolitzer novel of the same name. After nearly forty years of marriage, JOAN and JOE CASTLEMAN (Glenn Close and Jonathan Pryce) are complements: Where Joe is brash, Joan is shy. Where Joe is casual, Joan is elegant. Where Joe is vain, Joan is self-effacing. And where Joe enjoys his very public role as Great American Novelist, Joan pours her considerable intellect, grace, charm, and diplomacy into the private role of Great Man’s Wife, keeping the household running smoothly, the adult children in close contact, and Joe’s pills dispensed on schedule. At times, a RESTLESS discontentment can be glimpsed beneath Joan’s smoothly decorous surface, but her natural dignity and keen sense of humor carry her through the rough spots. The Wife debuted in theaters this summer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d81IM0loH7o The Modern Master Award was established in 1995 and is the highest accolade presented by SBIFF. Created to honor an individual who has enriched our culture through accomplishments in the motion picture industry, it was re-named the Maltin Modern Master Award in 2015 in honor of long-time SBIFF moderator and renowned film critic Leonard Maltin. Past recipients include Denzel Washington, Michael Keaton, Bruce Dern, Ben Affleck, Christopher Plummer, Christopher Nolan, James Cameron, Clint Eastwood, Cate Blanchett, Will Smith, George Clooney and Peter Jackson. The 34th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival will take place from Wednesday, January 30th through Saturday, February 9th.
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Specials Program of 60th Nordische Filmtage Lübeck to Feature Provocative Cinema + Ingmar Bergman Retrospective

[caption id="attachment_32353" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Bergman – a Year in a Life[/caption] Provocative cinema, historical film epics, and an homage to Swedish master director Ingmar Bergman are the hallmarks of the Specials section of the 60th Nordic Film Days Lübeck, which runs from October 30 to November 4. In honor of the centenary of Bergman’s birth, the festival, which showed the maestro’s classic “Sawdust and Tinsel” at the very first NFL in 1956, will this year screen two relatively unknown Bergman gems – “From the Life of the Marionettes” (GER/SWE 1980), and “The Touch” (SWE/US 1970), in some cases newly digitized. In addition, the documentaries “Bergman – a Year in a Life” (SWE/NOR 2018), “Ingmar Bergman” (SWE 1971), and “The Memory of Ingmar Bergman” (FIN 2018) use personal remembrances, or special times in the director’s life, to take a look back at his life and work. Another film takes a very different approach to Bergman’s oeuvre. “Bergman revisited” (SWE 2018) is a compilation of short films – some irreverent, some experimental, some classic – by six Swedish filmmakers that completely reinterpret motifs from Bergman’s life and art. The Specials section also has a showcase for another world-renowned Swede. Pernille Fischer Christensen’s film “Becoming Astrid” is a complex portrait of beloved children’s and young adult author Astrid Lindgren, with Alba August giving an outstanding performance in the title role. The film focusses on the author’s early writing years, which were formative in her later life and work. The Specials section is also screening “Border”(SWE/DEN 2018), directed by Ali Abbasi, which won the main prize in the “Un Certain Regard” section at Cannes, and Sweden’s submission for the 2018 Oscar “U – July 22” (NOR 2018), Erik Poppe’s controversion treatment of the massacre at a Norwegian youth camp. Two period dramas from Denmark will take audiences back to the past: Bille August’s “A Fortunate Man” (DEN 2018), an adaptation of the eponymous Danish book classic, and the German-Danish co-production “In Love and War” (DEN/GER/CZE 2018), which was the first production to benefit from the new German-Danish Coproduction Development Initiative. The Specials section is rounded out with the newest film adaptation of a Jussi Adler Olsen book – “The Purity of Vengeance” (DEN/GER 2018), directed by Christoffer Boe, was shot partially in Hamburg. It’s another thrilling case for Detective Carl Mørck and his Department Q team.
60th Nordische Filmtage Lübeck Specials
A Fortunate Man / Lykke-Per / Per im Glück Dänemark / Österreich / 2018 / 167 Min. Director(s): Bille August Bille August’s brilliant film adaptation of the classic Danish novel “A Fortunate Man” features young star Esben Smed Jensen in the title role. Becoming Astrid / Unga Astrid / Astrid Schweden / Dänemark / Deutschland / 2017 / 123 Min. Director(s): Pernille Fischer Christensen It’s the kind of life you’d expect to find in an Astrid Lindgren story – her life story, in fact. This biopic covers her early years and first stabs at writing. Bergman – A Year in a Life / Bergman – ett år, ett liv / Bergman – ein Jahr, ein Leben Schweden / Norwegen / 2018 / 116 Min. Director(s): Jane Magnusson Based on the fateful year of 1957, documentary film maker Jane Magnusson unfurls master director Ingmar Bergman’s fascinating work and life. Bergman Revisited / Bergman Revisited / Bergman Revisited Schweden / 2018 / 84 Min. Director(s): Pernilla August, Tomas Alfredson, Jane Magnusson, Linus Tunström, Lisa Aschan, Patrik Eklund Six contemporary short films that present surprising new interpretations of Ingmar Bergman’s life and work – some lyrical, some surreal, some uproariously funny. Border / Gräns / Border Schweden / Dänemark / 2018 / 101 Min. Director(s): Ali Abbasi Sweden’s entry for the 2019 Foreign Language Oscar. Customs officer Tina has a unique sense of human emotions – until she has an encounter that changes her life. From the Life of the Marionettes / Ur Marionetternas Liv / Aus dem Leben der Marionetten Deutschland / Österreich / 1980 / 104 Min. Director(s): Ingmar Bergman A galvanizing trip into the evil within humanity, filmed by Ingmar Bergman with Robert Atzorn and Gaby Dohm for German television in 1980. In Love and War / I krig og kærlighed / In Love and War Dänemark / Deutschland / Tschechien / 2018 / 135 Min. Director(s): Kasper Torsting An injured soldier returns from the frontline and becomes a deserter for the sake of love. Epic tale about the fragility of emotions in World War One. Ingmar Bergman / Ingmar Bergman / Ingmar Bergman Schweden / 1971 / 55 Min. Director(s): Stig Björkman This fascinating and restored Ingmar Bergman portrait was shot during the American coproduction of “The Touch” in 1971. The Memory of Ingmar Bergman / Minnet av Ingmar Bergman / Erinnerung an Ingmar Bergman Finnland / 2018 / 57 Min. Director(s): Jörn Donner Producer and documentary filmmaker Jörn Donner takes a highly personal look back at his friend Ingmar Bergman. The film includes rare archive material. The Purity of Vengeance / Journal 64 / Verachtung Dänemark / Deutschland / 2018 / 119 Min. Director(s): Christoffer Boe Chief inspector Carl Mørck is back. “The Purity of Vengeance” is the thrilling film adaptation of the bestseller by acclaimed Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen. The Touch / Beröringen / Die Berührung Schweden / USA / 1970 / 115 Min. Director(s): Ingmar Bergman Ingmar Bergman’s restored love story from 1971 with Elliot Gould, Max von Sydow and Bibi Anderson hadn’t seen a public screening for over 40 years. U – July 22 / Utøya 22. juli / Utøya 22. Juli Norwegen / 2018 / 95 Min. Director(s): Erik Poppe Controversial drama about an 18-year-old girl during the July 22, 2011 mass murder on the Norwegian island of Utøya. The film was shot in real time in one take.
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CANNIBAL CLUB, FAMILY and CAM Win Top Awards at 2018 Brooklyn Horror Film Festival

[caption id="attachment_32342" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Perry Blackshear, Best Director winner for THE RUSALKA – 2018 Brooklyn Horror Film Festival Awards[/caption] Following what is considered the biggest year yet, the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival announced the 2018 award winners, with the top awards going to Cannibal Club, winner of the Best Film – Horror Feature, and Family, winner of the Best Film – Head Trip. CAM was voted the winner of the Audience Award. “Watching our festival grow in ways we never could have imagined is such an exciting experience. Enormous thank you to the entire staff and volunteers, you are a dream-team and congratulations to our award winners. We’ll be back again next year bigger and better than ever before!” says festival director Justin Timms.
Horror Features:
Best Feature: Cannibal Club Best Director: Cannibal Club – Guto Parente Best Actor: Possum – Sean Harris Best Actress: Knife + Heart – Vanessa Paradis Best Cinematography: Possum – Kit Fraser Best Editing: Antrum – UNKNOWN (David and Mike to accept the award on the original filmmakers behalf) Best Score: Boo! – Jon Natchez Best Sound Design: Luz – Jonas Lux Special Jury Award: Possum – supporting actor Alun Armstrong
Head Trip:
Best Feature: Family Best Director: The Rusalka – Perry Blackshear Best Actor: The Rusalka – Evan Dumouchel Best Actress: CAM – Madeline Brewer Best Cinematography: Holiday – Nadim Carlsen Best Editing: The Rusalka – Perry Blackshear Best Sound Design: Starfish – Multiple Special Jury Award: Production Design and Set Decorator on CAM
Audience Award:
Audience Award: CAM
Shorts:
Best Short Film: Acid Best Director: Helsinki Mansplaining Massacre – Ilja Rautsi Best Actor: Acid – Sofian Khammes Best Actress: The Sermon – Molly Casey Best Cinematography: Hair Wolf – Charlotte Hornsby Best Editing: Milk – Catherine Villeminot & Santiago Menghini Best Effects: Special Day – Ayush Jain Best Score: Le otto dita della morte – Frank Rideau & Orgasmo Sonore Best Sound Design: The Girl in the Snow – Luca Brügger & Dario Voirol Best Locations: Voyager Special Jury Award: Welcome to Bushwick
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BUCKJUMPING Documentary on Dance Culture in New Orleans Premiered at New Orleans Film Festival [Trailer]

[caption id="attachment_32339" align="aligncenter" width="874"] Barbara Lacen-Keller, Lily Keber and Mayor Latoya Cantrell at World Premiere of Buckumping at the New Orleans Film Festival. Photo credit: Sydney Walker[/caption] The City of New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell was in the audience on Sunday, October 21st at the Orpheum Theater to attend the 29th New Orleans Film Festival for the World Premiere of “Buckjumping“, a documentary about New Orleans dance culture and traditions, directed by Lily Keber. The Orpheum was packed with 900 people in the audience and the film was well received with often claps and laughter in the auditorium. There was a second line after the screening which took hundreds of people from the Orpheum Theater to the after party at Ace Hotel. Buckjumping is a feature-length documentary about dance traditions in New Orleans, observing both their contemporary expression and abiding significance. The film follows six communities as they demonstrate ownership of the streets of New Orleans, commemorate their dead, forge community and find spiritual transcendence.
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LIFE WITHOUT BASKETBALL, Documentary on Hijab-Wearing Basketball Player to Premiere at DOC NYC [Trailer]

Life Without Basketball is an intimate and revealing look at the life and career of Bliqis Abdul-Qaadir, a 5’2 pioneering, powerhouse basketball player from Springfield Massachusetts, who broke records and barriers on her way to becoming the first Division I basketball player to play wearing a hijab. When a controversial FIBA (International Basketball Federation) uniform rule ends her chances of playing professionally, she must reexamine her faith and identity as a Muslim-American. Life Without Basketball documentary, presented by Pixela Pictura and directed by Tim O’Donnell and Jon Mercer, will have its World Premiere at DOC NYC, America’s Largest Documentary Festival, on Saturday, Nov 10, 2018. Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir’s story began in Springfield, Massachusetts, the birthplace of basketball. Bilqis excelled as an honor student and on the basketball court from an early age. In January 2009, while a senior at New Leadership Charter School, she shattered the Massachusetts state scoring record (male or female) that was previously held by female hoops legend Rebecca Lobo, averaging over 40 points a game, and finishing with 3,070 career points. Following her record-breaking high school career, Bilqis received a scholarship to play for the University of Memphis. She appeared in Sports Illustrated and on ESPN, was named the 2008-09 Gatorade Massachusetts Basketball Player of the Year, and was invited to the White House for a Ramadan dinner with President Barack Obama. In 2011, Bilqis was awarded the United States Basketball Writers Association “Most Courageous” award at the NCAA Women’s Final Four for being recognized as the first Muslim-American woman to play covered in NCAA history. After completing her final year of NCAA eligibility at Indiana State University, Bilqis began preparing to play internationally. When her agent discovered a little-known FIBA uniform rule which prohibited players from wearing religious head coverings, such as hijabs, turbans, and yarmulkes on the court, her professional career was abruptly halted. Unwilling to stray from her religious beliefs, Bilqis prepared for the toughest challenge of her life. Life Without Basketball is an essential American story about hope and courage, and an exploration of identity and consequence. The film examines the personal impact of Bilqis’s encounter with this career ending rule and the complex world of being Muslim in America, where family tradition and popular perception are often at odds. Through persistent advocacy and dedication to youth empowerment, Bilqis’s story engages viewers in a new conversation about social and political dynamics at home and abroad. Co-director Tim O’Donnell says “As a former Springfield (MA) high school art teacher and wrestling coach, I first heard about Bilqis’s story from a former student who played basketball with her. I was struck by the discriminatory nature of the FIBA rule, I teamed up with co-director Jon Mercer and we started filming right away, as Bilqis began her fight for the right to play. What originally was thought of as short production quickly turned into four years as the filmmakers were fully welcomed into Bilqis’s family and their private lives. Life Without Basketball continues Pixela Pictura’s mission of working within marginalized communities to share stories of overcoming personal challenge or conflict…” Life Without Basketball will have its World Premiere at DOC NYC, America’s Largest Documentary Festival on the following date/times: Saturday, November 10th at 5pm. Cinepolis Cinema Life Without Basketball won best pitch at the 2015 DOC NYC, and materials were adapted into FIBA Allow Hijab, a short documentary co-created with Jon Mercer and distributed through CNN Films and UNINTERRUPTED. His Boston based company Pixela Pictura is currently in post-production on Finding My Dad’s Memories, a personal documentary filmed during his father’s recovery from a traumatic brain injury. His past work includes The Last Time I Heard True Silence and For The Love of Dogs. Tim was a former high school art teacher and wrestling coach. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OavrXZs9YgM
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GREEN BOOK and BIGGEST LITTLE FARM Win Audience Awards at Middleburg Film Festival

[caption id="attachment_31408" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Green Book[/caption] After screening 29 films from 17 countries, Middleburg Film Festival announced today the 2018 Audience Award winners for Best Narrative Film and Best Documentary Film, concluding the annual four-day festival. This year’s narrative award went to GREEN BOOK, directed by Peter Farrelly. The award for best documentary went to BIGGEST LITTLE FARM, directed by John Chester. In GREEN BOOK, Tony Lip (Viggo Mortensen), a bouncer from an Italian-American neighborhood in the Bronx, is hired to drive Dr. Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali), a world-class Black pianist, on a concert tour from Manhattan to the Deep South. They must rely on “The Green Book” to guide them to the few establishments that were then safe for African-Americans. Confronted with racism, danger – as well as unexpected humanity and humor – they are forced to set aside differences to survive and thrive on the journey of a lifetime. The inspiring documentary BIGGEST LITTLE FARM follows the director and his wife as they attempt to develop a sustainable farm by reawakening the ecosystem on 200 acres outside of Los Angeles. “We want to congratulate our Audience Award winners GREEN BOOK and BIGGEST LITTLE FARM,” said Middleburg Film Festival Executive Director Susan Koch. “This year’s slate included fantastic films from all over the world that not only entertained and engaged our audiences, but also contributed to our understanding of the world and one another. It was especially fitting to close the festival with GREEN BOOK, a film that speaks to our common humanity.” “We’d like to thank everyone who contributed to the success of this year’s festival,” said Middleburg Film Festival Founder Sheila C. Johnson. “From our filmmakers to our sponsors to our filmgoers, it was wonderful to witness the overwhelming enthusiasm for the films, conversations, and other special events. Here in the stunning setting of Middleburg, Virginia, the entire festival was abuzz with lively and thoughtful conversations generated by these terrific films.”
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HAPPY AS LAZZARO Wins Best Film at 54th Chicago International Film Festival

[caption id="attachment_30997" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] HAPPY AS LAZARRO[/caption] The 54th Chicago International Film Festival hosted its Awards Ceremony and taking home the top prize, the Gold Hugo for Best Film, in the International Feature Film Competition, is director Alice Rohrwacher’s Happy as Lazzaro, a film the jury recognized for its poetic cinematic language and formal rigor. The Silver Hugo for Best Director was awarded to Jia Zhangke for Ash Is Purest White and the Silver Hugo Special Jury Prize was awarded to Joy, directed by Sudabeh Mortezai. Director Ash Mayfair took home top honors in the New Directors Competition with a Gold Hugo for The Third Wife and the Silver Hugo was awarded to Joël Karekezi for The Mercy of the Jungle. The Roger Ebert Award, presented to an emerging filmmaker with a fresh and uncompromising vision, was awarded to directors Andréa Bescond and Eric Métayer for Little Tickles, and the Chicago Award was presented to Michael Paulucci for Hashtag Perfect Life. The Founder’s Award, given to one film across all categories that captures the spirit of the Chicago International Film Festival for its unique and innovative approach to the art of the moving image, was presented to Felix van Groeningen’s Beautiful Boy. “Each year, the films presented in our competitions represent the excellence and diversity of filmmaking from around the world, and this year was no exception,” said Festival Artistic Director Mimi Plauché. “We are proud to honor these extraordinary films from around the world and here at home, saluting a diverse lineup of singular filmmakers and their work.”
Winners of 54th Chicago International Film Festival Awards

International Feature Film Competition
Gold Hugo: Best Film Happy as Lazzaro Italy/Switzerland/France/Germany Dir. Alice Rohrwacher Silver Hugo: Special Jury Prize Joy Austria Dir. Sudabeh Mortezai Silver Hugo: Best Director Jia Zhangke, Ash Is Purest White China/France Silver Hugo: Best Actor Jesper Christensen, Before the Frost Denmark Silver Hugo: Best Actress Zhao Tao, Ash is Purest White China/France Silver Plaque: Best Screenplay Stéphane Brizé and Olivier Gorce, At War France Silver Plaque: Best Cinematography David Gallego, Birds of Passage Colombia/Mexico/Denmark/France Silver Plaque: Best Art Direction Angélica Parea, Birds of Passage Colombia/Mexico/Denmark/France
New Directors Competition
Gold Hugo The Third Wife Vietnam Dir. Ash Mayfair Silver Hugo The Mercy of the Jungle Belgium/France/Rwanda Dir. Joël Karekezi Roger Ebert Award Little Tickles France Dirs. Andréa Bescond, Eric Métayer
Documentary Competition
Gold Hugo [Censored] Australia Dir. Sari Braithwaite Silver Hugo Ex-Shaman Brazil Dir. Luiz Bolognesi Silver Hugo The Raft Sweden Dir. Marcus Lindeen
Out-Look Competition
Gold Q-Hugo Retablo Peru/Germany/Norway Dir. Alvaro Delgado Aparicio Silver Q-Hugo Rafiki Kenya/South Africa/Germany/Netherlands/France/Norway/Lebanon Dir. Wanuri Kahiu Special Mention Hard Paint Brazil Dirs. Filipe Matzembacher, Marcio Reolon
Documentary Short Film Competition
Silver Hugo: Circle U.K./Canada/India Dir. Jayisha Patel Gold Plaque: Edgecombe U.S. Crystal Kayiza Special Mention: Black 14 U.S. Dir. Darius Clark Monroe
Animated Short Film Competition
Silver Hugo: Bloeistraat 11 The Netherlands Nienke Deutz Gold Plaque: Weekends U.S. Trevor Jimenez Special Mention: Opening Night U.S. Margaret Bialis
Live Action Short Film Competition
Gold Hugo Mamartuille Mexico Dir. Alejandro Saevich Silver Hugo Hair Wolf U.S. Dir. Mariama Diallo Special Mention Nyi ma lay Singapore Dir. Wei Liang Chiang
Chicago Award
Hashtag Perfect Life U.S. Dir. Michael Paulucci
Founder’s Award
Beautiful Boy U.S. The Founder’s Award is personally presented by Festival Founder Michael Kutza to the single film across all categories he feels best embodies the spirit of curiosity, optimism and love of film that led to his starting the Chicago International Film Festival 55-years ago. “Beautiful Boy is an emotional drama which remains full of hope and humanity with two of the most stunning performances of the year,” remarked Kutza.
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JOY Wins Best Film at 62nd BFI London Film Festival

[caption id="attachment_32312" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] JOY directed by Sudabeh Mortezai[/caption] Sudabeh Mortezai’s Joy, the award-winning film that that tackles the vicious cycle of sex trafficking in modern Europe is the winner of the Best Film Award at this year’s 62nd BFI London Film Festival. Other winners include Lukas Dhont’s feature debut, Girl won the First Feature Competition – Sutherland Award, and What You Gonna Do When the World’s on Fire? by Roberto Minervini won for Best Documentary. Tricia Tuttle, BFI London Film Festival Artistic Director said: “The 2018 LFF Awards nominations demonstrate the vibrancy of global filmmaking and I’m delighted for the winning filmmakers who have triumphed at the 62nd BFI London Film Festival. After much jury deliberation, our wonderful juries have selected four extraordinary films which encourage dialogue and understanding around issues of race, class, gender and sexuality. I applaud Sudabeh, Lukas, Roberto and Charlie for their boldly distinctive work and hope that our awards can help focus even more attention from UK and global audiences on their truly deserving films. For the first time, we’ve also placed audiences at the very heart of the awards celebration and I’m thrilled to be presenting the winners to packed houses of adventurous filmgoers.”
62nd BFI London Film Festival Award Winners
JOY – Sudabeh Mortezai, Official Competition (Best Film Award) Winner of both the first ever Hearst Film Award 2018 for Best Female Direction and the 2018 Europa Cinemas Label at the 75th Venice International Film Festival, Sudabeh Mortezai (whose debut feature Macondo competed for the LFF’s Sutherland Award in 2014), presents a vital and hugely affecting drama that tackles the vicious cycle of sex trafficking in modern Europe. It follows the life of Joy, a young Nigerian woman, who works the streets to pay off debts to her exploiter Madame, while supporting her family in Nigeria and hoping for a better life for her young daughter in Vienna. GIRL – Lukas Dhont, First Feature Competition (Sutherland Award) Lukas Dhont’s (Headlong, Boys on Film X) feature debut was also bestowed with the coveted Camera d’Or and Queer Palm at the Cannes Film Festival, and has been selected as the Belgian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards. GIRL is the story of Lara, a transgender teenager who dreams of becoming a ballet dancer in this extraordinary coming-of-age story. Lukas Dhont’s richly empathetic and beautifully realised film sensitively explores Lara’s complex inner emotions, expressing so much even when she herself cannot quite find the words. WHAT YOU GONNA DO WHEN THE WORLD’S ON FIRE? – Roberto Minervini, Documentary Competition (Grierson Award) Selected for the main competition section of the 75th Venice International Film Festival, Roberto Minervini’s (The Other Side, Stop The Pounding Heart) thought-provoking and all-too-relevant documentary follows a Louisiana community during the summer of 2017, in the aftermath of a string of brutal police shootings of black men that sent shockwaves throughout the country. A meditation on the state of race in America, this film is an intimate portrait of the lives of those who struggle for justice, dignity, and survival in a country not on their side. LASTING MARKS – Charlie Lyne, Short Film Competition (Short Film Award) Charlie Lyne’s short documentary (Beyond Clueless, Fear Itself) charts the story of sixteen men put on trial for sadomasochism in the dying days of Thatcher’s Britain. Men with shared sexual desires, lucky to have found each other, yet unfortunate to be considered criminal for expressing them. Rungano Nyoni, Short Film Competition President stated: “In a strong and diverse Shorts selection, Charlie Lyne’s LASTING MARKS fascinated us all by resurrecting forgotten history. Uniquely presented as a slideshow of court documents and organised via an oral history by the prosecuted Roland Jaggard, Lyne recounts the story of a group of men put on trial for sadomasochism in the 1980s. A must-watch.“
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THE LORD EAGLE , MARKS OF MANA, ETERNITY Win at 2018 imagineNATIVE Film Festival

[caption id="attachment_32308" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Toyon Kyyl (The Lord Eagle)[/caption] At the 19th Annual imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival’s Awards Presentation, the esteemed Sun Jury and Moon Jury selected the winners, awarding the top prizes – Best Dramatic Feature to Toyon Kyyl (The Lord Eagle) by Eduard Novikov, and Best Indigenous Language Production to Wiñaypacha (Eternity) by Oscar Catacora. The Alanis Obomsawin Award for Best Documentary Work Long Format went to Marks of Mana by Lisa Taouma. Throughout the Festival, imagineNATIVE also presented awards at the Industry Award Reception and the Bullseye Music Contest.
2018 imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival Award Winners
Best Dramatic Feature Toyon Kyyl (The Lord Eagle) by Eduard Novikov $2000 cash award sponsored by Bellmedia Best Indigenous Language Production Wiñaypacha (Eternity) by Oscar Catacora $1000 cash award sponsored by Indigenous Media Initiatives The Kent Monkman Award for Best Experimental Work Eatnanvuloš Lottit (Birds in the Earth) by Marja Helander $500 cash award sponsored by imagineNATIVE Best Audio Work Trans Mountain Pipeline, B.C. Wolf Cull and Dog Sled Massacre by Crystal Favel $500 cash award sponsored by imagineNATIVE Best Digital Media Work Aeasi by Amie Batalibasi $500 cash award sponsored by Unifor Best Interactive Work Biidaaban: First Dawn by Lisa Jackson $500 cash award sponsored by imagineNATIVE The Jane Glassco Award for Emerging Talent ANORI (Wind) by Pipaluk Kreutzmann Jorgensen $2000 cash award sponsored by The CJ Foundation The Ellen Monaque Award for Best Youth Work A World of Our Own by Morningstar Derosier $500 cash award sponsored by RBC & Humber College Aboriginal Resource Centre The Cynthia Lickers-Sage Award for Best Short Work Biidaaban (The Dawn Comes) by Amanda Strong $1000 cash award sponsored by VTape Best Documentary Work Short Format FAST HORSE by Alexandra Lazarowich $1000 cash award sponsored by TVO The Alanis Obomsawin Award for Best Documentary Work Long Format Marks of Mana by Lisa Taouma $2000 cash award sponsored by CBC Docs The August Schellenberg Award of Excellence Michael Greyeyes $1500 cash award sponsored in part by ACTRA National, and generous individual donations. Sun Jury Prize Sgaawaay K’uuna (Edge of the Knife) by Gwaai Edenshaw and Helen Haig-Brown Moon Jury Prize My Friend Michael Jones by Ian Leaupepe, Samson Rambo APTN/imagineNATIVE Web Series Pitch Ryan Cooper and Adeline Bird $30,000 in cash and $20,000 of in-kind prizing and mentorship presented by APTN and supported by Technicolor, Innovate by Day, William F White International, TIFF, WIFT-T, T.O. Webfest and new supporters Bedtracks and Bizable Media NFB/imagineNATIVE Digital and Interactive Prize Gail Maurice The Rising Director Mentorship Award Alexandra Lazarowich Created in partnership with Laura J. Milliken of Big Soul Productions and with the support of the CMPA The Rising Producer Mentorship Award Darcy Waite Created with the support of the DGC Bullseye Music Prize Indigo $10,000 cash award sponsored by imagineNATIVE and Slaight Music
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