Golden Owl swoops for I don't Care if Tomorrow Never Comes at Leeds
Belgium film I Don't Care if Tomorrow Never Comes, from Guillaume Malandrin, has picked up the Golden Owl at the 20th Leeds International Film Festival, with a Special Mention going to Human Film's Ahlaam. The Silver Melies Award for UK talent rewarded Billy O Brien's horror Isolation while Ed Boase's Home Video picked up the short film prize. The Louis Le Prince short film award (which I helped
judge) gave the £1000 prize to Parisian Bollywood musical fantasy epic, Bhai Bhai, with a special mention for Lluis Quillez's taut Avatar and Jean Gabril Periot's shattering Eut-elle ete criminelle
(Even if she had been a criminal). The International Animation prize went to Birmingham-born twice Oscar-nominated Joanna Quinn's Dream and Desires: Family Ties, a delightful take on the British instituion of drunken celebration through the lens of a silver surfing vlogger, with a special mention for Jonas Odell's Never Like the First Time. In other accolades, Abbe Robinson's Up Short funded Private Life picked up the Yorkshire Short Film Award while The Death of Two Brothers picked up the Audience Award.
Jury statements:
The Golden Owl Award
We the jury of the 20th Leeds International Film Festival are proud to announce the winner of this year's Golden Owl competition: I Dont Care if Tomorrow Never Comes (Dir.Guillaume Malandrin, Belgium, 2006)
In selecting our winner, the film that most deserves distribution in a difficult and crowded alternative market in the UK, we were mindful that, to some extent, every film – a labour of love and sacrifice – 'deserves' to be seen by the public. But we decided that the interests of the public have to come before the interests of the filmmakers themselves, especially at a time when the market so often dictates our cultural values.
In that respect, I Don't Care was a clear first choice. Guillaume Malandrin's precise, unsettling study of family dynamics is a brave departure from the archetypes of narrative filmmaking, and the archetypes of the nuclear family itself. It impressed the judges by expressing the complexity and ambivalence of modern relationships while, in its aloofness and emotional dexterity, daring to suggest something sinister at its core.
With superbly natural but elusive performances, and direction that evoked the very best of the Dardenne brothers and Michael Haneke, I Don't Care.. well deserves its prize.
Special Mention
For its unwavering commitment to the cause of both cinema and the Iraqi people, and the extraordinary risks taken by cast and crew, the jury is awarding an special mention to Ahlaam (Dir. Mohamed Al Daradji, UK/Iraq/Netherlands, 2005)
This is a film of profound power, humanity, and even necessity, at a pivotal historical moment. The history of Baghdad, and the Iraq conflict as a whole, has been appropriated, filtered and censored by Western media. Now the process of reclaiming that history has begun, and we hope that the example of Mohamed Al Daradj will inspire a new generation of Iraqi filmmakers to find their cultural and cinematic voice.
The Golden Owl Jury were:
Jono Stevens - co-founder of Diffusion Pictures, a new independent UK film distribution company
Matt Bochenski – Editor of national movie magazine Little White Lies
Miguel Kohan - Director
Louis Le Prince International Short Film Competition
The jury of the Louis Le Prince International Short Film Competition would like firstly to thank Louise Wilder for presenting a superb shortlist of 19 of the world's best short films, selected from over 1200 entries. We would also like to thank Laurence Boyce, the Programme Manager of Shoot, and the Film Festival team, for their hospitality, professionalism and their general level of enthusiasm!
It has been a very difficult decision. There are 6 or 7 films that we felt deserved the prize, and two of these deserve special mention. Avatar (Dir. Lluis Quilez, Spain, 2005) is a very skilful piece of visual storytelling, a film in which low key statement meets a high level of tension. Not a frame is wasted in this technically excellent film. Eut-elle ete criminelle (Even if she had been a criminal) (Dir.Jean-Gabriel Periot, France, 2005) uses film footage, music and sound in a way that could be described as pure cinema, and which reminds us of what it means to be human amongst cold documentary historical fact.
The award goes Bhai Bhai (Dir. Olivier Klein, France, 2005) that rare thing, a French musical comedy. It is a pertinent comment on multi-culturalism, but one that does not take itself too seriously. It is refreshing to see a short film that is not afraid of being ambitious, nor of using music and humour to move the viewer. Its playfulness spoke to our hearts.
Bhai Bhai receives the £1000 Louis le Prince Award sponsored by the Louis Le Prince Centre For Cinema, Photography and Television. For more information about the centre and the range of work that it does visit http://ics.leeds.ac.uk/papers/index.cfm?outfit=llp.
World Animation Award
The jury thanks Loles Barrio Sanches together with the whole Film Festival team for an excellent selection of animated films, chosen from over 200 titles. The quality was very high and, as with the Louis Le Prince International Short Film Competition, the decision very difficult.
There were films that were technically excellent and films that impressed aesthetically. We would like to mention in particular Never Like the First Time (Dir. Jonas Odell, Sweden, 2006) a subject which has meaning for most of the adult human race, and for which the different treatments of each subject was particularly interesting. Maestro (Dir. Geza M. Toth, Hungary, 2005) was a wonderfully simple and well-timed set-up, in which characterisation and relationship between characters was well drawn, and the denouement both pleasurable and well executed.
The award goes to Dream and Desires: Family Ties (Dir. Joanna Quinn, UK, 2006) in which the quality of the animation and direction is matched by the inventiveness of the script. It's a romp in which the personality and character of the protagonist comes across superbly, and in which pace, timing and point of view combines to produce a film that is rich in action and visual comedy. Oh, and cinema in-jokes.
The Jury for the Louis Le Prince Short Film Award and The World Animation Award were:
Nic
Wistreich -
Michael Lynch - Course Leader and Senior Lecturer in Screenwriting at Southampton Solent University
Dr Ian Macdonald - Research Director, Louis Le Prince Centre for Cinema, Photography and Television, University of Leeds.
Silver Melies Award
Feature Film: Isolation (Dir. Billy O' Brien, Ireland/UK, 2005)
Short Film: Home Video (Dir. Ed Boase, UK, 2005)
This award is part of the European Federation of Fantastic Film Festivals and the winners will go on to compete for the Golden Melies at the Lund International Fantastic Film Festival on 16th September 2007. For more information on the EFFFF go to www.melies.org
The Jury were:
Chris Smith – Director of Creep & Severance
Nigel Floyd - Journalist
Harvey Fenton – Founder of FAB Press
Private Life (Dir. Abbe Robinson, UK, 2006)
The winner receives £500 donated by Screen Yorkshire. To find out more about Screen Yorkshire go to www.screenyorkshire.co.uk.
The Jury were:
Amy Hughes – Editor of Northern Exposure and Arts Editor of The Leeds Guide
Ian McMillan – Poet and Broadcaster
David Browne - Secretary of the Royal Television Society Yorkshire Centre