Sydney Film Festival announced The World Movies Channel Audience Awards at the Closing Night Gala on Saturday 21 June at the State Theatre. Presented across feature film, documentary and short film categories, the Audience Awards are extremely popular with festival fans relishing the opportunity to have their say.

Audience Award: Short Film at State Theatre - "Green Porno"
Isabella Rossellini's series of one-minute comical and insightful journeys into the sex life of insects. Co-Director and Producer Jody Shaprio was a guest of the festival.

Audience Award: Short Film at Satellite Venues - "Frederikke"
From Denmark's Zentropa Productions, the poignant story of a young girl's weekend visit to her mother, written and directed by Heidi Maria Faisst.

Audience Award: Documentary at State Theatre - "Young@Heart"
With an average age of 80, this choir tackle the likes of Sonic Youth's Schizophrenia, The Clash's Should I Stay or Should I Go, and David Bowie's Golden Years. Young@Heart will be in cinemas from 16 Oct 2008.

Audience Award: Documentary at Satellite Venues - Anvil! "The Story of Anvil"
Sasha Gervasi's real-life Spinal Tap story of love, loss and triumph, as a hard-core Canadian heavy metal band strive to keep the dream alive. Producer Rebecca Yeldham was a guest of the festival, calling Steve 'Lips' Kudrow on her mobile phone after the screening so he could hear the audience cheer!

Audience Award: Feature at State Theatre -
"Fugitive Pieces"
Jeremy Podeswa's lyrical film of a boy's escape from Nazi-occupied Poland to Greece and then onto Canada, where his refusal to let go of the past impedes his engagement with the present. Jeremy Podeswa was a guest of the festival.

Audience Award: Feature at Satellite Venues -
"Red Like the Sky"
Cristiano Bortone's captivating story, based on one of Italy's leading sound editors, Mirco Mencacci, of a blind boy's passion to become a sound engineer. Red Like the Sky was part of the Accessible Cinema program, and children could also go along to this film.

Among the top-rating films was a strong selection of Australian films, including "Salute," "River of No Return," "Playing in the Shadows," "Son of a Lion" and "My Rabit Hoppy." Program strands that did particularly well were "Apocalypse Now," "Kids' Films" and "From Kerr to Eternity." Films about music were a big crowd pleaser, ranging from Philip Glass and Pete Seeger, to Canadian heavy metal and American jazz. Also a favourite was "Where is Winky's Horse?," sequel to last year's Audience Award winner, Winky's Horse.

Also announced at the Closing Night Gala was the Telstra MobileMovies Award for a one-minute mobile phone movie, with a 'My Town' theme. Jason van Genderen's "My Town is Broken," an ode to Gosford made entirely of streetsigns, won him a trip for two to Toronto International Film Festival. The People's Choice Award went to Briony Benjamin's "Mudgeeraba, a Place of Living History."

Sydney Film Festival Jury President Gillian Armstrong last night announced UK film, "Hunger," as the winner of the inaugural Sydney Film Prize. Hunger was awarded the Prize ahead of 11 other international films.

In her announcement at Sydney Opera House, Jury President Gillian Armstrong said, "Before we announce the winner of the Sydney Film Prize the jury would like to make special mention of two films. We commend Carlos Reygadas' Silent Light for its highly poetic and creative use of sound and image and the honest treatment of its universal story of love and pain. The second film we commend is Matthew Newton's "Three Blind Mice" for its energy, passion, superb ensemble cast and as such a fine collaboration by a talented group of young filmmakers.

"Choosing a winner has been a challenging decision because the competition presented such a strong and diverse selection of films. However, our final decision was unanimous. The inaugural Sydney Film Prize is awarded to Steve McQueen's "Hunger."

"'Hunger' was selected for its controlled clarity of vision, its extraordinary detail and bravery, the dedication of its cast and the power and resonance of its humanity," said Armstrong

The Official Competition Jury - Australian Director Gillian Armstrong, Australian actress Essie Davis, LA film writer and critic Scott Foundas, Iranian director/writer/producer Majid Majidi and Hong Kong producer Nansun Shi - agreed unanimously on the decision. The Jury worked as a collegial ensemble, assessing the merits of each film within the criteria of 'audacious, cutting-edge and courageous filmmaking'.

Sydney Film Festival also announced the winner of the Rouben Mamoulian Award as part of the 20th annual Dendy Awards for Australian Short Films - "Summer Breaks" directed by Sean Kruck and produced by Caroline Barry.

All six Dendy Awards were presented this evening at Sydney Opera House. The 15 shortlisted films were screened at State Theatre on Friday 13 June.

The 2008 winners are:
Dendy Award for Short Documentary ($5000 cash prize): "Rare Chicken Rescue"
Director Randall Wood; Producers Trish Lake, Vickie Gest

Dendy Award for Short Fiction ($5000 cash prize): "Ali and the Ball"
Director Alex Holmes; Producer Helen Panckhurst

Dendy Award for Most Innovative Short Film ($5000 cash prize): "Ephemeral" Directed and produced by Tony Radevski and Jongsu Oh

Yoram Gross Animation Award ($4000 cash prize): "Mutt"
Director Glen Hunwick; Producer Beth Frey

CRC Award ($5000 cash prize): "296 Smith Street"
Director John Evagora; Producer Jorge Tsadilas

Winner of the 2008 Rouben Mamoulian Award ($5000 cash prize): "Summer Breaks"
Director Sean Kruck; Producer Caroline Barry

Dendy Awards for Best Documentary: “2 Mums and a Dad”
Directed by: Miranda Wills

Dendy Awards for Best Fiction: “Katoomba”
Directed by: Leon Ford

Dendy Awards the Most Innovative Short: “Paper City Architects” Directed by: Daniel Agdag

Yoram Gross Animation Award: “Sweet and Sour”
Directed by: Eddie White

CRC Award: “Checkpoint”
Directed by: Ben Phelps

Rouben Mamoulian Award sponsored by SHOWTIME: “Growing Up and Going Home”
Directed by: Belinda Mason

SBS In Language Award- Documentary: “2 Mums and a Dad”
Directed by: Miranda Wills

SBS In Language Award- Fiction: “Katoomba”
Directed by: Leon Ford

FIPRESCI Award for Best Documentary: “The Monastery - Mr Vig and the Nun”
Directed by: Pernille Rose

WotNext MobileMovies Award: “The Falling”
Directed by: Chris Simon

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go to: http://www.sydneyfilmfestival.org/content.asp?p=20&id=77