BEST MEXICAN FEATURE FILM–

"Los Bastardos"

Directed by: Amat Escalante

Prize includes: Diploma, “El Ojo,” a sculpture by Javier Marin, 100,000 pesos cash provided by Cinépolis

35mm film provided by Kodak, Digital still-photography camera provided by Kodak

THE PUBLIC’S PRIZE FOR BEST MEXICAN FEATURE FILM: "Cinco días sin Nora"

Directed by Mariana Chenillo

Prize includes: Diploma

MEXICAN SHORT FICTION AND ANIMATED FILMS

BEST SHORT FICTION FILM: "La canción de los niños muertos"

Directed by David Pablos

Prize includes: Diploma, “El Ojo,” a sculpture by Javier Marín, 100,000 pesos cash provided by Coca Cola Lite

100,000 pesos in kind: sound post-production provided by MCO Filmworks Image post-production package provided by Newart, 35mm film provided by Kodak

Digital still-photography camera provided by Kodak

SPECIAL MENTION IN SHORT FICTION FILM: "La luz de la oscuridad"

Directed by Gabriela Retes

Prize includes: Diploma

GARCÍA BROSS PRIZE FOR A SHORT FICTION FILM: "Roma"

Directed by Elisa Miller

Prize includes: 3 days of Super 16mm filming of a fiction short

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM: "Jacinta"

Directed by Karla Castañeda

Prize includes: Diploma, “El Ojo,” a sculpture by Javier Marín, 100,000 pesos cash provided by FICM, 100,000 pesos in kind: sound post-production provided by MCO Filmworks Image post-production package provided by Newart, 35mm film provided by Kodak, Digital still-photography camera provided by Kodak

MEXICAN DOCUMENTARY

BEST FEATURE-LENGTH MEXICAN DOCUMENTARY: "Trazando Aleida"

Directed by Christiane Burkhard

Prize includes: Diploma, “El Ojo,” a sculpture by Javier Marín, 100,000 pesos cash provided by the Fundación Televisa, 35mm film provided by Kodak, Digital still-photography camera provided by Kodak

SPECIAL MENTION IN FEATURE-LENGTH MEXICAN DOCUMENTARY: "El ciruelo"

Directed by Carlos Rossini and Emiliano Altuna

Prize includes: Diploma

MUSA PRIZE FOR BEST FEATURE-LENGTH DOCUMENTARY BY A WOMAN: "Siete instantes"

Directed by Diana Cardoza

Prize includes: Diploma, Sculpture by Elena Somonte provided by the Mexican Association of Women in Film and Television

BEST MEXICAN DOCUMENTARY SHORT: "Zoogocho"

Directed by Bernardo Arrellano

Prize includes: Diploma, “El Ojo,” a sculpture by Javier Marín, 100,000 pesos cash provided by FICM

100,000 pesos in kind: sound post-production provided by MCO Filmworks Image post-production package provided by Newart, 35mm film provided by Kodak

Digital still-photography camera provided by Kodak

SPECIAL MENTION IN DOCUMENTARY SHORT: "Susurros de luz"

Directed by Alberto Reséndez Gómez

Prize includes: Diploma

SPECIAL MENTION IN DOCUMENTARY SHORT: "Nosotros los que hablamos la lengua completa"

Directed by Bernardo Porraz

Prize includes: Diploma

MICHOACAN SELECTION

MICHOACAN PRIZE: "Clandestino"

Directed by Juan Pablo Arroyo and Edurne Farías

Prize includes: Diploma, 50,000 pesos cash provided by FICM, 100,000 pesos in kind: sound post-production provided by MCO Filmworks Image post-production package provided by Newart, 35mm film provided by Kodak, Digital still-photography camera provided by Kodak

MICHOACÁN CONTEST PRIZE FOR SHORT FILM SCREENPLAY: "La lluvia que no llueve"

Directed by Adrián González Camargo

Prize includes: Diploma, 10,000 pesos cash provided by FICM

SPECIAL MENTION IN MICHOACAN SECTION: "Aquí ya no entra Don Inés" (Casimiro Leco)

Directed by: Raúl Máximo.

Prize includes: Diploma

MORELIA LAB

MORELIA LAB MEXICO PRIZE: "Condones Encanto" (Encanto Condoms)

Directed by Ximena Urrutia (Mexico)

Prize includes: Diploma, 50,000 pesos cash provided by Imcine

LATIN AMERICA PRIZE: "Proyecto 54" (Project 54)

Directed by Gerardo Aguilar (Honduras)

Prize includes: Diploma, 50,000 pesos cash provided by Cinépolis

BEST PITCHING PRIZE: "Nada sobre mi padre" (Nothing About My Father)

Directed by Luciana Freitas (Brazil)

Prize includes: Diploma, HD camera provided by Sony

MORELIA LAB SPECIAL MENTION: "Ciclo" (Cycle)

Directed by Andrea Martínez (México)

Prize includes: Diploma

MORELIA LAB SPECIAL MENTION: "2008 Ciudad de México y sereno" (2008 Mexico City and Serene)

Directed by Nestor Sampieri (Mexico)

Prize includes: Diploma

CDI PRIZE

BEST INDIGENOUS FILM OR VIDEO: "Snuu ViKo, el lugar de las nubes y algunas palabras perdidas"

Directed by Nicolás Rojas Sánchez

Prize includes: Diploma, 50,000 pesos cash provided by the National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples (CDI)

SPECIAL MENTION IN INDIGENOUS FILM: "Reencuentros: entre la memoria y la nostalgia"

Director by Yolanda Cruz

Prize includes: Diploma

Best Motion Picture: "Surveillance"

Directed by: Jennifer Lynch

Special Jury Award: "Eden Lake"

Directed by: James Watkins

Best Director: Kim Jee-woon for "The Good, The Bad, The Weird"

Best Actor: Brian Cox for "Red"

Best Actress: Semra Turan for "Fighter"

Best Script: Alexis Alexiou for "Tale 52"

Best Cinematography: Angus Hudson for "The Broken"

Best Production Design: Tulé Peak for "Blindness"

Best Make Up FX: Bendit Lestang & Adrien Morot for "Martyrs"

Best Special Effects: Kim Wook for "The Good, The Bad, The Weird"

Best Original Soundtrack: Kenji Kawai for "The Sky Crawlers"

Best Short Film: "Next Floor"

Directed by: Denis Villeneuve

Jury Special Mention to the Shortfilm "Centigrade"

Directed by: Collin Cunningham

Visions Awards- NOVES VISIONS

JURY: Velasco Broca, Guillermo Jure, Xavi Serra

Best Motion Picture: "Los Bastardos"

Directed by: Amat Escalante

Special Mention: "God's Puzzle"

Directed by: Takashi Miike

Non Fiction Motion Picture Diploma: "Religulous"

Directed by: Larry Charles

Discovery Motion Picture Diploma: "Ramírez"

Directed by: Albert Arizza

NOVA AUTORIA SGAE AWARD

JURY: Albert Espinosa, Albert Guinovart, Àngel Quintana, Roser Aguilar

Best Director: Dögg Mósesdóttir for "Eyja"

Best Screenplay: Dea Pompa for "Restaurando a Héctor"

Best Original Score: Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson & Örn Eldjàrn for "Eyja"

Orient Express-Casa Àsia Award goes to "The Chaser"

ORIENT EXPRESS - CASA ÀSIA

JURY: Todd Brown, Xavi Sánchez Pons, Carles Arenes

Best Motion Picture: "The Chaser" by Na Hong-jin

AUDIENCE AWARD EL PERIÓDICO DE CATALUNYA

Best Motion Picture: "Blindness"

Directed by: Fernando Meirelles

ANIMA'T - Gertie Award

JURY: Todd Brown, Xavi Sánchez Pons, Carles Arenes

Best Animated Film: "From Inside"

Directed by: John Bergin

Best Animated Short film: "The facts in the case of Mr. Hollow"

Directed by: Rodrigo Gudiño & Vincent Marcone

THE CARNET JOVE JURY GIVES THE MIDNIGHT X-TREME AWARD

CARNET JOVE JURY: Albert Elduque, Cristina Álvarez, Manuel Bocero, Covadonga de la Cuesta, Sergio Morera

Best Motion Picture "FANTÀSTIC"

EX AEQUO:

"The Sky Crawlers"

Directed by: Mamoru Oshii

"Vinyan"

Directed by: Fabrice du Welz

Best Motion Picture MIDNIGHT X-TREME: "Encarnaçaô do Demônio"

Directed by: José Mojica Marins

SILVER MÉLIÈS

JURY: Diego López, Zak Kadison, Javier Gutiérrez

Silver Méliès for Best European Motion Picture: "Martyrs"

Directed by: Pascal Laugier

Silver Méliès Award for Best European Short Film: "Afterville"

Directed by: Fabio Guaglione & Fabio Resinaro

GOLDEN MÉLIÈS

Golden Méliès for Best European Motion Picture: "Let the Right One In"

Directed by: Tomas Alfredson

Golden Méliès for Best European Short Film: "Of Cats & Women"

Directed by: Jonas Govaerts

CRITIC AWARDS

JURY: Beatriz Martínez Gómez, Alejandro G. Calvo, Carlos Losilla

Jose Luis Guarner Critic Award: "The Sky Crawlers"

Directed by: Mamoru Oshii

Citizen Kane Award to an up-and-coming director: "Home Movie"

Directed by: Christopher Denham

SHORT FILM COMPETITION

JURY: Juanjo Lleó, Toni Benages, Jaime Quesada

Best short film: "La Victoria de Félix"

Directed by: Jordi Pastor & Albert Miró

PIFF awarded films as follows:

New Currents Award (Best Film): "Land of Scarecrows" Directed by: Roh Gyeong-tae (South Korea)

and "Naked Of Defenses"

Directed by Masahide Ichii ( Japan)

Special Mentions: "Members of the Funeral"

Directed by Baek Seung-bin (South Korea)

and "Er Dong"

Directed by Jin Yang (China)

Sonje Award: "Andong"

Directed by Milo Tolentino ( Philippines)

and "Girl"

Directed by Hong Sunghoon (South Korea)

Mecenat Award: "Mental"

Directed by Kazuhiro Soda (Japan)

and "Old Partner"

Directed by Lee Chung Ryoul (South Korea)

FIPRECI Award: "Jalainur"

Directed by Ye Zhao (China)

NETPAC Award: "Members of the Funeral"

Directed by Baek Seung-bin (South Korea)

and "Treeless Mountain"

Directed by Kim So Yong (South Korea)

KNN Movie Award (Audience Award): "100"

Directed by Chris Martinez (Philippines)

HONORARY TRAILBLAZER AWARD: James Schamus

HONORARY MAVERICK AWARD: Kevin Smith

The Lee Marvin award for BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE

Jury Members:

Matt Dentler, Mark Duplass, Ted Hope, Mary Stuart Masterson

Sponsored by the Lee Marvin Estate

Prizes: $5,000 Cash Award

1-year FilmTracker membership for one year from Baseline Studiosystems

Honorary Award receives Final Cut Studio Pro

1-year FilmTracker membership for one year from Baseline Studiosystems

First Prize: "Prince of Broadway"

Directed by Sean Baker

Honorable Mention: "Medicine for Melancholy"

Directed by: Barry Jenkins

Maverick Awards for BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Jury Members: Rachel Grady, Morgan Spurlock, Molly Thompson

Prizes: Final Cut Studio Pro

1-year FilmTracker membership for one year from Baseline Studiosystems

"In A Dream"

Directed by: Jeremiah Zagar

Audience Award for NARRATIVE FEATURE

1-year FilmTracker membership for one year from Baseline Studiosystems

DVD duplication services certificate from Disc Makers

"Let the Right One In"

Directed By: Tomas Alfredson

"Zack and Miri Make a Porno"

Directed By: Kevin Smith

"Pride and Glory"

Directed By: Gavin O'Connor

Audience Award for DOCUMENTARY FEATURE:

1-year FilmTracker membership for one year from Baseline Studiosystems

DVD duplication services certificate from Disc Makers

Playing For Change: "Peace Through Music"

Directed By: Jonathan Walls and Mark Johnson

"Milton Glaser: To Inform and Delight"

Directed By: Wendy Keys

"At the Edge of the World"

Directed By: Dan Stone and Patrick Gambuti Jr.

Diane Seligman Award for BEST SHORT:

Jury Members: Karen Durbin, Ross Partridge, Peter Bowen

Sponsored by Lowel-Light

Prizes: Light Kit and $750 cash from Lowel Light

1-year FilmTracker membership for one year from Baseline Studiosystems

"Glory at Sea"

Directed By: Benh Zeitlin

Diane Seligman Award for BEST STUDENT SHORT:

Jury Members: Amy Gossels, Jeremiah Newton

Sponsored by Lowel-Light

Light Kit and $750 cash from Lowel Light

1-year FilmTracker membership for one year from Baseline Studiosystems

"Sikumi"

Directed By: Andrew Okpeaha MacLean

Diane Seligman Award for BEST SHORT DOC:

Jury Members: Ryan Harrington, Tim Sternberg, Stephen Nemeth

Sponsored by Lowel-Light

Light Kit and $750 cash from Lowel Light

1-year FilmTracker membership for one year from Baseline Studiosystems

"Pickin' & Trimmin'"

Directed By: Matt Morris

HASKELL WEXLER AWARD FOR BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:

Jury Member: Haskell Wexler

Sponsored by Panavision, NY

Prize: $15,000 worth of film camera equipment from Panavision, NY

"At the Edge of the World"

Directed By: Dan Stone, Patrick Gambuti Jr.

Cinematographer(s): Daniel Fernandez, Tim Gorski,

Simeon Houtman, James Joyner,

Jonathan Kane, Mathieu Mauvernay,

Rip Odebralski

Maverick Award for FOR BEST ANIMATION

Jury Members: Bill Plympton, Signe Baumane

Presented by Bill Plympton

DVD duplication services certificate from Disc Makers

"Berni's Doll"

Directed By: Yann Jouette

James Lyons Editing Award for NARRATIVE FEATURE:

Jury Members: Sabine Hoffman, Brian Kates, ACE, Kate Williams

Sponsored by the James Lyons Estate

Prize: $1,000 Cash Award

"Were the World Mine"

Directed By: Tom Gustafson

Edited by: Jennifer Lilly

James Lyons Editing Award for DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Jury Members: Sabine Hoffman, Sloane Klevin, Susan Littenberg

Sponsored by the James Lyons Estate

Prize: $1,000 Cash Award

"In A Dream"

Directed By: Jeremiah Zagar

Edited By: Keiko Deguchi, Jeremiah Zagar

Honorable Mention: "Pressure Cooker"

Directed by Jennifer Grausmand & Mark Becker

Jury Members:

FEATURE NARRATIVE JURY

Matt Dentler is the head of marketing and programming for Cinetic Rights Management, a sister company of Cinetic Media in New York. Prior to that, he spent five years as the Producer of the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference & Festival in Austin starting in 2003. Matt currently sits on the Board of Directors for the Austin Film Society and graduated with a BS in Radio-Television-Film from the University of Texas. He is also the executive producer of PJ Raval’s and Jay Hodges’ documentary feature, Trinidad.

Mark Duplass and his brother Jay’s film, The Puffy Chair, was one of the breakout hits from the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. The film, which also stars Mark, won the Audience Award at SXSW and was nominated for two Independent Spirit Awards. Mark and Jay first made a name for themselves with a string of award-winning short films, including This is John and Scrabble, both of which premiered at Sundance. The brothers are currently writing and directing films for both Universal and Fox Searchlight and have sold The Trail, a television show, to NBC. Their latest feature, Baghead, sold to Sony Classics at Sundance 2008 and is now in limited theatrical release.

Ted Hope is the co-founder of This is That, a New York production company. He most recently wrapped production on Greg Mottola’s Adventureland. His credits include production of Oscar®-winner Alan Ball’s directorial debut Nothing is Private. Ted has also brought the first features of Ang Lee, Hal Hartley, Nicole Holofcener, Todd Field, Michel Gondry, Moises Kaufman, Bob Pulcini and Shari Berman, among others, to the screen. Among Hope’s productions are 21 Grams, which earned two Academy Award® nominations; In the Bedroom, earner of five Oscar® noms; and Happiness, winner of the Cannes Critics Prize.

Mary Stuart Masterson started acting before the age of ten, when she appeared in The Stepford Wives in 1975 with her father. Afterwards, at the direction of her parents, Mary Stuart led a life outside of the limelight, attending school in New York. She appeared in a few productions at New York’s ­Dalton School. At the age of 15, the young actress appeared on Broadway in Eva Le Gallienne’s ­version of Alice In Wonderland. She played two parts, the Four of Hearts and the Small White Rabbit. She returned to films in 1985 with the role of Dani in Heaven Help Us (1985). For eight months afterwards, Mary Stuart attended New York University, where she studied ­anthropology.

FEATURE DOCUMENTARY JURY

Rachel Grady is the co-director of the Emmy®-nominated documentary T he Boys of Baraka. A private investigator-turned-filmmaker, she has produced and directed numerous non-fiction films for MTV, CBS, Discovery Channel, A&E and Britain’s Channel 4. She has directed several films that focus on mental illness, including Mad Justice and Ward 2 West. Rachel was the Series Producer for TX, an eight-part series for VH1. She recently completed her second documentary feature, Jesus Camp, which was nominated for an Academy Award®. She is currently directing a film in Saudi Arabia, and is the co-founder of Loki Films.

Morgan Spurlock is the writer/producer/director of the Academy Award®-nominated film Super Size Me. His highly acclaimed series 30 Days recently completed its third season on the F/X network. The show examines social issues in America and has been praised by such diverse groups as the Muslim Public Affairs Council and the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law. Spurlock’s latest directorial project, Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden? premiered at Sundance 2008. In 2006, Spurlock and Arts Alliance America created a film and distribution partnership to release films considered to be groundbreaking and important that were overlooked by the majority of filmgoers.

Molly Thompson launched and runs A&E ­Indie­Films, the network’s feature documentary division. She executive produces the division’s original productions including Jesus Camp, a film by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, which was nominated for an Academy Award® and American Teen, a film by Nanette Burstein which won best director at Sundance 2008 and was released by Paramount Vantage this summer. Molly also executive produced a film about Anna Wintour directed by RJ Cutler; and a film on Pat Tillman directed by Amir Bar Lev. Other A&E IndieFilms include the Oscar®-nominated, Sundance Award-winner Murderball and My Kid Could Paint That.

SHORTS JURY

Peter Bowen is editor of FilmInFocus and ­Senior Editor of Filmmaker magazine. He ­previously served as Editorial Director of the Sundance Channel. He has written for a range of periodicals and served on the board of the New Festival.

Karen Durbin is the film critic for Elle magazine, where she writes a monthly two-page column. She also writes features for Elle and articles on film for the Sunday Arts & Leisure section of The New York Times. Previously, she was the film critic for Mirabella magazine and its arts and entertainment editor. From April 1994 to September 1996, Karen was the editor-in-chief of The Village Voice.

Ross Partridge, a native of the Hudson Valley area, recently received critical acclaim for his role of Matt in the Duplass Brother’s Baghead. He went on to co-produce their next film Dodeca Pentathlon, to be released in 2009. Film credits include Steven Spielberg’s The Lost World; Black and White with Gina Gershon; Amityville Horror with Terry O’Quinn; and The Wedding Murders with Canadian director Bashar Shibib. Television credits include: NYPD Blue, CSI, Law and Order, Hudson Street, Quantum Leap and The Net. In addition, Ross wrote and directed the feature film Interstate 84. He was a producer for Trigger Street Productions.

Student SHORTS JURY

Jeremiah Newton is the producer of the upcoming documentary Beautiful Darling: The Life and Times of Andy Warhol Superstar Candy Darling, which has just been sold to the Sundance Channel. He is the industry liaison for New York University’s Maurice Kanbar Institute of Film and Television and is known for his work with young filmmakers. Jeremiah currently resides in Manhattan and Cherry Valley, NY.

Amy Gossels has been the casting director, and in many cases a producer, for more than sixty film productions. Feature film casting credits include Something’s Gotta Give, Godsend, Milk & Honey and Shoot First and Pray You Live. Ms. Gossels has cast and produced more than thirty award-winning short films, including the Academy Award® winning Zen and the Art of Landscaping and Happenstance. Ms. Gossels also casts for a wide range of televison projects, including the Comedy Central 2008 Special Night of Too Many Stars; Lifetime Television’s upcoming series Mom’s Cooking; and three highly anticipated new productions from the creators of Blue Man Group, Counts Media and legendary comedy writer Bruce Vilanch, all slated to open on Broadway in early 2009.

SHORT DOCS JURY

Ryan Harrington serves as the Head of IndiePix Studios. In addition, he serves as the Executive Producer on all IndiePix films. Current projects include 21 Below, Entre Nous, P-Star’s Redemption and Slap & Tickle, all of which will hit the festival circuit in 2009. Prior to this, Ryan ran the Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund and managed production for A&E IndieFilms for four years. He was a champion for the Oscar®-nominated films Murderball and Jesus Camp; the Sundance hits My Kid Could Paint That and American Teen; and Barbara Kopple’s Bearing Witness and Street Thief.

Stephen Nemeth formed and heads Rhino Films, the independent film company that originated as a division of iconoclastic record label Rhino Records. He has produced ten films and has executive produced fourteen others, including Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas; What We Do Is Secret; the upcoming Radio Free Albemuth; the 2008 Oscar®-nominated documentary War Dance; the documentary Fields of Fuel, which won the 2008 Sundance Audience Award; and the documentary Flow which is being screened at both the Democratic and ­Republican National Conventions. He is also working with Amnesty International through Artists for Amnesty on developing and producing human rights-related motion picture and ­television projects.

Tim Sternberg started working in the editing rooms of Francis Ford Coppola’s American Zoetrope Studios in San Francisco. After moving to New York he has worked as a sound effects recordist on Sleepless in Seattle and The Human Stain; re-edited the 1992 Academy Award® winning Mediterraneo for U.S. release; and acted as a script consultant for the IFP and American Zoetrope. Recently he worked as music editor on Milos Forman’s Goya’s Ghosts and the Academy Award® winning documentary The Taint of Yingzhou District directed by Ruby Yang. His first film as a director, the documentary short Salim Baba, was nominated for an Oscar® in the 2008 Best Short Documentary category but won the 2007 Best SHort Doc Awad at Woodstock.

ANIMATION JURY

Since her arrival to New York, Signe Baumane has produced and co-produced, written, directed and designed eight independent animated shorts. She has continued her collaboration with Rija Films, where she directed two of her own stories. Her films have screened at such prestigious festivals as Annecy, Tribeca, Sundance, Berlin and Ottawa and have received numerous awards. Signe is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and is a Fellow in Film with the New York Foundation for the Arts. She advises a series of film festivals in the U.S. on their animation programs and curates special shows where she personally presents films and filmmakers.

Bill Plympton is often referred to as the “King of Indie Animation.” He’s completed six animated features and over thirty animated shorts. He has a new book coming out this winter, illustrating the lyrics of Kanye West, and is now starting his seventh animated feature film, about sexual jealousy.

Patrick Smith has written, produced, animated and directed five award-winning films. He has made his directorial debut for the Emmy®-nominated series Daria. Smith is a senior thesis advisor at the Pratt Institute in New York; a fellow with the New York Foundation of the Arts; and a curator for multiple international film and animation festivals.

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Haskell Wexler, A.S.C, is considered one of the most well respected cinematographers in the film industry today, His career spans six decades, and his work includes such films as Coming Home, Bound for Glory, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Interviews With My Lai Veterans and American Graffiti. Haskell has received five Academy Award® nominations and a number of other prestigious awards honoring his outstanding achievements in the photography of a wide range of films. He won his first Best Cinematography Oscar® in 1967 for Mike Nichols’ Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and received the coveted prize again, ten years later, for Hal Ashby’s Bound for Glory. His other nominations were for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1976), Matewan (1988), and Blaze (1989).

EDITING JURY–NARRATIVE

Sabine Hoffman has passionately edited independent feature films for over ten years. Credits include Rebecca Miller’s The Ballad of Jack and Rose and Personal Velocity, and her new feature film The Private Lives of Pippa Lee; Rodney Evans’ Brother to Brother; Morgan J. Freeman’s Desert Blue and Hurricane Streets; Katja Esson’s Academy Award®-nominated Ferry Tales and Bill Jennings’ Harlem Aria. Sabine is an adjunct professor at Columbia University and serves on the advisory boards of the Fusion Film Festival and the Woodstock Film Festival.

Brian A. Kates, A.C.E. ‘s work as a feature film editor includes the Oscar®-nominated The Savages (Tamara Jenkins); the Emmy Award®-winning Lackawanna Blues (George C. Wolfe) for which he won an A.C.E. Eddie Award; Shortbus (John Cameron Mitchell); The Woodsman (Nicole Kassell); and the Emmy®-nominated The Laramie Project (Moisés Kaufman). He was Jonathan Caouette’s co-editor on the groundbreaking documentary Tarnation, named Best Non-Fiction Film by the National Society of Film Critics. Brian recently completed the Warner Bros. production Nights in Rodanthe (George C. Wolfe). He is currently editing Taking Chance, his third collaboration with director/producer Ross Katz.

Kate Williams studied photography, sculpture and film theory in Australia. In New York, she began editing as an assistant on Baz Lurhmann’s Romeo and Juliet and Fred Schepisi’s Six Degrees of Separation. A sampling of the films she has edited include: Steve Buscemi’s Trees Lounge and Interview; Schepisi’s Last ­Orders and Empire Falls; Hong Kong director Clara Law’s The Goddess of 1967; and Michael Almereyda’s This So-Called Disaster, a documentary on Sam Shepard. Most recently, Williams ­edited the 2008 Sundance Grand Jury prize­winner Frozen River.

EDITING JURY–DOCUMENTARY

Sabine Hoffman (see above)

Sloane Klevin has been an editor of films, television, commercials and music videos for twenty years. Her most recent feature film, Taxi to the Dark Side, which she also co-produced, won the 2008 Academy Award® for best Documentary Feature as well as the WGA award for Best Doc Screenplay. She also received a Peabody Award and the jury prizes at the Tribeca and Chicago film festivals. Her other feature credits include Real Women Have Curves, Heights and Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues for PBS. She is a partner at Union Editorial and an Adjunct Professor of Film Editing at Columbia University.

Susan Littenberg’s credits include the recent live action Charlotte’s Web; A Lot Like Love; Gary Winick’s 13 Going on 30 and Tadpole. Most recently, she completed Five Dollars a Day with Christopher Walken. She is currently editing Bride Wars starring Kate Hudson and Drew Barrymore. Other credits include The Ballad of Ramblin’ Jack, winner of a Special Jury Prize for Artistic Achievement at Sundance 2000; Jump Tomorrow, winner of a BAFTA award for first-time filmmakers; and Stephen Soderbergh’s 1996 film, Gray’s Anatomy.

NOFF announces the winners of the first-ever Audience Awards:

Best Narrative Feature: "How to Be"

Directed by: Oliver Irving

Best Documentary Feature: "Hori Smoku Sailor Jerry"

Directed by: Erich Weiss

Other Awards:

Helen Hill Best Animation Award: "Chainsaw"

Directed by: Dennis Tupicoff

Sponsored by Showbiz Software

Honorable Mention: "The Spider"

Directed by: Juan Delcan

Best Narrative Short Award: "Glory At Sea"

Sponsored by CineFilm Lab

Directed by: Benh Zeitlin

Best Documentary Short Award: "Elegy for the Elswick Envoy"

Directed by: Nancy Willis

Sponsored by Showbiz Software

Best Experimental Award: "Home"

Directed by: Matt Faust

Sponsored by Showbiz Software

Honorable Mention: "Sera/Sera"

Directed by: John Murphy

Best Documentary Feature Award: "Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story"

Directed by: Jeffrey Schwarz

Sponsored by Panavision

Best Narrative Feature Award: "Goodnight Irene"

Sponsored by Swelltone Lab

Directed by: Paolo Marinou-Blanco

Louisiana Filmmaker Award: "The Zeppelin Parable"

Directed by: Kristian Hansen

Sponsored by Panavision & Kodak

We congratulate all the awardees.

The following is a list of this year’s ten award recipients:

Best Documentary: “Neshoba,”

Co-Directors Micki Dickoff, Tony Pagano

Mass Impact: “A Soviet Story,”

Director Edvin Snors

Best Short: “The Confession”

Best Actor: Greg Kinnear, “Flash of Genius”

Best Actress: Jacqueline Bisset, “Death In Love”

Best Screenplay Adaptation: “Appaloosa,” Screenwriters: Ed Harris, Robert Knott

Best Film: “Appaloosa”

Creative Visionary: Director and writer Charlie Levi, “Childless”

Best Director: Boaz Yakin, “Death In Love”

Best International Filmmaker: Jamil Rostami

Producer/Director of “Jani Gal”

Audience Favorite: Clear Lake, WI

This year’s BFF sponsors are: A&E Indie Films, NBC Universal, Bravo, Liberty Hotel, American Airlines, Lindor Truffles, and Sundance Channel.

The red carpet star-studded event included appearances by Gustavo Santaolalla (LALIFF’s GABI Lifetime Achievement Award 2008 recipient), Demián Bechir, Carina Ricco, Alexa Vega, Maya Zapata, Lupe Ontiveros, Rick Najera, Montserrat Roig de Puig, Marlene Forte, Simon Rex, Jesse Garcia and other celebrity guests, along with community leaders and entertainment industry experts.

LALIFF co-founder, Executive Director and programmer Marlene Dermer dedicated the night to acclaimed filmmaker Humberto Solás who passed away on Wednesday, September 17th in his native Cuba. Solás, one of Cuba’s brightest and most outstanding figures in cinema, directed many films that gave voice to his country around the world including: Lucía, a film considered as the birth of the Golden Age of Cuban filmmaking, Un hombre de éxito (1986), El siglo de las luces (1991), and Barrio Cuba (2005).

Dermer also acknowledged the wishes of festival co-founder Edward James Olmos to be present at the ceremony to celebrate the closure of the festival. Olmos is currently directing a film and was unable to attend the festival.

The following includes a list of the winners for the 12th Annual Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival:

Features/ Best Film (RITA AWARD)

Sponsored by: Deluxe Laboratories

Winner: "Paraíso Travel"

&

Audience Award: Best Film

Sponsored by: CineLatino

Winner: "Paraíso Travel"

Director: Simon Brand - Country: Colombia

Synopsis: Adapted from Jorge Franco’s acclaimed novel of the same title, Paraíso Travel is the story of Marlon Cruz, a young Colombian man who motivated by his girlfriend Reina, leaves his comfortable life in Medellín, an flees with her through Guatemala and Mexico, across the borders, illegally into the United States. Marlon’s journey, which takes him through seedy strip clubs, dance halls, homeless hostels, and the streets of Jackson Heights ultimately takes him to a place he could not have predicted. Directed by Simon Brand with a screenplay by Jorge Franco and Juan Rendón, Paraíso Travel also stars John Leguizamo, Margarita Rosa de Francisco and Ana de la Reguera.

Features/ Best Director

Sponsored by: Entertainment Partners, Final Draft

Winner: Lucia Murat

Film: "Maré, Nossa Historia de Amor"

Country: Brazil

Synopsis: Living in a slum divided between two rival gangs of drug traffickers, Analídia is the daughter of one of the gangs’ leaders and Jonatha is a childhood friend of the other. Both study in a dance group situated exactly in the middle of the two groups. Openly inspired by Romeo and Juliet, the film is a review of our strong sense of music, our contemporary dance as well as the strange mix we find in slum, where violence lives along side artistic possibility brought by social projects.

Features/ Best Screenplay

Sponsored by: Entertainment Partners, Final Draft

Winner: Issa López

Film: "Casi Divas"

&

Features/ Honorable Mention – Best Actor

Sponsored by: Entertainment Partners, Final Draft

Daniela Schmidts

Film: "Casi Divas"

Director: Issa López - Country: Mexico

Synopsis: "Casi Divas" is the story of four ambitious and beautiful young women from four very different corners of Mexico. Just like hundreds of others, they are caught up in the frenzy that sweeps the nation when Alejandro Mateos, one of the country’s most powerful producers, dreams up a massive, nationwide talent search to cast the lead in his next big movie. But all this is news to Alejandro’s on-again, off-again lover, Eva Gallardo, a temperamental diva of epic proportions, who expected to play the part. While Eva schemes to nail down the role, our four leads will do whatever it takes for a chance to be cast. As "Casi Divas" unfolds and comedic sparks fly, they will all discover who will eventually and surprisingly become the country's new superstar.

Opera Prima/ Winner

Sponsored by: Entertainment Partners, Final Draft

Film: "Desierto Sur"

Director: Shawn Garry - Country: Chile

Synopsis: Sofía is a Spanish swimming protégé who loses her mother to cancer. An enigmatic letter falls into her hands, one that her mother sent to Chile when she was alive. The letter is returned by the post office when the recipient could not be found. The content of the letter raises stirring questions in Sofía. To resolve the emotional conflicts caused by the letter she embarks on a journey to Chile. The destination: An unknown and remote town called “Desierto Sur” in the northern Atacama Desert of Chile

Honorable Mention: Features

Sponsored by: Entertainment Partners, Final Draft

Film: "Limbo"

Director: Horacio Rivera - Country: Mexico

Synopsis: Limbo tells the story of Isao, a gay teen, who suffers an accident and goes to limbo, a mysterious place where he will meet a suicide lawyer and a crazy nurse, two characters that will change the life of the kid forever.

Special Mention: Opera Prima

Sponsored by: Entertainment Partners, Final Draft

Film: "Cochochi"

Director: Israel Carteras, Laura A. Guzman - Country: Mexico

Synopsis: Evaristo and Tony, two brothers from northwest Mexico, receive an assignment from their grandfather: to deliver some medicine to the other extreme of the Sierra Tarahumara. Dreading the long road ahead, they decide to take their grandfather’s horse and set off into a journey that becomes longer than they expected.

Documentary Category

Documentaries/ Best Documentary

Sponsored by: Fuji Film

Film: "The Promise of Music"

Director: Enrique Sánchez Lansch - Country: Germany

Synopsis: A film about the passion for music, this documentary tells the stories of four young Venezuelan orchestra players and their young conductor, Gustavo Dudamel. It shows their upbringing in mostly remote and poor places, their daily lives and their future perspectives. While rehearsing for a challenging concert tour to Europe, Félix, Jhoanna, Katherine, Diego and Gustavo embark on a journey into their pasts revealing what their lives could have been without the chance to play from early childhood on within the unique musical education program of Venezuela. Eventually they travel to Germany to perform a concert in Bonn.

Audience Award: Best Documentary

Sponsored by: CineLatino

Film: "Fraude: Mexico 2006"

Director: Luis Mandoki - Country: Mexico

Synopsis: A documentary about the recent presidential election in Mexico on 2006. Records the events that occurred prior to, during, and after an electoral campaign. In addition, it contains extremely powerful visual evidence of its fraudulent practices, which are captured by the cameras of numerous individuals in the general public.

Special Mention: Documentaries

Sponsored by: Entertainment Partners, Final Draft

Film: "Café de los Maestros"

Director: Miguel Kohan - Country: Argentina

Synopsis: With the return to democracy, Argentina is experiencing an extraordinary rebirth of its main national musical tradition, the Tango. Café de Los Maestros is the gathering of the greatest living legends of this formidable musical genre. These extraordinary men and women, ranging from 70 to 95 years old, reveal to us the mysteries and essence of this melancholic and sexy music. Acclaimed musician, producer and composer Gustavo Santaolalla (winner of 2 Academy Awards®) leads us on a journey to bring together these unique "maestros." Reconstructing historical arrangements and recording unpublished material for the first time, this collaboration culminates with a grand performance of Tango music and dance at Buenos Aires’ famous Colon Theatre.

Special Mention: Documentaries

Sponsored by: Entertainment Partners, Final Draft

Film: "La Americana"

Director: Nicholas Bruckman - Country: United States

Synopsis: Carmen never planned to come to the United States, but when her daughter Carla was only nine-years-old, tragedy struck. Carmen left Carla behind in Bolivia and made the dangerous and illegal journey to New York City where she could earn enough to support her ailing daughter, knowing she may never return home. But after six years of separation, congress proposes 'amnesty' legislation that could allow Carmen and Carla to be reunited again. Will Carmen stay and fight for the American dream, or be home as promised for Carla's quinceañera? Filmed in three countries and told through an intimate cinema-vérité narrative, her unforgettable story is woven into the current immigration debate in the United States, putting a human face on this timely and controversial issue.

Special Mention: Documentaries

Sponsored by: Entertainment Partners, Final Draft

Film: "13 peoples, defending water, air and land"

Director: Francesco Taboada Tabone - Country: Mexico

Synopsis: In the future, wars will be fought over water. In the Mexican state of Morelos, this war has already begun. “13 Peoples defending water, air and land” tells the story of the struggle of Mexican indigenous people to preserve their natural resources and their cultural identity. A documentary that contemplates Mexico’s destiny.

Shorts Category

Shorts/ Winner

Sponsored by: Entertainment Partners, Final Draft

Film: "A Day’s Work"

Director: Rajeev Dassani - Country: USA

Synopsis: What was a simple job escalates into a violent misunderstanding in this heart-stopping drama involving an American family and the three immigrant laborers hired to help them move. Enrique, a young man far from home, must quickly decide where his loyalty really lies.

Special Jury Award: Shorts – Animation

Sponsored by: Entertainment Partners, Final Draft

Film: "Sebastian’s Voodoo"

Director: Joaquín Baldwin - Country: USA

Synopsis: A voodoo doll must find the courage to save his friends from being pinned to death.

Special Mention: Shorts

Sponsored by: Entertainment Partners, Final Draft

Film: "Catharsis"

Director: Daniel Chamorro - Country: Spain

Synopsis: A man and a woman talk about their relationship in two interviews. They seem to be arguing very strong, but at the end they are just trying to understand each other.

Special Mention: Shorts – Best Actor

Sponsored by: Entertainment Partners, Final Draft

Winner: Jorge Palacios

Film: "El Pasajero"

Director: Hector Palma - Country: Venezuela

Synopsis: Based on a true story, El Pasajero is a penetrating look at the nature of violence and the effects of isolation. On New Years Eve in Caracas, Venezuela, a desperate cab driver attempts to rob a wealthy passenger, but when the passenger offers to buy the drivers gun, it leads to a night neither of them will ever forget.

“We are pleased to continue showcasing the talented work of Latino filmmakers and their contributions,” stated Dermer. “This night celebrates the films that have made this festival possible and also a great Cuban director who contributed to the world of cinema. We look forward to a successful festival next year.”

Directed by: Carlos Reygadas

Special Mention to Ramin Bahrani’s film “Chop Shop”

Baltic Film Show Award: “The Class”

Directed by: Ilmar Raag.

Special Mention: Edmunds Jansons’ short documentary animation “Little Bird’s Diary”

The jury of INTERFILM was composed of three members of the Lutheran Church, coming from Germany (Dietmar Adler), Latvia (Agris Sutra) and Denmark (me).

The FIPRESCI jury announced that the award in the Baltic film show was given to “Vogelfrei”

directors: Jānis Kalējs, Jānis Putniņš, Anna Viduleja, Gatis Šmits

FIPRESCI International film competition: “Andalucia” director: Alain Gomis

The award “Best Documentary” of the Baltic film competition jury was given to the Estonian director Priit Valkna’s film “The Headwind Hall”

The award “Best Animation” was given to Edmunds Jansons’ film “Little Bird’s Diary”

The award “Best Feature Film” was given to “Autumn Ball” by Veiko Ounpuu.

The award “Best Baltic Film” was given to “Vogelfrei” by Jānis Kalējs, Gatis Šmits, Jānis Putniņš and Anna Viduleja. This award and 5000 euro were presented by Inga Šīna, vice-president of Rietumu Banka.

Audience Prize: “The Class” by Ilmar Raag

“Arsenals” main prize, with an award of $20,000 US, for “Chop Shop” by Ramin Bahrani

Feature films: "Ainda Orangotangos" (Still Orangutans) Director: Gustavo Spolidoro, Brazil, 2007

Special Mentions: "Jin bi hui huang" (Fujian Blue)

Director: Weng Shou-ming, China, 2007

"Lassú TükÖr" (Slow Mirror)

Director: Igor and Ivan Buharov, Hungary, 2007

"De Ofrivilliga" (Involuntary)

Director: Ruben Ostlund, Switzerland, 2008

"Ztracená dovolená" (Lost Holiday)

Director: Lucie Králová, Czech Republic/China/Switzerland, 2007

Short films: "Smàfuglar" (Two Birds)

Director: Rúnar Rúnarsson, Iceland, 2008

Special Mentions: "Pour de Vrai" (For Real)

Director: Blandine Lenoir, France, 2007

"Le jour de gloire" (The Day of Glory)

Director: Bruno Collet, France, 2007

"Za horyzont" (Beyond the Horizon)

Director: Kuba Czekay, Poland, 2007

Aprile's award: "Lassú TükÖr" (Slow Mirror)

Director: Igor and Ivan Buharov, Hungary, 2007

Special Mentions: "Pour de Vrai" (For Real)

Director: Blandine Lenoir, France, 2007

"Operator"

Director: Matthew Walker, UK, 2007

"Vertigo Rush"

Director: Johann Lurf, Austria, 2007

Encore Award: "Socket"

Director: Patricio García, Argentina, 2007

A2A's award Giovani Energie: "What's next?"

Director: Claudia Roethlin and Adrian Flueckiger, Switzerland, 2007

Corti ma buoni: "Rice and Meat"

Director: Diego Ongaro, USA 2007

Best Animation: "La maison en petits cubes" (The House of Small Cubes)

Director: Kunio Kato, Japan, 2008

Staff Award: "The Blindness of the Woods"

Director: Martin Jalfen and Javier Lourenço, Argentina, 2008

Students's Jury Award: "La théorie des ensembles"

Director: Juliette Hamon Damourettes, Jao Eka M'Changama and Marc Hericher, France, 2007

THE FUKUOKA AUDIENCE AWARD WINNER:

"IN THE NAME OF GOD"

A Pakistani film/ 2007

Directed by Shoaib Mansoor

Starring Shaan, Iman Ali

At the award ceremony, the Award Winner was presented with an Award Certificate, a trophee and prize money.

Director: Jordan Canning

Best Atlantic Feature: "Down to the Dirt"

Director: Justin Simms

Michael Weir Award for Best Original Screenplay: "Down to the Dirt"

Director: Justin Simms, Sherry White

Rex Tasker Documentary Award: "Norm"

Director: Kent Nason, Teresa MacInnes

Ed Higginson Cinematography Award: "Passage"

Director: Kent Nason

Best Director: "Passage"

Director: John Walker

CBC Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Industry

Bill Niven, Producer, Idlewild Films

PowerPost Craft Awards:

Best Art Direction: "Growing Op"

Director: Taavo Soodor, Alan MacLeod

Best Editing: "Treevenge"

Director: Jason Eisener

Best Sound Design: "For Wendy"

Director: Jacquelyn Mills, Andreas Mendritzki

Best Original Score: "Outside Afghanistan"

Director: David Christensen

Canadian Awards:

Best Canadian Short: "Next Floor"

Director: Denis Villeneuve

Honourable Mention: "Passages"

Director: Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre

Best Canadian Feature: "C'est pas moi, je le jure!"

Director: Philippe Falardeau

Best Canadian Documentary: "That’s My Time"

Director: Adamm Liley

Best Actor: "C'est pas moi, je le jure!"

Director: Antoine L’Écuyer

Best Actress: "Nurse.Fighter.Boy"

Director: Karen LeBlanc

Inspired Script: "Dot’s Will"

Director: Scott Simpson

International Award:

People's Choice Award for Best Picture: "Summerhood"

Director: Jacob Medjuck

The German Independence Award – Best German Film, the German Independence Award – Audience Award and the Otto-Sprenger-Award.

The 15th Oldenburg International Film Festival ended on the evening of September 14 with the award ceremony for the German Independence Award and the Otto-Sprenger-Award.

The winner of the German Independence Award – Best German Film is Emily Atef’s “The Stranger in Me”. The award is worth 5000 Euro and was presented by jury-president LeVar Burton and Mayor Dr. Gerd Schwandner.

The jury praised the film’s “originality, the strength of the story and the exceptional quality of the actors”.

This year the jury specially mentioned two performances of female actors. Susanne Wolff displayed her impressive multilayered talents in two films at the festival: “The Stranger in Me” (Emily Atef) and “Happy People” (Jan Georg Schütte). Irina Potapenko gave a convincing newcomer performance with her emotional and powerful acting in “Revanche” by Götz Spielmann.

The German Independence Award – Audience Award also went to “The Stranger in Me” by Emily Atef. The EWE-sponsored award is worth 2000 Euro. The winner also receives an Avid editing software suite.

The third award won by Emily Atef’s “The Stranger in Me” is the Otto-Sprenger-Award also worth 2000 Euro.

During the Cinema-brunch on Sunday September 14th the winner of the 500 Euro short film competition was announced at the CinemaxX: “Side Effect” by Liz Adams.

The audience competition for the Finnkino Prize is arranged in co-operation with Finnkino, the biggest distribution company in Finland. The audience voted for their favorite film from ten nominees shown at the Helsinki IFF.

"Captain Abu Raed" tells the story of an elderly airport janitor, whom the kids in his neighborhood mistake for a pilot. "Abu Raed" doesn’t correct the misunderstanding but uses the situation to tell the poor and abused kids amazing stories about the far away places, that he has never been to. "Captain Abu Raed" is the first feature film by Aman Matalqa (b. 1976).

"Captain Abu Raed" also won the Audience Award for World Cinema (dramatic section) at the Sundance Film Festival, earlier this year, and is Jordan’s choice for Oscar Nomination.

The Finnkino Prize winner was announced at the beginning of the Helsinki IFF’s Closing Film, "The Class," (dir. Laurent Cantet) and at the screening of the Surprise Film, "Rachel Getting Married" (dir. Jonathan Demme). "Captain Abu Raed " will be released theatrically by Finnkino on the 19th of December. The ten nominees for the Finnkino Prize were all first or second feature films by their director:

• Captain Abu Raed (director: Amin Matalqa, Jordan 2007)

• Love and Other Crimes (director:Stefan Arsenijevits, Serbia 2008)

• Lake Tahoe (director: Fernando Eimbcke, Mexico 2008)

• Autumn Ball (director: Veiko Öunpuu, Estonia 2007)

• Vanaja (director: Rajnesh Domalpalli, India 2006)

• Involuntary (director: Ruben Östlund, Sweden 2008)

• Me (director: Rafa Cortés, Spain 2007)

• Wonderful Town (director: Aditya Assarat, Thailand 2007)

• Better Things (director: Duane Hopkins, United Kingdom 2008)

• Tulpan (director: Sergei Dvortsevoy, Kazakhstan 2006)

Director: Tom McCarty

PRIX DU JURY: "Ballast"

Director: Lance Hammer

PRIX DE LA CRITIQUE INTERNATIONALE: "Gardens of the Night"

Director: Damian Harris

PRIX DU JURY DE LA RÉVÉLATION CARTIER: "Ballast"

Director: Lance Hammer

PRIX MICHEL D'ORNANO: "Johnny Mad Dog"

Director: Jean-Stephane Sauvaire

"Noho Hewa: The Wrongful Occupation of Hawai'i"

Director: Anne Keala Kelly

Halekulani Golden Orchid Award for Best Narrative:

"Cape No. 7"

Director: Wei Te-Sheng

Honolulu Magazine Award for Best Short Film:

"Coffee and Allah"

Director: Sima Urale

Honorable Mention: "Texas Girl"

Director: Hyung Hyup Kim

NETPAC Award: "Brutus: The Adventure"

Director: Tara Illenberger

Honorable Mention: "The Little Heart"

Director: Luigi Falomi

Viewers Choice Award Powered by Oceanic Time Warner Cable: "The Hollow"

Director: Dana Ledoux Miller

Film in Hawai'i Award: Joan Lander and Puhipau

(Na Maka o ka 'Aina)

Achievement in Acting: Woo-sung JUNG

Maverick Award: Ji-Woon KIM

Audience Award Winners:

Favorite Feature: "Departures"

Director: Takita Yojiro

Favorite Documentary: "Patsy Mink: Ahead of the Majority"

Director: Kimberlee Bassford

Favorite Short: "Chief"

Director: Brett Wagner

Both the ceremony and the concert were attended by world famous composers such as James Newton Howard, Dario Marianelli, Angelo Badalamenti, David Arnold, Clint Mansell, Trevor Jones, and Shigeru Umebayashi. After the World Soundtrack Awards ceremony the Brussels Philharmonic conducted by Dirk Brossé performed film music by Angelo Badalamenti, Dario Marianelli, Andres Goldstein & Daniel Tarrab and local talent Tuur Florizoone. Special guests of the evening were Siouxsie Sioux and Beth Rowley, both singing music of The Edge of Love.

The results:

FILM COMPOSER OF THE YEAR

presented in respect of the body of work in the year 2008

JAMES NEWTON HOWARD: CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR, MICHAEL CLAYTON, I AM LEGEND

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE OF THE YEAR 2008

ATONEMENT BY DARIO MARIANELLI

BEST ORIGINAL SONG WRITTEN DIRECTLY FOR FILM 2008

'DOWN TO EARTH' FROM WALL-E

Music by Thomas Newman and Peter Gabriel, lyrics by Peter Gabriel, performed by Peter Gabriel

DISCOVERY OF THE YEAR 2008

MARC STREITENFELD: AMERICAN GANGSTER

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD 2008

ANGELO BADALAMENTI

PUBLIC CHOICE AWARD

TUUR FLORIZOONE: MOSCOW, BELGIUM

SABAM AWARD FOR BEST BELGIAN YOUNG COMPOSER

CEDRIC MURRATH

The World Soundtrack Awards are organized in cooperation with Port of Ghent, Sabam, the province East-Flanders, the Ghent City Marketing Fund and Belgacom.

On October 16th, at the Opening Night of the 12th annual Arab Film Festival, juried awards were given to Arab filmmakers who have been recognized for their contributions to cinematography.

The Noor Awards were given at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco. A jury composed of distinguished members of the film and academic communities selected the winning films. Cash prizes were given to the director in four categories: Best Long Fiction, Best Long Non-Fiction, Best Short Fiction and Best Short Non-Fiction.

In addition, the Arab Film Festival's board of directors presented a Lifetime Achievement Award honoring the work of the late Egyptian film director Youssef Chahine.

"Each year the festival offers inspiring films that illuminate Arab lives and present authentic narratives as well as provide insights into the beauty, talent and diversity of Arab culture," said Michel Shehadeh, executive director of the Arab Film Festival. "The Noor Awards shine a special light on filmmakers from the Arab world and from the Arab diaspora who break new artistic and cultural ground. This award recognizes their artistic excellence and their work at building cultural, artistic and human bridges. These are filmmakers who receive little visibility in the United States."

"Paloma Delight" (full length fiction, Algeria 2007) by Nadir Mokneche was selected as the Noor Award winner for Best Long Fiction Film.

"The Yellow House" (Algeria, 2008) by Amor Hakkar received an Honorable Mention in the Long Fiction Film.

In the Best Short Fiction category "Clean Hands Dirty Soap" (Egypt, 2007) directed by Karim Fanous was selected.

The Honorable Mention was presented to "Tenbak" (United Arab Emirates, 2008) directed by Abdullah Hassan Ahmed.

"Life After the Fall" (Iraq, 2008) directed by Kasim Abid, and shot over four years, was selected as the Noor Award winner for Best Long Non-Fiction Film.

"Out of the Frame" (Iraq, 2007) directed by Nizar Annadawi was selected as the Best Short Non-Fiction film.

After the Noor Awards ceremony the festival's Opening Night film "Waiting for Pasolini," a U.S. premiere, was shown to a packed house.

From the Arabic word for "light," the Noor Awards were established to celebrate filmmakers whose enlightened and original works outshine others in their category. The directors of the winning films received cash prizes as follows: Best Long Fiction ($2,000); Best Long Non-Fiction ($2,000); Best Short Fiction ($500) and Best Short Non-Fiction ($500).

This year's Noor Awards jury members were: Professor Nezar Al Sayyad, chair of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at UC Berkeley; Jamal Dajani, Senior Director of Middle East Programming for LinkTV; Dr. Jess Ghannam, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Global Health Sciences at UCSF and president of the san Francisco Arab Cultural and Community Center; Irina Leimbacher, filmmaker and co-programmer of Kino 21; Simone Nelson, artist, producer and entertainment industry consultant; and Torange Yeghiazarian, playwright, director and actor as well as the founding artistic director of Golden Thread Theatre.

This year's Arab Film Festival features more than 70 films from 18 countries in 18 in San Francisco, Berkeley, San Jose and Los Angeles. In addition, films were shown on Bay Area university campuses and, as part of the Festival in the Schools, to more than 1,000 high school students.

The Domestic Competition award went to the film "Leviathan" by Simon Bogojeviæ Narath. The film was also awarded with Veronika's Skull (+ a sum of 1.000 euros), handed out by the Domestic Jury members - last year Domestic Competition winner Renata Poljak and Jude Goldrey from Lifesize Pictures, UK.

The reAnimated Veronika award for best animation went to the film "One Rat Short" by Alex Weil. Croatian film "I'll Kill You" by Nikola Strasek was presented with the award for best documentary and the award for best experimental film went to Raymond by BIF (all the film were also awarded with a sum of 500 euros).

The audience award, Vox Veronika, went to the Belgian film "Tango" by Guido Thys (with a remarkable average grade of 4.85).

The International Jury also gave out two special mentions, to the film "Graphitti" by Vano Burduli from Georgia, and the film "Family Reunion" by Isold Uggadottir from Island.

Directed by: Brillante Mendoza

NETPAC (The Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema) is an international organisation that comprises filmmakers, critics, festivals, programmers, distributors, exhibitors, and film educators. Its fundamental aim is to promote Asian cinema's role in the development of cultural diversity and integrity in a contemporary, globalized world.

One of the ways of promoting Asian cinema is through the presentation of the NETPAC Award, which recognises exceptional and emerging filmmaking talents, at film festivals. The Brisbane International Film Festival is proud to host this award in Australia.

INTERFAITH- Interfaith Award is for Promoting

Humanitarian Values: "The Visitor"

Directed by: Thomas McCarthy

BIFF's Interfaith Award was inspired by the first Interfaith jury, convened at the 2003 Tehran Film Festival by SIGNIS president Father Peter Malone. SIGNIS, the World Catholic Association for Communication, organizes ecumenical juries to judge films on criteria that take into account artistic qualities as well as human, social, and spiritual dimensions.

Now in its fifth year, BIFF's Interfaith jury, comprising three jurors from diverse religious and/or spiritual backgrounds, will present the award to the film that most successfully espouses humanitarian values.

High commendation was given to "Little Moth"

Directed by: Peng Tao

The FIPRESCI award- Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique: "Good Cats"

Directed by: Ying Liang

Founded in the late 1920s in France, Belgium, and Italy, FIPRESCI (Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique) is the international federation of film critics, whose members reside in 60 countries and which is represented at many of the major international film festivals.

FIPRESCI's charter is to promote film art and to encourage new and young cinema. Its first jury prize was presented at the 1946 Cannes Film Festival to David Lean's Brief Encounter and Georges Rouquier's Farrebique. FIPRESCI awards the prestigious International Film Critics Prize at film festivals around the world.

Cine Sparks Jury Award: "The King of Ping Pong"

Directed by: Jens Jonsson

The Courier-Mail Queensland Short Film Competition Winners

The Courier-Mail Queensland Short Film Competition Audience Favourite Award (Apple Mac Book Pro and iPod Touch 16GB valued at $3300 from our sponsor Cirrus): "Nine Miles Beautiful," directed by Marty Moynihan and produced by Peter Blackburn.

The Courier-Mail Queensland Short Film Competition Critics Choice Award ($5000 cash from our sponsors The Courier-Mail) "Seize the Day," directed by Alex Chomicz and produced by Wade Savage.

Chauvel Award:

This year the 2008 Chauvel Award goes to Heath Ledger for his outstanding and significant contribution to Australian Cinema.

Kinetone Award 2008:

For significant contribution to the Queensland film industry

The Kinetone Award is voted both by industry peers and the public. Each year the nominations reflect the generosity and commitment of the industry's established professionals. Previous recipients have supported the industry through many avenues, including education, training, mentorship, and network development.

In 2008, the recipient of the Kinetone Award is Gary Keir. Gary's long history with film processing laboratory Atlab has seen him involved in many productions, from feature films to television commercials, since 1977. Gary opened Atlab Queensland as manager in 1991 and has since become a figurehead in the state's film and television industry.

His extensive involvement in the emerging local industry-for example, the establishment of the Kodak TVC Competition in 2001, festival sponsorships, participation in industry groups and panels, and avid support of the annual Warner Roadshow Studios Queensland New Filmmakers Awards-clearly demonstrates Gary's unswerving commitment.

For many years, Gary has selflessly devoted himself to mentoring newcomers, passing on to them his boundless/contagious enthusiasm and technological knowledge, and in 2000 the Australian Cinematographers Society recognised Gary's service to the industry with the Edwin Scragg Award.

Gary is highly respected by his peers and revered among filmmakers across the state. He has been instrumental in building Queensland's film industry-without people like Gary, Queensland would lack the sense of family, tradition, and close-knit support that currently enriches this creative industry.

AWARD FOR BEST CANADIAN SHORT FILM

The award for Best Canadian Short Film goes to Chris Chong Chan Fui's "Block B." The film examines the lives of an expatriate Indian community weaving itself through the contradicting soundscapes of contemporary Malaysia. The jury notes: "simple, graphic, hypnotic - this is an achievement of bringing cinema to its bare essentials." A special citation goes to Denis Villeneuve's Next Floor. The short film jury members are filmmakers Louise Archambault and Min Sook Lee, and Rotterdam International Film Festival programmer Peter van Hoof. The award offers a $10,000 cash prize and is supported by the National Film Board of Canada.

CITYTV AWARD FOR BEST CANADIAN FIRST FEATURE FILM

The Citytv Award for Best Canadian First Feature Film goes to Marie-Hélène Cousineau and Madeline Piujuq Ivalu's "Before Tomorrow" "for its arresting beauty, its humanist, innovative storytelling and its artistic integrity in capturing the narrative of a people through an intimate tale." Based on the novel by acclaimed Danish author Jørn Riel, "Before Tomorrow" is a moving drama about a strong Inuit woman and her beloved grandson, who become trapped on a remote island as they face the ultimate challenge of survival. A special citation goes to Lyne Charlebois' "Borderline." Established by Citytv, the award carries a cash prize of $15,000.

CITY OF TORONTO-CITYTV AWARD FOR BEST CANADIAN FEATURE FILM

The City of Toronto-Citytv Award for Best Canadian Feature Film goes to Rodrigue Jean's "Lost Song." Elisabeth (Suzie LeBlanc), Pierre (Patrick Goyette) and their new-born baby move to a summer cottage in a remote area north of Montreal. Isolation and the difficulty of coping with her new situation and surroundings send Elisabeth into a spiral of depression. The jury described the film as "constantly surprising," and "profound, masterful and devastatingly sad." A special citation goes to Atom Egoyan's "Adoration." Generously co-sponsored by the City of Toronto and Citytv, the City of Toronto-Citytv Award for Best Canadian Feature Film carries a cash prize of $30,000.

CANADIAN FEATURE FILM AWARDS JURY

Winners of the Citytv Award for Best Canadian First Feature Film and the City of Toronto-Citytv Award for Best Canadian Feature Film were selected by a jury of film industry professionals, consisting of filmmaker Ann Marie Fleming, filmmaker and actor Sarah Polley, programmer for the Locarno Film Festival Vincenzo Bugno, and producer Michael Burns.

DIESEL DISCOVERY AWARD

The Diesel Discovery award goes to Steve McQueen's Hunger. The film follows Bobby Sands and the other political inmates of Northern Ireland's Maze Prison in 1981 as they seek to gain special category status for republican prisoners. The Festival press corps, which consists of 1000 international media, voted on the Diesel Discovery Award. The award offers a $10,000 cash prize and a custom award sponsored by DIESEL Canada.

PRIZE OF THE INTERNATIONAL CRITICS (FIPRESCI PRIZE)

The Festival welcomed an international FIPRESCI jury for the 17th consecutive year. This year's jury was expanded and considered eligible films in the Discovery and Special Presentation programs. The jury members consist of jury president Jonathan Rosenbaum (USA), Nick Roddick (United Kingdom), Elie Castiel (Canada), Ranjita Biswas (India), Kim Linekin (Canada) and Pablo Scholz (Argentina).

The Prize of the International Critics (FIPRESCI Prize) for Discovery is awarded to Derick Martini's Lymelife. From the filmmaking team behind Smiling Fish and Goat on Fire (TIFF 1999) comes an examination of first love, family dynamics and the American Dream in late 1970s Long Island, as seen through the innocent eyes of a 15-year-old. Scott Bartlett (Rory Culkin) is a gentle boy - a direct contrast to his blustery father, Mickey (Alec Baldwin). After an outbreak of Lyme disease hits their suburban community, the lives of the Bartletts and their neighbours begin to crumble in the wake of illness, confrontation and paranoia.

The Prize of the International Critics (FIPRESCI Prize) for Special Presentations is awarded to Steve Jacobs' "Disgrace." Professor David Lurie's (John Malkovich) life falls apart after he has an impulsive affair with one of his students. Forced to resign from Cape Town University, he escapes to his daughter's farm in the Eastern Cape. Their relationship is tested when they both become victims of a vicious attack. In order not to lose the love of his daughter, David stands by her as she accepts her tragic circumstances. She continues her life on the farm and their individual disgrace finally settles to an uneasy grace.

CADILLAC PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD

The Cadillac People's Choice Award is voted on by Festival audiences. This year's award goes to Danny Boyle's "Slumdog Millionaire." From acclaimed director Danny Boyle comes a story about a kid with nothing, who has everything to lose. Jamal Malik, an 18-year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, is just one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India's "Who Wants to be A Millionaire?" Arrested on suspicion of cheating, he tells the police the amazing tale of his life on the streets, and of the girl he loved and lost. But what is a kid with no interest in money doing on the show? And how does he know all the answers? First runner-up is Kristopher Belman's "More Than A Game" and the second runner-up is Cyrus Nowrasteh's "The Stoning of Soraya M." The award offers a $15,000 cash prize and custom award, sponsored by Cadillac.

Melhor filme de longa-metragem: NOME PROPRIO de Murilo Salles

Melhor Diretor: Domingos Oliveira pelo filme JUVENTUDE

Melhor Ator: Daniel de Oliveira pelo filme A FESTA DA MENINA MORTA

Melhor Atriz: Leandra Leal pelo filme NOME PROPRIO

Melhor Roteiro: Domingos Oliveira pelo filme JUVENTUDE

Melhor Fotografia: Lula Carvalho pelo filme A FESTA DA MENINA MORTA

Prêmio Especial do Júri: A Festa Damenina Morta de Matheus Nachtergaele

Premio de Qualidade Artística: para os Atores Aderbal Freire Filho,

Domingos Oliveira e Paulo Jose pelo filme JUVENTUDE

Melhor Diretor de Arte: Pedro Paulo de Souza pelo filme NOME PROPRIO

Melhor Música: Matheus Nachtergale pelo filme A FESTA DA MENINA MORTA

Melhor Montagem: Natara Ney pelo filme JUVENTUDE

Prêmio da Crítica: A Festa Da Menina Morta de Matheus Nachtergale

Melhor filme do Júri Popular: A Festa Da Menina Morta de Matheus Nachtergale

Longa-Metragem Estrangeiro:

Melhor Filme: COCHOCHI de Israel Cardenas e Laura Guzman

Melhor Diretor: Carlos Moreno pelo Filme PERRO COME PERRO

Melhor Ator: Marlon Moreno e Oscar Borda pelo filme PERRO COMOE PERRO

Melhor Atriz: Ana Carabajal pelo filme POR SUS PROPIOS OJOS

Melhor Roteiro: Liliana Paolinelli pelo filme “ POR SUS PROPIOS OJOS

Melhor Fotografia: Juan Carlos Gil pelo filme PERRO COME PERRO

Prêmio Especial do Júri: para POR SUS PROPIOS OJOS

Prêmio de Qualidade Artística: para COCHOCHI

Excelência de linguagem técnica: COCHOCHI de Israel Cardenas e Laura Guzman

Premio da Crítica: Perro come Perro de Carlos Moreno

Melhor Filme do Júri Popular: POR SUS PROPIOS OJOS de Liliana Paolinelli

CURTA METRAGEM

Melhor filme: Areia de Caetano Gotardo

Melhor Diretor: Jaime Lerner pelo filme Subsolo

Melhor Ator: Augusto Madeira pelos filmes Blackout e Noite de Domingo

Melhor Atriz: Malu Galli pelo filme Areia

Melhor Roteiro: César Cabral e Leandro Maciel por Dossiê Rebordosa

Melhor Fotografia: Heloisa Passos por Areia

Premio Especial do Júri: Booker Pittman de Rodrigo Grota

Melhor Diretor de Arte: José de Aguiar pelo filme Booker Pittman

Melhor Música: Booker Pittman pelo filme Booker Pittman

Melhor Montagem: César Cabral e Leandro Maciel pelo filme Dossiê Rê Bordosa

Prêmio da Crítica: : Booker Pittman de Rodrigo Grota

Mostra Gaúcha

Melhor Filme: Um dia como hoje de Eduardo Wannmacher

Melhor Direção: Diego Muller por Cortejo Negro

Melhor Roteiro: Eduardo Wannmacher por Um dia como hoje

Melhor Fotografia: Fernando Vanelli por Cortejo Negro

Melhor Direção de Arte: Rita Faustini por O Sete Trouxas

Melhor Música: Fausto Prado por Subsolo

Melhor Montagem: Fábio Lobanowsky por Um dia como hoje

Melhor Edição de Som: Cristiano Scherer por Rosário dos Navegantes

Melhor Produtor/ Produtor Executivo: Pablo Muller por Cortejo Negro

Melhor Ator: Júlio Andrade por Um dia como hoje

Melhor Atriz: Carolina Sudat por Um dia como hoje

Golden Leopard: "PARQUE VIA"

Directed by: Enrique Rivero, Mexico

Special Jury Prize: "33 SCENY Z ZYCIA" (33 Scenes from Life)

Directed by: Malgoska Szumowska, Germany/Poland

Best Director: Denis Côte for "ELLE VEUT LE CHAOS," Canada

Leopard for Best Actress: Ilaria Occhini in "MAR NERO"

Directed by: Federico Bondi, Italy/Romania/France

Leopard for Best Actor: Tayanç Ayaydin in "THE MARKET – A TALE OF TRADE"

Directed by: Ben Hopkins, Germany/UK/Turkey/Kazakhstan

Prix Netpac: "DAYTIME DRINKING"

Directed by: Noh Young-seok, South Korea

Prix FIPRESCI: "PARQUE VIA"

Directed by: Enrique Rivero, Mexico

Prize of the Ecumenical Jury: "MAR NERO"

Directed by: Federico Bondi, Italy/Romania/France

Prix FICC / IFFS: "YURIEV DEN" (Yuri’s Day)

Directed by: Kirill Serebrennikov, Russia/Germany

Prix Art & Essai CICAE: "SONBAHAR" (Autumn)

Directed by: Ozcan Alpers, Turkey/Germany

Prix SRG SSR idee suisse /Semaine de la critique: "LATAWCE" (Kites)

Directed by: Beata Dzianowicz, Poland

C.P. Company Golden Leopard / Filmmakers of the Present Competition: "LA FORTERESSE"

Directed by: Fernand Melgar, Switzerland

Ciné Cinéma Special Jury Prize / Filmmakers of the Present Competition: "ALICIA EN EL PAÍS"

Directed by: Esteban Larraín, Chile

Leopard for the Best First Feature: "MÄRZ"

Directed by: Händl Klaus, Austria (International Competition)

Golden Leopard- SRG SSR idée suisse Prize for the International Leopard of Tomorrow Competition:

"DEZ ELEFANTES"

Directed by: Eva Randolph, Brazil

The Boccalino Prize for Best Actor: Kssenia Rappoport for "Yuriev Den"

Directed by: Kirill Serebrennikov

The Boccalino Prize for the Most Significant Film: "Beket"

Directed by: Davide Manuli

Silver Leopard- Eastman Kodak Company Prize for the International Leopard of Tomorrow:

"KAUPUNKILAISIA"

Directed by: Juho Kuosmanen, Finland

Golden Leopard- IKEA Prize for the Leopards of Tomorrow National Competition: "LA DÉLOGEUSE"

Directed by: Julien Rouyet, Switzerland

Silver Leopard- Eastman Kodak Company Prize for the

Leopards of Tomorrow National Competition: "UN DIA Y NADA"

Directed by: Lorenz Merz, Switzerland

Prix du Public UBS: "SON OF RAMBOW"

Directed by: Garth Jennings, UK/France/Germany

Variety Piazza Grande Award: "BACK SOON"

Directed by: Sólveig Anspach, Island/France

Filmmakers of the Present Competition Jury composed of:

Bertrand Bonello, director, composer and writer,France, Benedek Fliegauf, director and writer, Hungary, Cao Guimaraes, director and video artist, Brazil, Corso Salani, director, Italy, Franz Treichler, muscian and composer , Switzerland

The Leopards of Tomorrow Jury is composed of:

Fulvio Bernasconi, director, Switzerland, Eran Kolirin, director, Israel, Angele Paulino, TV5 Monde, Dick Rijneke,

director and producer, The Netherlands, Orsi Toth, actress, Hungary

The Bocaalino Prize Jury is composed of: Alberto Castellano, President, Angelo Franco Aschei, Ugo Brusaporco, Lorenzo Buccella, Valentina Cattaneo, Jordi Picatoste and Damiano Realini

The Netpac Jury is composed of: Sanling Chang,

Taiwan, Bee Thiam Tan, Singapore and Antonio Weinrichter, Spain

The Fipresci Prize Jury is composed of: Nicole Hess,

Swiss, Radovan Holub, Czech Republic, Emma Gray Munthe, Sweden, Javier Porta Fouze, Argentina, Mateusz Werner, Poland

The Ecumenical Jury Prize is composed of: Alexander Deeg, Germany, Alexander Deeg, Felipe Espinoza Torrese, Mexico, Douglas Fahlesone, Ireland, Serge Molla, Swizerland, Astrid Polz-Watzenige, Sham P. Thomas, India.

The FICC / IFFS Prize Jury is composed of: Csaba Bardose, Hungary, Briana Berg, Switzerland, Eoin Hayes, Ireland

Prix Art & Essai CICAE Jury is composed of: Sino Caracappa, Italy, Andre Ceuterick, Belgium, Rita Linda Potyondi, Hungary

Semaine de la Critique Jury is composed of: Stephanie Bunbury, Australia, Azzedine Mabrouki, Algeria, Mariano Morace, Switzerland

Images of the 61st Locarno Film Festival Awards Ceremony:

1.) Junior Jury Special award, Gideon Koppel, Director of the film SLEEP FURIOUSLY

© FOTOFESTIVAL / DAULTE

2.) Federico Bondi, director of the film MAR NERO, third prize of the Junior Jury

© FOTOFESTIVAL / DAULTE

3.) Richard Szyotori, director of the film AU CAFE ROMAND, Leopards of Tomorrow Junior Jury Award for the best Swiss short film

© FOTOFESTIVAL / DAULTE

4.) Isamu Hirabayashi, director of the film BABIN, Junior Jury Leopards of Tomorrow Award

© FOTOFESTIVAL / DAULTE

5.) Julien Rouyet, director of the film LA DELOGEUSE, Junior Jury Leopards of Tomorrow Award

© FOTOFESTIVAL / DAULTE

6.) Malgoska Szumowska, director of the film 33 33 SCENY Z ZYCIA, Junior Jury Award

© FOTOFESTIVAL / DAULTE

7.) Junior Jury Award, Denis Côté, director of the film ELLE VEUT LE CHAOS with the Jury

© FOTOFESTIVAL / DAULTE

8.) Ecumenical Jury Award, from left Serge Molla, member of the Jury, Federico Bondi, director of the film MAR NERO, Alexander Deeg, member of the Jury

© FOTOFESTIVAL / DAULTE

9.) Enrique Rivero, director of the film PARQUE VÍA, FIPRESCI Award

© FOTOFESTIVAL / DAULTE

10.) Özcan Alper, director of the film SONBAHAR, Art & Essai CICAE Award

© FOTOFESTIVAL / DAULTE

11.) SRG SSR idée suisse Award - Semaine de la critique, Beata Dzianowicz, director of the film LATAWCE

© FOTOFESTIVAL / DAULTE

12.) Ilaria Occhini, Leopard for the best feminine interpretation for the film MAR NERO

© FOTOFESTIVAL / DAULTE

13.) Tayanç Ayaydin, Leopard for the best male interpretation for the film THE MARKET - A TALE OF TRADE

© FOTOFESTIVAL / DAULTE

14.) Fernand Melgar, director of the film LA FORTERESSE, C.P.Company Golden Leopard - Filmmakers of the Present

© FOTOFESTIVAL / DAULTE

15.) Händl Klaus, director of the film MÄRZ, Leopard for the best first film, Prize of the City and Region of Locarno

© FOTOFESTIVAL / DAULTE

16.) Malgoska Szumowska, director of the film 33 SCENY Z ZYCIA, Special award for the Jury, Award of the Country of Ascona and Losone

© FOTOFESTIVAL / DAULTE

SIFF 2008 Awards

The Golden Space Needle Award winners were announced at a ceremony earlier today. More than 70,000 ballots were cast by SIFF audiences to determine the winner in six categories: Best Film, Best Documentary, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Short Film.

Also presented were six juried SIFF 2008 Competition Awards: New American Cinema Award, New Directors Showcase Award, Best Documentary Award, Best Narrative Short, Best Documentary Short, and Best Animated Short.

SIFF 2008 Competition Grand Jury Award winners receive a $5,000 cash prize, a hand-made glass creation by artist James Mongrain, Movie Magic Screenwriter software, and a DVD replication prize package from Discmakers. New American Cinema Competition winner receives an annual subscription to The Studio System from Baseline Studio Systems. New Directors Showcase and Documentary Competition winners receive an annual subscription to FilmTracker from Baseline Studio Systems.

SIFF 2008 New American Cinema Competition

Grand Jury Prize: "Em,"

directed by Tony Barbieri (USA)

Jury Statement: “In Em, writer-director Tony Barbieri tackles the timely and original subject of love and mental illness, with the help of his two excellent leads, Stef Willen and Nathan Wetherington. It’s a sweet, sad, scary movie that feels completely contemporary.”

Special Jury Prize: "The Bluetooth Virgin"

director: Russell Brown

Jury Statement: “The Special Jury Prize is awarded to The Bluetooth Virgin and writer-director Russell Brown for his fresh and squirmy script.”

The New American Cinema jury was comprised of: Rajendra Roy, Chief Curator, Film Department at MoMA; David Schmader, associate editor at The Stranger; and Kyle Thorpe, Vice President of Publicity at Focus Features.

SIFF 2008 New Directors Showcase Competition

Grand Jury Prize: "Everything is Fine,"

directed by Yves-Christian Fournier (Canada)

Jury Statement: “The New Directors Showcase Prize for director of a first or second feature goes to Yves-Christian Fournier from Quebec, Canada, and his film Everything is Fine, for its skillful avoidance of the nihilistic clichés in its treatment of contemporary youth. The jury would also like to commend the outstanding performance of Marie Turgeon in the role of the mother.”

Special Jury Prize: "Mermaid,"

directed by Anna Melikyan (Russia)

Jury Statement: “The jury would also like to award a special mention to Mermaid by Anna Melikyan from Russia for its entertaining portrait of Russia and its growing pains as it transitions into a capitalist society.”

The New Directors Showcase jury was comprised of: Frederic Boyer, programmer for Director’s Fortnight, Cannes Film Festival; Oliver Mahrdt, president of Hanns Wolters International, and East Coast representative of German Films; and Charles Taylor, ?lm critic for the Newark Star-Ledger and Bloomberg News.

SIFF 2008 Documentary Competition

Grand Jury Prize: "Derek,"

directed by Isaac Julien (UK)

Jury Statement: “The Grand Jury Prize is awarded to Isaac Julien’s Derek for the strength of both the subject and the filmmaking.”

Documentary Competition Special Jury Prizes:

Jury Statements:

"Combalion," directed by Raphaël Mathié (France), “…for its artistic integrity and visually arresting composition.”

"Accelerating America," directed by Timothy Hotchner (USA), “…for capturing the inspiration of the subject and the humanistic heart of the film.”

The Documentary jury was comprised of: Ken Eisen, president of Shadow Distribution; Julie Goldman, founding partner of Cactus Three; and Steven Raphael, founder of Required Viewing.

SIFF 2008 Short Film Jury Awards

SIFF 2008 Grand Jury Short Film Award winners receive a $2,500 cash prize, a hand-made glass creation by artist James Mongrain, Movie Magic Screenwriter software, a DVD replication prize package from Discmakers, and an annual subscription to FilmTracker from Baseline Studio Systems.

Documentary Grand Jury Prize:

“Self Portrait With Cows Going Home” and Other Works: A Portrait of Sylvia Plachy, directed by Rebecca Dreyfus, U

USA Documentary Special Jury Prize: "The Ladies," directed by Christina Voros, USA

Animation Grand Jury Prize:

"The Pearce Sisters," directed by Luis Cook, UK Animation Special Jury Prize: Home, directed by Kim Slate, USA

Narrative Grand Jury Prize: "Rewind,"

directed by Atul Taishete, India

Narrative Special Jury Prizes: "Walnut,"

directed by Amy Gebhardt, Australia

"Dog Altogether,"

directed by Paddy Considine, UK

"A Mate,"

directed by Teemu Nikki, Finland

"New Boy,"

directed by Steph Green, Ireland

Honorable Mentions for Inventive Filmmaking: "Introduction to Lucid Dreaming,"

directed by John Grigsby, USA

"On the Assassination of the President,"

directed by Adam Keker, USA

The Short Film jury was comprised of: Scilla Andreen, co-founder of IndieFlix; Seattle Filmmaker Douglas Horn, winner of the 2006 Golden Space Needle for Best Short Film; and Jeff Shannon, Film critic for the Seattle Times and P-I.

SIFF 2008 FutureWave Jury Award

SIFF 2008 FutureWave WaveMaker Award winner receives a $2,500 cash prize.

Grand Jury Prize (WaveMaker Award): "Disorder," directed by Rose McAleese

Honorable Mentions: "4th Floor,"

directed by Misami Kubo, “…for excellence in visual storytelling.”

"Driving to the New Age: American Automobiles and You,"

directed by Meng Mao, Eli Shalcross, Charlie Shelton, and Matt Yaggy, “…for delivering a serious message through outstanding use of satire.”

"New Perspective,"

directed by Dave