2006 Los Angeles Film Festival Awards2006 Los Angeles Film Festival Awards: July 2, 2006
Film Independent's Los Angeles Film Festival came to a close this past Sunday. According to festival organizers, more than 80,000 people came to the screenings.
Although I missed a few films I wanted to watch – François Ozon's Le Temps qui reste / Time to Leave, Hans Canosa's Conversations with Other Women, and Andrucha Waddington's Casa de Areia / House of Sand – I did manage to catch several good movies. (Before posting my full reviews, I'll be adding short commentaries on Kirby Dick's funny – and revealing – This Film Is Not Yet Rated, and on Géla Babluani's well directed but bleak and utterly absurd 13 (Tzameti).)
Also, the winners of this year's edition of the Los Angeles Film Festival were announced at a Sunday night awards ceremony.
The Israeli documentary Bubot Niyar / Paper Dolls won the International Feature Competition. Tomer Heymann's film depicts the difficulties encountered by gay Filipino immigrants who work as caregivers in one of Tel Aviv's most conservative neighborhoods.
The jury prize for Best Narrative Feature went to Steve Collins' feature-film début, Gretchen, the story of a 17-year-old girl (Courtney Davis) obsessed with a "bad boy" at school. The Audience Award went to Robert Cary's Ira & Abby, a feel-good comedy written by Jennifer Westfeldt (who also stars, along with Chris Messina).
In the feature documentary competition, the jury prize was given to Amy Berg's Deliver Us from Evil, which covers similar territory to Kirby Dick's Academy Award-nominated documentary Twist of Faith: Pedophile priest is abetted by the corrupt Catholic Church.
Jeff Werner and Susan Koch's Mario's Story, about the fight to prove the innocence of an East Los Angeles teenager sentenced to life in prison for murder, won the Audience Award for Best Feature Documentary.
An acting ensemble award was given to the cast of Mike Akel's Chalk, a mockumentary that portrays the lives of high-school teachers.
Best Narrative Feature: Gretchen by Steve Collins
Best Documentary Feature: Deliver Us from Evil by Amy Berg
Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature: Ira & Abby by Robert Cary
Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature: Mario's Story by Jeff Werner and Susan Koch
Audience Award for the Best International Feature: Bubot Niyar / Paper Dolls by Tomer Heymann
Outstanding Performance in the Narrative Competition: The ensemble cast of Mike Akel's Chalk – Troy Schremmer, Janelle Schremmer, Shannon Haragan, and Chris Mass.
Best Narrative Short Film: Side Walls by Gustavo Taretto
Best Documentary Short Film: Gesture Down (I Don't Sing) by Cedar Sherbert
Best Animated/Experimental Short Film: The Wraith of Cobble Hill by Adam Parrish King
Audience Award for Best Short Film: I Want To Be A Pilot by Diego Quemada-Diez
Spirit of Independence Award: Charlize Theron
Narrative Feature Competition jury: Giulia D'Agnolo Vallan (director), David Gordon Green (director), and Danielle Renfrew (producer)
Documentary Competition jury: Marie-Therese Guirgis (acquisitions consultant) and A. J. Schnack (director)
Short Competition Jury: Yareli Arizmendi, Jason Reitman (director), and Mora Stephens (director)
Los Angeles Film Festival Site