Sibel Kekilli in Feo Aladag’s When We Leave.
Feo Aladag’s Turkish-German drama Die Fremde / When We Leave, which recently received six Lola nominations, was voted best narrative film at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival.
In When We Leave, Sibel Kekilli, the star of Fatih Akin’s 2004 European Film Award winner Head-On, plays a determined Turkish woman who flees her abusive husband in Istanbul, settling with her five-year-old son in Berlin. Once there, she finds herself at odds with her traditionalist Muslim family.
Kekilli, who was nominated for this year’s German Film Award, also won the best actress award at the Tribeca festival.
Ferzan Ozpetek’s gay comedy Loose Cannons, received a Special Jury Mention in the Narrative Feature category.
Alexandra Codina’s Monica & David, about a love affair between two people with Down syndrome, was chosen as the best documentary. (Codina is the cousin of the film’s Monica.) The Special Jury Mention went to Julia Bacha’s Budrus.
The best actor award was given to Eric Elmosnino for his portrayal of Serge Gainsbourg in Gainsbourg (Vie héroïque) / Gainsbourg, Je t’Aime … Moi Non Plus, which also stars Lucy Gordon, who killed herself last year, as Gainsbourg’s wife Jane Birkin; Laetitia Casta as Brigitte Bardot; and Anna Mouglalis as Juliette Greco.
Cesar winner Yolande Moreau and veteran filmmaker Claude Chabrol also have roles in the Joann Sfar-directed biopic.
Among the other filmmakers honored at Tribeca were newcomers Kim Chapiron, who directed the youth correctional facility drama Dog Pound, and Clio Barnard, for the British mix of documentary and fiction, The Arbor.
Freakonomics, directed by Heidi Ewing, Alex Gibney, Seth Gordon, among others, will be Tribeca’s closing-night film on Friday.
Photos: Tribeca Film Festival
World Narrative Competition
2010 World Narrative Feature Competition Jurors:
Hope Davis, Aaron Eckhart, John Hamburg, Cheryl Hines, John Ridley, Gary Ross and Gary Winick
The Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature
When We Leave (Die Fremde)
Directed and written by Feo Aladag (Germany)
Special Jury Mention
Loose Cannons
Directed by Ferzan Ozpetek, written by Ferzan Ozpetek and Ivan Cotroneo
Best New Narrative Filmmaker
Kim Chapiron for Dog Pound
Written by Kim Chapiron and Jeremie Delon (France)
Best Actor in a Narrative Feature Film
Eric Elmosnino as Serge Gainsbourg in Gainsbourg, Je t’Aime… Moi Non Plus
Directed and written by Joann Sfar (France)
Best Actress in a Narrative Feature Film
Sibel Kekilli as Umay in When We Leave (Die Fremde)
Directed and written by Feo Aladag (Germany)
World Documentary Competition
2010 World Documentary Feature Competition Jurors:
Jessica Alba, Margaret Brown, Abbie Cornish, Marshall Curry, Whoopi Goldberg, Aidan Quinn and Eric Steel
Best Documentary Feature
Monica & David
Directed by Alexandra Codina (USA)
Special Jury Mention
Budrus
Directed by Julia Bacha (USA, Palestine, Israel)
Best New Documentary Filmmaker
Clio Barnard for The Arbor (UK)
New York Competition
2010 Best New York Narrative Competition Jurors:
Selma Blair, Zach Braff, Zoe Cassavetes, Darko Lungulov and Andrew McCarthy
Best New York Narrative
Monogamy
Directed by Dana Adam Shapiro, written by Dana Adam Shapiro and Evan M. Weiner (USA)
Special Jury Mention
Melissa Leo for her performance in The Space Between
Directed and written by Travis Fine (USA)
2010 Best New York Documentary Competition Jurors:
America Ferrera, Dave Karger, Dan Klores, Scott Neustadter and Kate Snow
Best New York Documentary
The Woodmans
Directed by C. Scott Willis (USA, Italy, China)
Short Film Competition
2010 Best Narrative Short Competition Jurors:
Justin Bartha, Katherine Dieckmann, Jack Dorsey, Peter Facinelli and Brooke Shields
Best Narrative Short
Father Christmas Doesn’t Come Here
Directed by Bekhi Sibiya, written by Sibongile Nkosana, Bongi Ndaba (South Africa)
Special Jury Mention
The Crush
Directed and written by Michael Creagh (Ireland)
2010 Best Documentary and Student Short Competition Jurors:
Perry Miller Adato, Tim Armstrong, Jared Cohen, Scandar Copti, Larry Gagosian, Alicia Keys and Shirin Neshat
Best Documentary Short
White Lines & The Fever: The Death of DJ Junebug
Directed and written by Travis Senger (USA)
Special Jury Mention
Out of Infamy: Michi Nishiura Weglyn
Directed and written by Nancy Kapitanoff, Sharon Yamato (USA)
Student Visionary Award
some boys don’t leave
Directed by Maggie Kiley, written by Matthew Mullen, Maggie Kiley (USA)
Special Jury Mention
The Pool Party
Directed and written by Sara Zandieh (Iran, USA)
Tribeca Film Festival Virtual
The 2010 Tribeca Film Festival Virtual winners were voted on by the TFF Virtual Premium passholders.
Tribeca Film Festival Virtual Best Feature Film
Spork
Directed and written by J. B. Ghuman, Jr. (USA)
Tribeca Film Festival Virtual Best Short Film
Delilah, Before
Directed by Melanie Schiele (Singapore)
Photos: Tribeca Film Festival
‘Bodyguards and Assassins’ Tops Hong Kong Film Awards
Teddy Chen’s Bodyguards and Assassins was the big winner at the 2010 Hong Kong Film Awards, held on Sunday. Set in the early years of the 20th century, the action thriller with political undertones – and a national blockbuster ($44 million) – received a total of eight awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actor (Nicholas Tse).
Other Hong Kong Film Award top winners included Best Actress Wai Ying-Hong, who plays a single mother whose son is accused of rape in At the End of Daybreak, and writer-director Alex Law, who won the Best Screenplay award for Echoes of the Rainbow, a family drama about a poor parents caring for their cancer-stricken son in 1960s Hong Kong.
Other Echoes of the Rainbow winners were veteran Simon Yam, voted Best Actor for his performance as a hardworking cobbler (Yam had also been in the running for his murderous family man in Night and Fog); Aarif Lee, chosen as the year’s best new actor; and the title song, which happens to be performed by Lee.
The Best Supporting Actress was Michelle Ye for her gang member in Accident. The Academy Award-winning Japanese drama Departures was voted the Best Asian Film.
Veteran Wai Ying-Hong had previously won both the Golden Horse and the Asian Film Award for Best Actress. Wai had recently suffered a career downturn and had been battling depression.
“I’m not ashamed to tell you that I had at one point given up on my life,” Wai, fighting away the tears, told the crowd. “I really couldn’t see how my future would pan out. But now I’m very confident. I know I belong to the movies. I know I belong to acting.”
The Hong Kong Film Award ceremony also included a tribute to Bruce Lee, who would have turned 70 next November, and a moment of silence in honor of the victims of last week’s earthquake in China’s Qinghai province.
Best film: Bodyguards and Assassins
Best Asian film: Departures (Japan)
Best director: Teddy Chen, Bodyguards and Assassins
Best new director: Cheung King-wai, KJ: Music and Life
Best actor: Simon Yam, Echoes of the Rainbow
Best actress: Wai Ying-Hong, At the End of Daybreak
Best supporting actor: Nicholas Tse, Bodyguards and Assassins
Best supporting actress: Michelle Ye, Accident
Best new performer: Aarif Lee, Echoes of the Rainbow
Best screenplay: Alex Law, Echoes of the Rainbow
Best cinematographer: Arthur Wong, Bodyguards and Assassins
Best film editing: Kong Chi-leung, Chan Chi-wai, Overheard
Best art direction: Ken Mak, Bodyguards and Assassins
Best costume and makeup design: Dora Ng, Bodyguards and Assassins
Best action choreography: Stephen Tung, Lee Tat-chiu, Bodyguards and Assassins
Best original film score: Chan Kwong-wing, Peter Kam, Bodyguards and Assassins
Best original film song: “Echoes of the Rainbow” from Echoes of the Rainbow, composer Lowell Lo, lyrics by Alex Law, performed by Aarif Lee
Best sound design: Steve Burgess, Wu Jiang, Red Cliff II
Best visual effects: Ng Yuen-fai, Chas Chau, Tam Kai-kwan, The Storm Warriors
Lifetime achievement award: Lau Kar-leung
Wai Ying-Hong quote: The Associated Press
Photo: October Pictures
February 2010: Teddy Chan’s Bodyguards and Assassins, the story of a gang of martial-art fighters trying to protect early 1900s Chinese revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sun during a visit to Hong Kong, garnered a whopping 19 nominations – a record – for the 2010 Hong Kong Film Awards. Among those are best film, best director and best actor (Wang Xueqi). Featuring Donnie Yen Zi-dan, Leon Lai Ming, and Tony Leung Ka-fai, Bodyguards and Assassins has grossed approximately US$50 million in several Asian territories since its Dec. 18 release.
The other best film nominees are John Woo’s Red Cliff II, Alan Mak and Felix Chong’s cop thriller Overheard, the Jackie Chan vehicle Shinjuku Incident, and King-wai Cheung’s documentary KJ: Music and Life. A portrait of six years in the life of piano-playing prodigy Wong Ka-jeng, KJ is the first documentary ever to be nominated in the Hong Kong Film Awards’ best picture category.
In addition to Teddy Chan, others in the running for best director are Ann Hui (Night & Fog), John Woo (Red Cliff II), Derek Yee (Shinjuku Incident), and Alan Mak and Felix Chong (Overheard).
Joining Wang Xueqi in the best actor race are double nominee Simon Yam (Night & Fog and Echoes of the Rainbow), Aaron Kwok (Murderer), and Lau Ching Wan (Overheard). The best actress nominees are Zhang Jingchu (Night & Fog), Wai Yin Hung (At the End of Daybreak), Vicki Zhao Wei (Mulan), Shu Qi (Look for a Star), and Sandra Ng (Echoes of the Rainbow).
Curiously, Hong Kong’s Oscar submission, Yonfan’s Prince of Tears, was omitted from most top categories.
The Hong Kong Film Award winners will be announced on April 18.
Bollywood Reaches Bangladesh & Indian Film Festival Winners
According to Agence France-Presse, Bangladesh has lifted a four-decade ban on Indian films. Some Bangladeshi actors and technicians may be none too happy, as they dislike competition just like most everybody else – Hollywood included. Bangladeshi movie theater owners, however, are ecstatic.
In fact, exhibitors were the ones who pressured the Bangladeshi government to end the ban, which began in 1972, the year following the country’s independence. (For those who don’t know; Bangladesh and Pakistan used to be one country. The whole thing goes back all the way to the British Raj and a bloody legacy of colonialism mixed with tribalism.)
Instead of protesting and trying to prevent the opening up of Bangladeshi screens to Bollywood movies (which can be seen on local television), local talent should join forces with the “enemy.” It would then be a win-win situation.
Laxmikant Shetgaonkar’s The Man Beyond the Bridge (above), with dialogue in the native tongue of Konkani (Goa region), a language little used in Indian cinema, took top honors at the 2010 Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (website).
The winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative Feature The Man Beyond the Bridge tells the story of Vinayak, a lonely forest ranger who befriends a mute madwoman who roams the area. Meanwhile, he must deal with local villagers who have been cutting down trees so as to build a shrine. Last year, The Man Beyond the Bridge won the FIPRESCI Prize for Discovery at the 2009 Toronto Film Festival.
Dilip Mehta’s feature-film debut Cooking with Stella received an Honorable Mention in the Narrative Feature category. Deepa Mehta, Dilip’s sister and the director of the Academy Award-nominated Water, co-produced this comedy about a scheming cook (Seema Biswas) and a diplomat’s husband who wishes to learn her culinary secrets.
Nishta Jain’s At My Doorstep was the winner for Best Documentary, with Deepa Bhatia’s Nero’s Guests earning an Honorable Mention. Ritesh Batra’s Gareeb Nawaz’s Taxi won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Short Film, while Anjoo Khosla’s Wahid’s Mobile Bookstore was the runner-up.
Audience Choice Awards went to Paresh Mokashi’s Harishchandrachi Factory for Best Narrative Feature, Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam’s The Sun Behind the Clouds: Tibet’s Struggle for Freedom for Best Documentary, and Terrie Samundra’s Kunjo for Best Short Film.
More than 7,000 moviegoers attended the screenings at ArcLight Hollywood, which included the international director’s cut of Shahrukh Khan’s Bollywood blockbuster My Name Is Khan.
Jury members for the Narrative Features were Debra Martin Chase, Radha Mitchell, and Shannyn Sossamon.
Jury members for the Documentary category were Oscar-nominated filmmaker Gregg Helvey; Peabody Award-winning producer and director Senain Kheshgi; and Sonali Kolhatkar, host and executive producer of KPFK’s Uprising.
Jury members for the Short Film category were writer/ director Rajeev Dassani, actress Navi Rawat, and Kim Yutani, film critic and film programmer for the Sundance Film Festival and the Director of Programming of Outfest.
GRAND JURY AWARDS:
BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE: THE MAN BEYOND THE BRIDGE
DIR/SCR: Laxmikant Shetgaonkar
Cast: Chitranjan Giri, Veena Jomkar, Prasanthi Talpanker, Vasanth Josalkar, Deepak AmonkarHONORABLE MENTION: COOKING WITH STELLA
DIR/CO-SCR: Dilip Mehta
Cast: Seema Biswas, Lisa Ray, Don McKellarBEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: AT MY DOORSTEP
DIR/ED: Nishta JainHONORABLE MENTION: NERO’S GUESTS
DIR: Deepa BhatiaBEST SHORT FILM: GAREEB NAWAZ’S TAXI
DIR: Ritesh BatraHONORABLE MENTION: WAHID’S MOBILE BOOKSTORE
DIR/PROD: Anjoo KhoslaAUDIENCE AWARDS:
NARRATIVE: HARISHCHANDRACHI FACTORY
DIR/SCR: Paresh Mokashi
Cast: Nandu Madhav, Vibhavari Desphande, Atharva Karve, Mohit GokhaleDOCUMENTARY: THE SUN BEHIND THE CLOUDS: TIBET’S STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM
DIR: Ritu Sarin and Tenzing SonamSHORT: KUNJO
DIR: Terrie Samundra
Photos: My Name Is Khan (20th Century Fox); The Man Beyond the Bridge (Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles)
Amitabh Bachchan: 2010 International Indian Film Academy Awards in Sri Lanka
Amitabh Bachchan, one of Bollywood’s iconic figures, announced on Tuesday, April 20, that the International Indian Film Academy’s film festival and awards ceremony will be held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, June 3–5.
That’s where Bollywood’s superstars will be seen next, following IIFA festivals in places as diverse as Macao, the UK, and South Africa.
Bachchan explained that the festival is held in different countries each year so as to promote both Indian cinema and cultural integration.
IIFA events in Colombo will also include a business forum, fashion show and a cricket match featuring both Indian and Sri Lankan film and cricket stars.
Sri Lanka is still suffering from the lingering effects of a 25-year civil war against the Tamil Tigers. Fighting officially ended last year.
2 comments
go to yahoo videos and enter Sibel Kekilli. Some great videos. My fav a 21 minute compilation of happy endings from all her scenes. this fine lady was quite the “actress” before she became an actress.
Kekilli poll incredible players experience a woman in the film I’m very curious about the performance