Award winners announced at 62nd Edinburgh International Film Festival
The Edinburgh International Film Festival announced the winners in the ten competition categories for both feature and short films.
The Edinburgh International Film Festival today (29 June) announced the winners in the ten competition categories for both feature and short films. The awards were presented to the winners by EIFF Patron Sir Sean Connery on the closing day of the Festival at a public ceremony in Filmhouse. This year's winners are:
Michael Powell Award for Best New British Feature Film, sponsored by the UK Film Council
SOMERS TOWN – Directed by Shane Meadows
PPG Award for Best Performance in a British Feature Film
ROBERT CARLYLE - Summer
Standard Life Audience Award
MAN ON WIRE – Directed by James Marsh
Best Documentary Award
ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD – Directed by Werner Herzog
Skillset New Directors Award
MARIANNA PALKA – Good Dick
UK Film Council Award for Best British Short Film
SON – Directed by Daniel Mulloy
European Film Academy Short Film 2008 - Prix UIP
2 BIRDS – Directed by Rúnar Rúnarsson
Scottish Short Documentary Award supported by Baillie Gifford
CHRISTMAS WITH DAD – Directed by Conor McCormack
McLaren Award for New British Animation in partnership with BBC Film Network
SPACE TRAVEL ACCORDING TO JOHN – Directed by Jamie Stone & Anders Jedenfors.
Mirrorball Best British Music Video Award
HAPPINESS (Goldfrapp) – Directed by Dougal Wilson
This year's Michael Powell Jury were actor Danny Huston (THE KREUTZER SONATA, THE CONSTANT GARDENER) who presided over the five-strong Jury, international producer Sigurjon Sighvatsson (ZIDANE: A 21st CENTURY PORTRAIT); Orange-Prize nominated author Scarlett Thomas (The End of Mr. Y); Golden Globe Best Actress nominee Joely Richardson (NIP TUCK) and acclaimed director Iain Softley (INKHEART; K-PAX).
The Jury citation read: "It is a great pleasure to recognise SOMERS TOWN as the freshest, most imaginative, maverick work deserving of the Michael Powell Award. After viewing an impressive selection of films and a long deliberation we the Jury unanimously agreed that the award would go to SOMERS TOWN."
This year the Michael Powell Award was significantly increased from £5000 to £20,000.
On awarding Robert Carlyle The PPG Award for Best Performance in a British Feature Film, the Jury cited: "It is our great pleasure in the category of best actor/actress to recognise a flawless performance in a great, uncompromising film, a film that touches the heart - and at the film's heart a triumph of a performance by an actor who inspired all of us. The vote was unanimous."
The Best Documentary Award Jury, chaired by Seamus McGarvey, said "The documentaries competing for this award were, in many cases, exemplary. It was a powerful shortlist of contrasting styles and experience. Our deliberations were lengthy; each of us had favourites about which we were passionate. In the end, however, there was one film which we all agreed was the outstanding entry, a poetic vision but one with an unflinching gaze focusing on an area which should concern us all. This film is ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD directed by Werner Herzog. The film is about discovery. Herzog uses his camera as a writer might use a pen, making notes as he goes along, allowing the audience to share the discoveries he makes through the lens. Many of the shortlisted films confront important issues in the world today. ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD approaches equally important issues but draws its authority from its quiet assurance. It is a challenging film and reveals, sometimes obliquely, sometimes directly, profound insights into the state we're in. We felt it was a celebration of documentary filmmaking that thoroughly deserves to win the 2008 Edinburgh International Film Festival Best Documentary Award."
The Scottish Short Documentary Jury said: "The jury was very impressed by the overall quality of the films, particularly the extremely high technical standard and the stunning cinematography. The winning film, the jury felt, told a beautifully structured story, introducing the viewer to a situation through subtly observed scenes and gradually revealing unexpected details that combined to produce an unforgettable portrait of a modern family."
Notes to Editors:
The Michael Powell Award
Named in homage to one of Britain's most original filmmakers and inaugurated in 1993, the Michael Powell Award is sponsored by the UK Film Council. Rewarding imagination and creativity in British filmmaking, the award is judged by an international jury and carries a cash prize of £20,000.
PPG Award for Best Performance in a British Feature Film
Thanks to the generous support of PPG, 2008 sees the second year of the award to honour the best performance in a British Feature Film. The award was judged by the Michael Powell Jury, and the winner receives an Edinburgh Crystal platter.
Standard Life Audience Award
Sponsored by Standard Life, the winner is chosen by audience votes from the Gala and British Gala sections. The award celebrates mainstream cinema delights: narrative skill, characterisation, suspense, spectacle, comedy.
Best Documentary Award
In 2006 EIFF introduced an award for Best Documentary Feature. The award recognises a singular and compelling achievement in non-fiction filmmaking and is intended to honour work which reveals a fascination with a particular subject, rendered onscreen with style, truthfulness and integrity to its sources. It celebrates the act of filmmaking for its own sake, divorced from commercial considerations, and driven instead by the desire to represent some aspect of life or experience, and in so doing, to expand the horizons of its audience. Feature length documentaries are eligible for this Award. There is a cash prize of £5000.
Skillset New Directors Award
This award is to acknowledge new interpretation and innovation in filmmaking and underlines one of the basic tenets of the EIFF, which is to be a Festival of discovery. The award, judged by jury, is selected from first and second time filmmakers in the Rosebud and British Gala sections. There is a cash prize of £5000, increased from the previous £1500.
UK Film Council Award for Best British Short Film
Judged by an international jury with a cash prize of £1000 and £1000 of Kodak film stock, the Best British Short Film Award is again supported by the UK Film Council. This award recognizes new talent in UK filmmaking.
European Film Academy Short Film 2008 – Prix UIP
The European Film Academy Short Film 2008 – Prix UIP was inaugurated in 1998 within the framework of the annual European Film Awards. At 14 festivals in Europe, EFA and UIP present a Prix UIP to a talented, new European filmmaker. The winners from the 14 festivals go forward as nominations for the European Film Academy Short Film – Prix UIP, which is presented at the European Film Awards in December and carries a prize of €10000. The selection of the winning film at Edinburgh is made by a jury and the Award includes a financial donation of €2000.
Short Scottish Documentary Award supported by Baillie Gifford
Supporting Scottish talent, this award will reward first and second time short documentary filmmakers either working in, or from, Scotland. There is a cash prize of £1000.
McLaren Award for New British Animation in partnership with BBC Film Network
The award is named after Stirling born and Glasgow School of Art trained Norman McLaren. Well-known for his innovative work with the GPO film unit in London, McLaren was a true pioneer. Throughout his career, he experimented with ideas and animation techniques, such as drawing images directly onto film and even drawing on the soundtrack. So it is particularly apt that McLaren should be remembered with this award, which provides a focus for new British animation and recognizes the free spirit of creativity. This award will be supported in 2008 for the third year by BBC Film Network. There is a cash prize of £1000.
Mirrorball Best British Music Video Award
This new award judged by a jury of industry experts, is selected from the Mirrorball Britannia Rules programme. The MBR programme included 20 of the best music videos
from British born or British resident directors from the last 12 months. The winner received £1000 and a limited edition Corin Hardy / David Lupton print from The Horrors award winning video SHE IS THE NEW THING.
Images are available to download at: www.edfilmfest.org.uk/press
About the Edinburgh International Film Festival:
Started in 1947, the EIFF is one of the true homes of innovative and exciting cinema. For over half-a-century, the Festival has presented some of cinema's most important and exciting moments and played host to the world's greatest filmmakers.
The EIFF is the longest continually running Film Festival in the world and has screened notable films over the last few years including, CONTROL, THE COUNTERFEITERS, KNOCKED UP, A MIGHTY HEART, RATATOUILLE, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH, LONDON TO BRIGHTON, TSOTSI, THE FULL MONTY, RATCATCHER, EAST IS EAST, RUN LOLA RUN, BILLY ELLIOT, AMORES PERROS, AMÉLIE, YOUNG ADAM, INFERNAL AFFAIRS, AMERICAN SPLENDOR, MOTORCYCLE DIARIES, OLD BOY and HERO.
The EIFF is funded by:
The UK Film Council through its Lottery supported Film Festival Fund.
The UK Film Council is the Government backed lead agency for film in the UK. They aim to make sure that the UK has a dynamic film industry fit for the digital age and to help UK audiences enjoy the best of British and world cinema.
Scottish Screen – the national development agency for the screen industries in Scotland.
Event Scotland - working to make Scotland one of the world's leading event destinations.
City of Edinburgh Council Culture & Leisure Department
The Scottish Government's Edinburgh Festivals Expo Fund
The Edinburgh International Film Festival 18 - 29 June 2008
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Clea Tammes
Rogers & Cowan
Phone: +44 (0)7966 391 032
Email: ctammes@rogersandcowan.com
Emma McCorkell (after 4th July)
Rogers & Cowan
+44(0) 203 048 0481
emccorkell@rogersandcowan.com
