LIFF 2007 Winning Films
We are delighted to announce the winning films as part of the 21st Leeds International Film Festival.
Golden Owl Award 2007:
Severed Ways: The Norse Discovery of America - This extraordinary film goes all out with its regressive strategies, doing as much as possible to achieve as little as possible. Extending cinema's existing parameters, we are challenged to question all assumptions we may bring to this film, including whether it is even a film at all. Whilst this seemingly simple maximalist spectacular remains bravely and resolutely indeterminable to the point of barely existing, it's heroic and whole-hearted engagement with failure may be one of the most interesting and successful terrorist interventions in cinema we have yet seen. Huge. And yet hardly there.
Special Mention:
Noise - A witty character observation that shines for its subtle human insight.
Special Mention:
The Man from the Embassy - Catching us unawares, this gentle journey takes us with ease right into the dark heart of our globalised world, leaving us with the realisation that social inequality allows no one to remain innocent.
Best Short Film
Aie - A beautifully whimsical synthesis of bold choreography and technical inventiveness.
Special Mention:
Coco-Nuts - A joyous melding of cinematic modes. Bonkers.
Special Mention:
Dad - A brave and tender engagement with the politics of representation, open to a multiplicity of readings.
Best Animated Short Film:
Tyger - A sinister and glorious evocation of unstoppable force.
The Golden Owl Jury comprises:
Laurin Federlein, Director. His first feature film, 'Build A Ship, Sail To
Sadness' screened at the Festival.
Rocio Freire-Bernat, Distributor of world cinema in Britain. Her company,
Axiom Films will be responsible for the BFI's upcoming Wim Wenders
retrospective. Rocio did not vote for the Golden Owl winning film 'Severed
Ways'.
Christopher Thomas, filmmaker and also Director of the Institute for
New Cinema which is commissioning feature films by artists.
Oxfam Special Recognition:
Amina
In "Amina," Yemeni film maker Khadija Al-Salami enters Yemen's female prison system to find 24-year-old Amina, married at 11 and a mother of three, awaiting execution for killing her husband. The director's full access to Amina and her forthright account of her life exposes the harshness of womens' lives in a country many viewers will know little about.
The film's force stems from Amina herself – an outspoken, striking young woman, who denies all involvement in the strangling of her husband, a crime for which she has been in prison nine years. Her amazing tale includes last-minute reprieves and two successful escapes, engineered in one case by a military commander who then married her. The prison itself is far more humane than one would imagine, full of tiny tots, among them Amina's wide-eyed 2-year-old boy and even a newborn baby, which makes the impending death sentence even more horrifying.
The film is always powerful, moving and engrossing and tells a story all too common even in the 21st century of misogyny, injustice and the oppression of women, but manages to keep hope burning throughout. The documentary is also a powerful example how film and cinema can not only document, but act as a force for change, as it highlighted Amina's fight for justice around the world.
Melies d'Argent Award: (feature film)
The Orphanage (El Orfanato) - Dir. Juan Antonio Bayona - Mexico/Spain, 2007.
Special Jury Mention:
Hyena (Hiena) - Dir. Grzegorz Lewandowski, Poland, 2006.
Melies d'Or Nomination: (short film)
Machine (Maquina) - Dir. Gabe Ibanez - Spain, 2006.
Special Jury Mention:
Moment of Glory (Moment de Gloire) - Dir. Hendrik Moonen, Belgium, 2006.