Richard Linklater's Boyhood won best feature and Daniel Ziv took the documentary prize for Jalanan in the People’s Choice awards at the 63rd Melbourne International Film Festival.
Argentine director Manuel Abramovich’s The Queen was named best short and Eddy Bell’s Grey Bull was best Australian short.
The Swinburne Award for emerging Australian filmmaker went to Ben Briand for Blood Pulls a Gun, a short which had its world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival.
Filmed over 12 years with the same cast, Boyhood follows a child named Mason (Ellar Coltrane) as he grows up in front of the cameras. Featuring Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette as his parents and newcomer Lorelei Linklater as his sister, the Universal film previews this weekend and next weekend before its September 4 launch.
Jalanan looks at three charismatic buskers – Boni, Ho and Titi – over a five-year period as they navigate the economic, social, emotional and legal hurdles involved in trying to earn a crust on the streets of Jakarta.
MIFF ended on Sunday after 17 days screening 342 films from 57 countries in 54 different languages, including 28 world premieres and 56 Australian films. With a 13% increase in screenings, it was the biggest MIFF ever.
“With so many new venues and the intensive and highly successful inaugural Critics Campus, among other new elements, MIFF 2014 felt fresh and momentous. We are thrilled that audiences responded so enthusiastically to the program, as evidenced by so many sell-out sessions and discussion and debate on the street,” said MIFF artistic director Michelle Carey.
Other highlights of the 2014 MIFF included:
– Three gala screenings featuring Australian premieres of Predestination and Felony and the world premiere of Cut Snake, supported by the MIFF Premiere Fund,
– The inaugural MIFF Critics Campus, where eight emerging film critics participated in an intensive five-day lab honing their skills in a live festival setting, with mentoring by local and international film critics including the US’s Daniel Kasman (MUBI), US-based Australian David Rooney (The Hollywood Reporter) and Indian freelancer Meenakshi Shedde
– Next Gen, MIFF’s all ages film program, capping off its most successful year-to-date with sold-out screenings of the MIFF Premiere Fund-supported Paper Planes, which had its world premiere at the Kids’ Gala,
– An extensive Talking Pictures program featuring contributions by 85 panellists across 19 events
– More than 90 sessions presented with an intro and/or Q&A by festival guests
The People’s Choice Awards were tallied online with the results as follows:
Feature Films
1. Boyhood

2. Obvious Child
3. Housebound

4. Mommy

5. What We Do in the Shadows
6. Fantail

7. Starred Up

8. In Order of Disappearance

9. Sorcerer

10. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
Documentaries
1. Jalanan

2. Keep on Keepin On
3. Virunga

4. The Salt of the Earth

5. German Concentration Camps Factual Survey

6. The Case Against 8

7. Dior and I

8. Don't Throw Stones

9. My Name is Salt

10. I am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story
The 53rd Shorts Awards, were awarded across seven categories as follows:
City of Melbourne Grand Prix for Best Short Film
The Queen
Director/Producer – Manuel Abramovich
Film Victoria Erwin Rado Award for Best Australian Short Film
Grey Bull
Director – Eddy Bell
Producer – Khoby Rowe
Swinburne Award for Emerging Australian Filmmaker
Ben Briand
For – Blood Pulls a Gun
Cinema Nova Award for Best Fiction Short Film
Océan
Director – Emmanuel Laborie
Producers – Karine Blanc and Michel Tavares
SAE Award for Best Animation Short Film
Symphony no. 42
Director – Réka Bucsi
Producer – József Fülöp
MIFF Award for Best Documentary Short Film
The Last Days of Peter Bergmann
Director – Ciaran Cassidy
Producer – Morgan Bushe
MIFF Award for Best Experimental Short Film
The Dark, Krystle
Director/Producer – Michael Robinson