Press release from BAFF
The 2011 BigPond Adelaide Film Festival is delighted to announce Incendies by Denis Villeneuve as the winner of the Ten Evening News International Award for Best Feature Film. Special Jury Mention was presented to Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure directed by Matthew Bate.
The winner was announced last night at the closing of the 2011 BigPond Adelaide Film Festival, which concluded with a screening of Mad Bastards by Brendan Fletcher
Established in 2007, BAFF’s International Film Award was the first of its kind in Australia. Director Denis Villeneuve will be presented with a cash prize of $25,000, thanks to the generous support of Ten Evening News.
The announcement was made by president of the 2011 jury Julietta Sichel, producer and former director of programming for the Karlovy Vary Film Festival. Sichel headed the panel comprising of Pierre Rissient, legendary programmer from the Cannes Film Festival; Hossein Valamanesh, Iranian/Australian contemporary visual artist; Trevor Groth, Program Director for the Sundance Film Festival and Robin Gutch, producer and Joint Managing Director of Warp X.
Julietta Sichel said "After seeing many impressive, strong and breathtaking films the Jury was delighted to award the Main Prize to INCENDIES, a film that tells an urgently contemporary story comparable to a classic tragedy using an innovative film language and relying on strong performances and dazzling cinematography."
"The Special Jury Mention goes to Shut Up Little Man! for its witty and inventive style, which marks the emergence of an exciting talent. In giving this prize we would also like to acknowledge the activity of the Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund whose contribution to this film and others is an inspirational model that deserves its own special recognition."
Incendies Director Denis Villeneuve said “As a poetic sign of gratitude to Adelaide Film Festival, I’ll give the name of ADELAIDE to one of my main character in my next film. So thank you 1000 times to Adelaide Film Festival!”
The films selected for competition for the 2011 award were Four Times (Italy, dir: Michelangelo Frammartino); Here I Am (Australia, dir: Beck Cole); Tuesday After Christmas (Romania, dir: Radu Muntean); Incendies (Canada,dir:: Denis Villeneuve); Meek's Cutoff (USA, dir: Kelly Reichardt); Mysteries of Lisbon (Portugal, dir: Raoul Ruiz); Nostalgia for the Light (Chile, dir: Patricio Guzman); October (Peru, dir: Daniel Vega Vidal and Diego Vega Vidal); Piano in Factory (China, dir: Zhang Meng); Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure (Australia, dir: Matt Bate); Whisper with the Wind (Iraq, dir: Shahram Alidi); and Year Without Summer (Malaysia, dir: Tan Chui Mui).