‘Ali’s Wedding’.
Sydney Film Festival’s audience awards were announced today, with Aussie films topping both categories.
Jeffery Walker’s feature debut Ali’s Wedding, a rom-com based on the life of star and co-writer Osamah Sami, has taken out best narrative feature, while Kate Hickey’s Roller Dreams, which looks at the Venice Beach roller dancing scene from 1978 until now, won best documentary.
Local films Rip Tide and That’s Not Me also made the audience’s top 10 features. Meanwhile Australian docos formed half the documentary category, including The Last Goldfish, The Opposition, Barbecue, and The Pink House.
Sascha Ettinger Epstein’s The Pink House also won the festival’s Documentary Australia Foundation Award for Australian Documentary, a $10,000 cash prize, on Sunday evening.
“The Foxtel Movies Audience Awards are the people’s choice awards, and the winners reflect the most popular films at the Festival,” said SFF director Nashen Moodley.
“This year Ali’s Wedding and Roller Dreams, two wonderful films that both take on remarkable true stories, have clearly made a strong impact on audiences.”
“The Festival has premiered some fantastic Australian films this year. This result shows the popularity of Australian cinema at the Sydney Film Festival.”
The awards were calculated from 20,000 votes.
The full list is below:
The Foxtel Movies Audience Awards
Foxtel Movies Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature Top Ten:
1. Ali’s Wedding, directed by Jeffrey Walker (Australia)
2. Call Me By Your Name, directed by Luca Guadagnino (Italy, France)
3. Rip Tide, directed by Rhiannon Bannenberg (Australia)
4. That’s Not Me, directed by Gregory Erdstein (Australia)
5. Brigsby Bear, directed by Dave McCary (USA)
6. On Body and Soul, directed by Ildikó Enyedi (Hungary)
7. God’s Own Country, directed by Francis Lee (UK)
8. Sami Blood, directed by Amanda Kernell (Sweden, Denmark, Norway)
9. The Woman Who Left, directed by Lav Diaz (Philippines)
10. The Wound, directed by John Trengrove (South Africa, Germany, The Netherlands, France)
Foxtel Movies Audience Award for Best Documentary Top Ten:
1. Roller Dreams, directed by Kate Hickey (Australia)
2. The Last Goldfish, directed by Su Goldfish (Australia)
3. Chauka Please Tell Us the Time, directed by Behrouz Boochani and Arash Kamali Sarvestani (The Netherlands, Papua New Guinea)
4. The Opposition, directed by Hollie Fifer (Australia)
5. Barbecue, directed by Matthew Salleh (Australia)
6. The Workers Cup, directed by Adam Sobel (UK)
7. RUMBLE: The Indians Who Rocked the World, directed by Catherine Bainbridge and Alfonso Maiorana (Canada)
8. The Farthest, directed by Emer Reynolds (Ireland)
9. The Pink House, directed by Sascha Ettinger Epstein (Australia)
10. It’s Not Yet Dark, directed by Frankie Fenton (Ireland)