Sydney Film Festival is proud to announce this year’s internationally acclaimed award-winning jury, featuring Jury President Hugo Weaving and international filmmakers Anand Gandhi (India) and Pia Marais (Sweden/South Africa), film critic and curator Paolo Bertolin (Italy) and Australian producer Kath Shelper.
The internationally recognised SFF Official Competition, now in its sixth year, awards a $60,000 cash prize, Australia’s richest cash award for film, in recognition of the most courageous, audacious and cutting-edge film from the 12 selected.
“In both content and form, these 12 films are daring and original, and exemplify the criteria for the Official Competition. We look forward to introducing these remarkable films to the Australian audience,” said Nashen Moodley, SFF Festival Director.
The jury members for the SFF 2013 Official Competition:
One of Australia’s most acclaimed and respected actors, Hugo Weaving’s many credits range from international blockbusters Cloud Atlas, The Hobbit, The Matrix and The Lord of the Rings trilogy to award-winning Australian films such as Oranges and Sunshine. He has appeared on stage in over 20 productions for the Sydney Theatre Company including Les Liaisons dangereuses, Hedda Gabler and Uncle Vanya. Weaving received the Australian Film Institute’s Best Actor award for his performance in Proof (1991) and also for Little Fish (2005). In 1998, he received the Best Actor award from the Montreal Film Festival for his performance in The Interview. Weaving will also feature in SFF’s Opening Night film, the Australian murder mystery Mystery Road.
“Having keenly attended the SFF for many years, always with the eyes of a somewhat excited and hungry child, it will be a great pleasure and honour for me to take up the position of Jury President for the 2013 Official Competition and 60th birthday,” said Weaving.
Anand Gandhi is a filmmaker, playwright and artist, deeply interested in philosophy, evolutionary psychology and magic. His work in theatre, television and short cinema has won him several prestigious awards in the past decade. Ship of Theseus, his first feature, screening at this year’s SFF, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it was touted “the hidden gem of the year”. The film has received accolades the world over. He is now engaged in producing cutting edge contemporary world cinema under his banner Recyclewala Films Private Limited.
“Cinema nurses the ambition of science, philosophy and art combined – it takes a shot at meaning. I am so excited at the prospect of discoveries that lie ahead. I look forward, with deep curiosity, to experience the world that Nashen Moodley and his team have put together for all of us. It’s a great privilege to actively participate in this global cultural conversation,” said Gandhi.
Award-winning South African and Swedish director Pia Marais studied film at the Deutsche Film-und Fernseh-Akademie (DFFB) in Berlin, where she is still based. Marais made her feature debut with Die Unerzogenen (The Unpolished), which was screened at many international film festivals (including SFF 2007) and won various prizes, including a Tiger Award in 2007 at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. Her second feature At Ellen’s Age was developed at the Résidence du Festival de Cannes and premiered in the International Competition at the Locarno Film Festival in 2010. Marais’ latest film Layla Fourie, a political thriller that looks at race relations after apartheid, which is screening at SFF this year, won a Jury Special Mention at the Berlinale.
“It's always a treat to fully concentrate on the artistic and human issues that are present in the selection, whether it be by filmmakers whose work I am familiar with, or the work of a filmmaker I will have the pleasure to discover. It is such a luxurious way to think about cinema. I am very grateful and honoured to be part of jury of Sydney Film Festival 2013,” Marais said.
Italian film critic Paolo Bertolin is a member of the selecting committee of the Venice Film Festival, with a special mandate for the pre-selection of films from Korea and Southeast Asia. He also works for other Italian festivals, including Udine Far East Film Festival, the Festival dei Popoli in Florence and the Korea Film Fest in Florence. In 2009, he curated the Filmmaker in Focus: Paolo Benvenuti program at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. He has published a wide range of articles in Italian newspapers and film magazines, such as Il Manifesto and Cineforum, mostly focusing on Asian cinema.
“I am truly glad to be part of the Sydney Film Festival 2013 jury. I am excited about sharing views and opinions with fellow jury members, all united in the name of the love and passion for cinema. I look forward to the participation as a great chance to view more films, and especially those by the new generation of Australian filmmakers whose vibrant voices might echo well beyond Oz,” said Bertolin.
Kath Shelper produced the award-winning Australian film Samson and Delilah, which was directed by Warwick Thornton. The film won the Camera d’Or (best first feature) at Cannes. Kath was the recipient of the 2005 Inside Film Award for Rising Talent, and her film Confessions of a Headhunter won the AFI Award for Best Short in 2000. Originally trained in public relations at Melbourne’s RMIT, Kath worked with friends on short films and did odd jobs with Circus Oz until scoring a producer attachment role on Lawrence Johnston’s documentary Eternity. Kath now works out of her own production company, Scarlett Pictures.
“Sydney Film Festival is always a great time of year, as the weather turns cold in June and we enter dark rooms to be transported into other worlds. I can't wait to watch the great line-up of films that are in this year’s Competition,” said Shelper.
Hugo Weaving is the sixth jury President of the Official Competition, following Australian filmmaker Rachel Ward (2012), Chinese filmmaker Chen Kaige (2011), Australian producer Jan Chapman (2010) and Australian filmmakers Rolf de Heer (2009) and Gillian Armstrong (2008).
The previous Sydney Film Prize winners are Alps (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2012); A Separation (Asghar Farhadi, 2011), which went on to win the Academy Award® for Best Foreign Language Film; Heartbeats (Xavier Dolan, 2010); Bronson (Nicolas Winding Refn, 2009) and Hunger (Steve McQueen, 2008). Winners of the SFF Official Competition take home a $60,000 cash prize as well as international recognition.
Each Jury Member for 2013 will receive an exquisite timepiece from our generous watch partner Philip Stein.
SFF also presents a number of awards to recognise excellence in local filmmaking, including the and the Foxtel Australian Documentary Prize and the long-running Dendy Awards for Australian Short Films (which are Academy Award eligible).