The Eye of the Storm was awarded the The Age Critics’ Award for best Australian feature at the Melbourne International Film Festival 2011.
The drama, based on Patrick White's acclaimed novel, was up against seven other Australian films at MIFF: 33 Postcards, Face to Face, Falling for Sahara, Red Dog, Swerve, Toomelah and X.
The Age arts editor Gina McColl said The Eye Of The Storm was chosen by the newspaper's critics as the winner because of Fred Schepisi's artful direction, the rich performances in major and minor roles, the thoughtful engagement with an Australian literary classic, and the vivid, witty depiction of the bonds of family and of the life of a culture in the process of transformation.
The $5000 prize was presented to Schepisi and producers Antony Waddington and Gregory Read.
Meanwhile, the winner of the MIFF TeleScope Award for Best New Talent from the European Union was Michael, with The Solitude of Prime Numbers recieving an honourable mention. The award was judged by six Film Critic Circle of Australia jury members.
The winners of this 50th MIFF Shorts Awards were: A Fine Young Man (City of Melbourne Grand Prix for Best Short Film), The Palace (Film Victoria Erwin Rado Award for Best Australian Short Film), At the Formal (Transmission Films Award for Emerging Australian Filmmaker), Green Crayons (Cinema Nova Award for Best Fiction Short Film), Nullarbor (Holmesglen Award for Best Animation Short Film), Leonids Story (Swinburne Award for Best Documentary Short Film), A History of Mutual Respect (Melbourne International Film Festival Award for Best Experimental Short Film).
Ratings for the MIFF People's Choice award remain open until August 12. Votes can be made online at miff.com.au/vote.
Check out the August-September #142 issue of IF magazine, which is released next week, for a cover story on The Eye of the Storm.