The 30th annual Vancouver International Film Festival wrapped its 16-day run last evening, Friday, October 14th. The winners of two juried awards, and five audience awards were announced prior to the screening of The Kid With a Bike, the Cannes’ Palme D’or winner from the Dardenne brothers, Jean-Pierre and Luc, which screened at the Vogue theatre Friday night.
Without further ado, here then are the 2011 VIFF award winners …
The Canadian Images jury announced two awards. The jury included Beth Barrett, programme manager of the Seattle International Film Festival; photographer, filmmaker and educator Dana Claxton; and filmmaker and chinlone (the national sport of Myanmar) expert Greg Hamilton.
First up, the Shaw Media Award for Best Canadian Feature Film for feature directorial début - and its $20,000 cash prize - went to Anne Émond of Québec for Nuit #1. The jury selected Émond’s film “for its unflinching intimacy and atmosphere of containment with candour and lucidity.”
Guy Édoin’s Wetlands received an honourable mention for Canadian feature film, the Canadian Images jury noting that VIFF presents one of the largest showcases of Québec films outside of Québec. Canadian Images jury member Dana Claxton presented a $2,000 cash prize to Ontario’s Andrew Cividino of Ontario for We Ate The Children Last, praising the film’s director for Children’s “creation of an apocalyptic, yet fully believable world.”
The Rogers People’s Choice “Audience Award” went to Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation, this year’s Iranian nominee for Best Foreign Language Film. All of the festival’s 375 films — dramas and nonfiction, short, mid-and feature length — were eligible, and festival-goers chose the most popular film by rating every film they saw on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent).
Susanne Rostock’s Sing Your Song received the VIFF “most popular Nonfiction Film Award”, and was presented by Festival Director, Alan Franey.
Starbuck, directed by Ken Scott, won the VIFF Most Popular Canadian Film Award. Canadian Images programmer Terry McEvoy presented the award.
Peace Out, directed by Charles Wilkinson, won the NFB’s Most Popular Canadian Documentary Award and a prize of $2,500 in NFB technical services toward their next film from the Filmmaker Assistance Program. Peace Out screens as one of the VIFF repeats today (Saturday) at 4:30pm at the VanCity Theatre on Seymour Street.
People of a Feather, directed by Joel Heath, won the VIFF Environmental Film Audience Award, announced by Festival Director, Alan Franey.
The $10,000 Dragons & Tigers Award for Young Cinema went to Tibetan director Sonthar GYAL of China for The Sun-Beaten Path, which screens at the VanCity Theatre this Sunday, October 16th at 8:30 p.m.
