The Film Experience™ was created by Nathaniel R. All material herein is written by our team. (This site is not for profit but for an expression of love for cinema & adjacent artforms.)
Jury Deliberations. Most festivals have separate jurors for each of the major sections. Cannes is the one people are most familiar with it being the festival of festivals. The competition slate is the main focus but they don't actually decide each of the awards you hear about. There are other juries gathered to decide things like the Camera D'Or (best first film) and the short film prizes. Nashville has five juries and they're also an AMPAS qualifying festival so if, for instance, a short film wins "best" in category here it becomes eligible for Oscar consideration. I was on the Narrative Competition jury this year. The running joke at the table became "this doesn't leave the table..." so...end of story!
Let it suffice to say that it's always usually enjoyable to discuss movies with other creative types and in this case it was extra enjoyable as my fellow jurors Dan Butler (previous discussed) and Joe Leydon (a Texas based film critic who also writes for Variety) were both fun passionate movie-loving guys.
After we decided our prizes, I scampered over to the Music Film jury when I saw them wrapping up to thank the gorgeous Kimberly Reed for her Prodigal Sons film the one I kept raving about to y'all a couple of years back. She told me about a new percolating project of hers but she's actually still trekking around the country with her breakthrough film years later. Oprah's interest in her story really made a huge impact -- Oprah really does control the world, doesn't she? -- but that kind of sustained interest couldn't have happened to a better documentary or to a more articulate champion for the transgendered community.
BEST OF THE 2011 NASHVILLE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
Read on to find out which films each jury loved as well as a few notes on the films.
We haven't mentioned the Berlinale at all in the heat of Oscar week. So let's do that, shall we? Better late than never. The festival closes tomorrow but the awards were handed out over the past two days.
"Nader and Simin: A Separation" GOLDEN BEAR
Asghar Fahradi, who got a lot of Oscar buzz a couple years back (though no nomination) for ABOUT ELLY, won this year's Golden Bear for Nader & Simin: A Separation (2011). The Hollywood Reporter explains the film like so.
Farhadi's drama traces the breakup of a Iranian family set against the political tensions in Tehran. While not overtly political, Nader and Simin is starkly critical of conditions in Iran, notably the country's huge class divide. It was widely tipped to win Berlin's top prize, not least because of the current upheaval in the Middle East.
Fahradi dedicated his prize to jailed filmmaker Jafar Panihi who was also supposed to be serving on this very jury. Isabella Rossellini's jury was one short as a result. Rather than replacing him they held a symbolic open seat for him. Some articles are already suggesting that Nader & Simin could be submitted for next year's Foreign Language Film Oscar. But given the open criticisms and the dedication to a jailed filmmaker I wouldn't place your bets just yet; it can be tough to read Oscar submission politics when filmmakers and governments clash.
Competition Jury Golden Bear: Jodaeiye Nader Az Simin (Nader and Simin, A Separation) by Asghar Farhadi Silver Bear The Jury Grand Prize: A Torinoi Lo (The Turin Horse) by Bela Tarr Silver Bear Best Director: Ulrich Kohler for Schlafkrankheit (Sleeping Sickness) Silver Bear Best Actress: the female ensemble in Nader & Simin Silver Bear Best Actor: the male ensemble in Nader & Simin Silver Bear Best Screenplay:The Forgiveness of Blood written by Joshua Marston and Andamion Murataj.
Isabella and her jury liked Nader & Simin so much they gave it ALL the acting prizes, too. This wasn't good news for Coriolanus, the Shakespearean adaptation from Ralph Fiennes that won Vanessa Redgrave in particular Oscar friendly reviews. Regarding the Screenplay prize: If Marston's name looks familiar think Maria Full of Grace. We were wondering when he was going to be back to the cinema.
Silver Bear Artistic Contribution: Wojciech Staron, Cinematography, and Barbara Enriquez, Production Design, for El Premio Alfred Bauer Prize: If Not Us Who (Wer Wenn Nicht Wir) by Andres Velel First Feature Award: On the Ice by Andrew Okpeaha MacLean Special Mention: The Guard by John Michael McDonagh Special Mention: Die Vaterlosen by Marie Kreutzer
Crystal Bear These prizes are for family films. Separate jury.
Best Kplus Feature Film: Keeper’n til Liverpool (The Liverpool Goalie) by Arild Andresen [Norway] Special Mention: Mabul by Guy Nattiv [Israel/Canada/Germany/France] Short Film: Lily by Kasimir Burgess [Australia] Special Mention: Minnie Loves Junior by Andy Mullins and Matthew Mullins [Australia] Best 14plus Feature Film: On the Ice by Andrew Okpeaha MacLean [U.S.] Special Mention: Apflickorna by Lisa Aschan [Sweden] Best 14plus Short Film: Manurewa by Sam Peacocke [New Zealand] Special Mention: Get Real! by Evert de Beijer [Netherlands]
Scandinavia is always winning prizes for family and kids films. It's a niche. Here's the trailer to the winning film. You can tell the "family friendly" categories aren't judged by US prudes. This won the Kplus award, and within seconds of the trailer starting there's jokes about people being well hung and there's shower nudity. Different worlds!
Audience Prizes Audience Award, Fiction Film: También la lluvia (Even The Rain) by Icíar Bollaín [Spain/France/Mexico] This was one of the finalists for BEST FOREIGN FILM but did not make it to the nomination shortlist. It's currently open in select US theaters. Second Place: Medianeras by Gustavo Taretto [Argentina/Germany/Spain] Third Place: Life in a Day by Kevin Macdonald [Great Britain] Audience Award, Documentary Film: In Heaven Underground - The Weissensee Jewish Cemetery (Im Himmel, Unter der Erde. Der Jüdische Friedhof Weißensee) by Britta Wauer Second Place: Mama Africa by Mika Kaurismäki Third Place: We Were Here by David Weissman (USA)
Teddy Awards Berlinale's Teddy Award, which is separate from the main fest and judged by LGBT film festival programmers, is one of the oldest annually bestowed Queer Cinema awards. It was first handed out in 1987 to Pedro Almodóvar's Law of Desire. What a kick off, eh? Perusing the list of past Teddy Award winners is actually a great way to catch up on LGBT films you may have missed. Gay cinema is increasingly not what it used to be. With assimilation into mainstream culture, queer cinema definitely lost its edge and brain-power if not its sex drive. These days we don't seem to get new Gregg Arakis, Gus Van Sants or Todd Haynes and their like but people whose names we never learn directing straight to DVD sex comedies. (sigh)
Last year's Teddy prizes were unusually Hollywood friendly with James Franco's first short film The Feast of Stephen [clip. NSFW] winning Best Short Film and Lisa Cholodenko's eventual Best Picture nomineeThe Kids Are All Right winning the top prize.
Jake Yuzna's "Open" (2010). Marie Losier's "Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye" (2011)
Jake Yuzma's far more experimental pansexual drama Open won the Jury Prize. I had the pleasure of attending the premiere here in NYC. Artist Genesis Breyer P-Orridge spoke to the audience afterwards. She and her late partner, Lady Jaye, who famously had repeated operations and plastic surgery procedures to look more and more like one another, were the inspiration for the fictional film. So I was surprised to hear that Berlin honored the very same topic again this year. Their Best Documentary prize went to The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye by Marie Losier.
The Teddy, the main prize went to Argentina's Ausente, Marco Berger's follow up to Plan Bwhich did the festival circuit last year and is now available on DVD.
Ausente is about teenager who falls in love with his swimming teacher, finding all sorts of excuses to spend time with him.
The Teddys in full Best Feature Film: Ausente by Marco Berger Best Documentary: The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye by Marie Losier Best Short Film: (two winners) Generations by Barbara Hammer and Gina Carducci and Maya Deren’s Sink by Barbara Hammer Jury Prize: Tomboy by Celine Sciamma Special Teddy Awards: HIV/AIDS activist Pieter-Dirk Uys from South Africa and New German Cinema director Werner Schroeter (RIP).
Here's the trailer to Ausente which means "absent"
Wednesday, April 20, 2011 at 1:42PM 
