The Festival Wraps It Up

Award presented by Liz Garbus. Sponsored by Bialla & Associates. Winner will also receive two voyage certificates for a Transatlantic Crossing on Queen Mary 2, provided by Cunard Line and the art award “Sky III,” created by Clifford Ross. 
 
Jury Comments: “Is it nature or nurture? Is it the car or the driver? While those eternal questions will live on, we reacted with unanimous, unquestioned affection for “Racing Dreams,” and found it a completely compelling, entertaining film of incredible quality.”
 
Special Jury Mention: Defamation (Hashmatsa), directed by Yoav Shamir. (Denmark, Austria, USA, Israel).
 
Jury Comments: “Special jury mention to “Defamation” for lifting the veil – through courageous filmmaking – on a subject seldom so openly discussed.”
 
Best New Documentary Filmmaker – Ian Olds for Fixer: The Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi. (USA). Award presented by Liz Garbus and Rich Lehrfeld, VP, Global Sponsorship and Experiential Marketing, American Express. Winner receives $25,000 cash. Sponsored by American Express.
 
Jury Comments: “A film about an unsavory world, and its unsavory characters, which through its superb direction, shines a light on a world unfamiliar to many Americans.”
 
New York Competition Categories:
 
The 2009 Best New York Narrative Competition jurors were Adrien Brody, Karen Durbin, Richard Ledes, Melissa Leo, Parker Posey, André Leon Talley and Beau Willimon.
 
The 2009 Best New York Documentary Competition jurors were Jon Robin Baitz, Mary Boone, Marc Ecko, Douglas Keeve and Rachael Ray.
 
Best New York Narrative – Here and There (Tamo i ovde), directed and written by Darko Lungulov. (Serbia, USA, Germany).  Award presented by Richard Ledes. Winner receives $5,000 cash, and the art award “Time Can Be a Villain or a Friend” created by Hank Willis Thomas.
 
Jury Comments: “Our winning film was mature, it was funny, it was subtle. It gave us not only New York, it gave us great characters, a great story, it gave us the world.”
 
Best New York Documentary – Partly Private, directed by Danae Elon. (Canada). Award presented by Rachael Ray. Winner receives $5,000 cash. Sponsored by Medallion Financial and the Murstein Family. Winner will also receive the art award “A Map of NYC (with directions to the Tribeca Film Festival),” created by Tom Slaughter.
 
Jury Comments: “Our pick is a film that explores the relevance of tradition in today’s world. We are reminded that the exploration of one small subject through documentary film is capable of shedding light on a larger world. There were moments in this film that brought the whole world back to New York – they were uniquely New York moments. It explored themes of politics, culture, aestheticism, desirability, sexuality, and sensuality.”
 
Short Film Competition Categories:
 
The 2009 Best Narrative Short Competition jurors were James Franco, Thomas Haden Church, Mary Harron, Debra Messing and Mary Kate Olsen.
 
The 2009 Best Documentary and Student Short Competition jurors were Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Bobby Cannavale, Gael Greene, AJ Jacobs and Rachel Maddow.
 
Best Narrative Short – The North Road (La route du Nord), directed and written by Carlos Chahine. (France). Award presented by Debra Messing. Winner receives $5,000 cash and the art award “Untitled” created by David Salle.
 
Jury Comments: “We ultimately chose the winner for its poetic, truthful and unsentimental portrait of an exile’s return home to deal with his father’s death 20 years earlier. The director, Carlos Chahine, portrays the absurdities and contradictions of how we deal with grief through humor, freshness and subtlety.”
 
 
Best Documentary Short – home, directed by Matthew Faust. (USA). Award presented by Gael Greene. Winner receives $5,000 cash and the art award “Ring Image,” created by Robert Mangold.
 
Jury Comments: “This touching short artistically combines the aesthetic and the emotional in its portrayal of home and its memories. It tells a post-Hurricane Katrina story in a new, inventive and poignant way.”
 
Special Jury Mention: The Last Mermaids, directed by Liz Chae. (USA, South Korea)
 
Jury Comments: “Technically strong, this film beautifully documents a little known world and introduces audiences to a culture on the verge of extinction. The filmmaker provides a glimpse into a closed sisterhood -- proud of their traditions, yet accepting the disappearance of their way of life.”
 
Student Visionary Award – Small Change, directed and written by Anna McGrath. (Australia).  Award presented by Gael Greene. Winner receives MacPro Desktop with Final Cut Pro and a 24-inch monitor provided by Apple and the art award "Campus Point" created by Fritz Chestnut.
 
Jury Comments: “The winning film, a very small yet powerful story, portrays a magical and touching drama of a young girl’s home life. The filmmaker uses minimal storytelling to achieve maximum emotional impact and we commend the terrific performances of the young actors.”
 
Special Jury Mention: Oda a la Piña, directed and written by Laimir Fano. (Cuba).
 
Jury Comments: “This visually delicious film, with its stunningly rich colors, captures the cultural rhythms and unmistakable sounds of the city to artistically portray a sense of poverty in what remains of old Havana and its beauty.”
 

1 | 2