Israeli film director Dror Zahavi, winner of the People’s Choice Award at the Moscow International Film Festival for his film For My Father
The jubilee 30th Moscow International Film Festival that ran from 19 to 28 June is now over. About 200 films were shown at the festival, and 16 of these films took part in the main contest, where Russia was represented by Sergei Ovcharov’s film Sad and Katya Shagalova’s film Odnazhdy v provintsii, and 10 films were shown in the contest The Prospect, where 2 Russian documentary films were shown. The jury of the 30th Moscow International Film Festival was headed by the famous Swedish actress Liv Ullmann, it included members from Austria, Russia, Britain, and Chile, and, this year, the jury of the contest The Prospects came from three countries, being headed by the Hungarian film director Janos Szas.
Trailer for Cumbia Callera
In keeping with well-established tradition, at the awards ceremony, the first prize awarded went to a film submitted to the contest The Prospects, where filmmakers’ experimental works are presented. The winner in this nomination was the work of the Mexican film director Rene Villarreal, Cumbia callera. In the category of Best Male Role, the winner was actor Richard Jenkins, starring in the American film The Visitor, whilst the winner of the Best Female Role was an Italian actress, Margherita Buy, who appeared in the a joint Italian-Swiss production, Days and Clouds. Bulgarian Yavor Gyrdev, the director of the film Zift, won as Best Film Director.
Trailer for Days and Clouds
The main prize of the 30th Moscow International Film Festival, the Gold St George, this year, will go to Tehran. The jury of the main contest, headed by Liv Ullmann, chose the Iranian film As Simple As That about the life of an Iranian woman. Speaking about her choices, Liv Ullmann said, “A special prize was given to the work of the French film director Un coeur simple, a screen version of Gustave Flaubert’s novel”.
Isabelle Huppert in Silver Satin Silk Blouse
The alternative jury also awarded prizes. The Russian film Odnazhdy v provintsii by Katya Shagalova was awarded the FIPRESCI prize, and the Israeli submission to the main contest, For My Father, by Dror Zahavi, was awarded the People’s Choice Award. By tradition, at the end of the awards ceremony, the Konstantin Stanislavsky Award Ya veryu (“I believe”), for outstanding achievement in acting was given to the French actress Isabelle Huppert.
30 June 2008
Vladimir Golovkin
Voice of Russia World Service
http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=29046&cid=62&p=30.06.2008
