Tweet
'River' wins grand prize at Sundance
Drama about smuggling illegals takes top honor
Variety
January 27, 2008
By TODD MCCARTHY
PARK CITY, Utah -- "Frozen River," Courtney Hunt's somber and
suspenseful film about two desperate women who smuggle illegals into
the United States, won the grand jury prize for dramatic features at
the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, while "The Wackness," Jonathan
Levine's wacky coming-of-age serio-comedy about a teenage dope dealer,
snagged the audience award.
On the documentary side, "Trouble the Water," directed by Tia Lessin
and Carl Deal and which offers a close-up, subjective account of
survival during and after Hurricane Katrina, took the grand jury
prize. Docu audience award went to Josh Tickell's "Fields of Fuel,"
the story of one man's impassioned effort to wean the country from oil
and improve the environment.
In the World Cinema Competition, grand jury prize for dramatic feature
was given to Swedish helmer Jens Jonsson's "King of Ping Pong," which
centers on the precarious social equilibrium of a chubby 16-year-old
table tennis whiz. Audience award for international dramatic film was
won by Jordanian-born helmer Amin Matalqa's "Captain Abu Raed," a
heart-tugger about an Amman airport janitor mistaken by local kids for
an airline pilot.
James Marsh's "Man on Wire," a British entry about Philippe Petit, the
Frenchman who won instant notoriety in 1974 when he spent an hour
walking back and forth on a wire between the newly constructed World
Trade Center towers in New York, emerged as best documentary for both
the jury and the audience in the international competition.
Directing prizes for American films were bestowed upon Lance Hammer,
in the dramatic division, for "Ballast," an intense study of a
12-year-old boy in the impoverished Mississippi Delta region and, for
documentaries, Nanette Burstein for "American Teen," a slickly made
account of the several Indiana high schoolers' senior year.
Directing nods in world cinema went to Anna Melikyan for her
elaborately conceived modern Russian fairy tale "Mermaid" and, in the
docu division, to Nino Kirtadze's French-produced "Durakovo: Village
of Fools," a sobering look at a xenophobic leader-teacher who
indoctrinates young recruits in the cause of right-wing nationalism.
Winners of the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award were Alex Rivera and
David Riker for their sociological quasi-scifier "Sleep Dealer. This
film also copped the Alfred P. Sloan Prize, an annual $20,000 award to
the film with science or technology as a theme, or a scientist,
engineer or mathematician as a major character. Award for scripting of
an international feature was nabbed by Samuel Benchetrit from France
for his comic crimer "I Always Wanted to be a Gangster."
Docu editing awards were voted to, on the American side, Joe Bini for
"Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired" and, for world cinema, to Irena
Dol for "The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins."
Awards for excellence in cinematography were given in four categories:
For U.S. dramatic feature, Lol Crawley for "Ballast;"
U.S. documentary, Phillip Hunt and Steven Sebring for "Patti Smith:
Dream of Life;" world dramatic, Askild Vik Edvardsen for "King of Ping
Pong," and world documentary, Jordanian helmer-lenser Al Massad for
"Recycle."
There were several special jury prizes: In the U.S. dramatic
competition, a Spirit of Independence Award was voted to director
Chusy Haney-Jardine for "Anywhere, USA," and a nod for work by an
ensemble cast went to Sam Rockwell, Anjelica Huston, Kelly Macdonald
and Brad Henke for "Choke;" in the American documentary field,
director Lisa F. Jackson was singled out for "The Greatest Silence:
Rape in the Congo," while in world dramatic cinema, a special jury
prize was specified for Ernesto Contreras, the director of the Mexican
drama "Blue Eyelids."
Drama about smuggling illegals takes top honor
Variety
January 27, 2008
By TODD MCCARTHY
PARK CITY, Utah -- "Frozen River," Courtney Hunt's somber and
suspenseful film about two desperate women who smuggle illegals into
the United States, won the grand jury prize for dramatic features at
the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, while "The Wackness," Jonathan
Levine's wacky coming-of-age serio-comedy about a teenage dope dealer,
snagged the audience award.
On the documentary side, "Trouble the Water," directed by Tia Lessin
and Carl Deal and which offers a close-up, subjective account of
survival during and after Hurricane Katrina, took the grand jury
prize. Docu audience award went to Josh Tickell's "Fields of Fuel,"
the story of one man's impassioned effort to wean the country from oil
and improve the environment.
In the World Cinema Competition, grand jury prize for dramatic feature
was given to Swedish helmer Jens Jonsson's "King of Ping Pong," which
centers on the precarious social equilibrium of a chubby 16-year-old
table tennis whiz. Audience award for international dramatic film was
won by Jordanian-born helmer Amin Matalqa's "Captain Abu Raed," a
heart-tugger about an Amman airport janitor mistaken by local kids for
an airline pilot.
James Marsh's "Man on Wire," a British entry about Philippe Petit, the
Frenchman who won instant notoriety in 1974 when he spent an hour
walking back and forth on a wire between the newly constructed World
Trade Center towers in New York, emerged as best documentary for both
the jury and the audience in the international competition.
Directing prizes for American films were bestowed upon Lance Hammer,
in the dramatic division, for "Ballast," an intense study of a
12-year-old boy in the impoverished Mississippi Delta region and, for
documentaries, Nanette Burstein for "American Teen," a slickly made
account of the several Indiana high schoolers' senior year.
Directing nods in world cinema went to Anna Melikyan for her
elaborately conceived modern Russian fairy tale "Mermaid" and, in the
docu division, to Nino Kirtadze's French-produced "Durakovo: Village
of Fools," a sobering look at a xenophobic leader-teacher who
indoctrinates young recruits in the cause of right-wing nationalism.
Winners of the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award were Alex Rivera and
David Riker for their sociological quasi-scifier "Sleep Dealer. This
film also copped the Alfred P. Sloan Prize, an annual $20,000 award to
the film with science or technology as a theme, or a scientist,
engineer or mathematician as a major character. Award for scripting of
an international feature was nabbed by Samuel Benchetrit from France
for his comic crimer "I Always Wanted to be a Gangster."
Docu editing awards were voted to, on the American side, Joe Bini for
"Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired" and, for world cinema, to Irena
Dol for "The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins."
Awards for excellence in cinematography were given in four categories:
For U.S. dramatic feature, Lol Crawley for "Ballast;"
U.S. documentary, Phillip Hunt and Steven Sebring for "Patti Smith:
Dream of Life;" world dramatic, Askild Vik Edvardsen for "King of Ping
Pong," and world documentary, Jordanian helmer-lenser Al Massad for
"Recycle."
There were several special jury prizes: In the U.S. dramatic
competition, a Spirit of Independence Award was voted to director
Chusy Haney-Jardine for "Anywhere, USA," and a nod for work by an
ensemble cast went to Sam Rockwell, Anjelica Huston, Kelly Macdonald
and Brad Henke for "Choke;" in the American documentary field,
director Lisa F. Jackson was singled out for "The Greatest Silence:
Rape in the Congo," while in world dramatic cinema, a special jury
prize was specified for Ernesto Contreras, the director of the Mexican
drama "Blue Eyelids."