Seattle, WA – The 34th Seattle International Film Festival concludes today with the announcement of juried SIFF 2008 Competition Awards and Golden Space Needle Audience Awards, bringing to a close the largest and most highly attended event of its kind in the United States. Over the last 25 days, SIFF presented 191 narrative features, 57 documentary features, and 170 short films from 69 countries, including 43 World Premieres (16 features, 27 shorts), 38 North American Premieres (19 features, 19 shorts), and 19 US Premieres (10 features, 9 shorts).
“Seattle’s enthusiastic film audiences continued to affirm SIFF’s prominence as a world-class showcase for extraordinary film experiences,” says Carl Spence, SIFF Artistic Director. “Almost half of this year’s feature films were from first or second time directors, and seventy percent entered the Festival without US distribution, maintaining SIFF’s reputation as a fiercely independent showcase for audience discovery.”
SIFF 2008 Awards
The Golden Space Needle Award winners were announced at a ceremony earlier today. More than 70,000 ballots were cast by SIFF audiences to determine the winner in six categories: Best Film, Best Documentary, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Short Film.
Also presented were six juried SIFF 2008 Competition Awards: New American Cinema Award, New Directors Showcase Award, Best Documentary Award, Best Narrative Short, Best Documentary Short, and Best Animated Short.
SIFF 2008 Competition Grand Jury Award winners receive a $5,000 cash prize, a hand-made glass creation by artist James Mongrain, Movie Magic Screenwriter software, and a DVD replication prize package from Discmakers. New American Cinema Competition winner receives an annual subscription to The Studio System from Baseline Studio Systems. New Directors Showcase and Documentary Competition winners receive an annual subscription to FilmTracker from Baseline Studio Systems.
SIFF 2008 New American Cinema Competition
Grand Jury Prize
Em, directed by Tony Barbieri (USA)
Jury Statement: “In Em, writer-director Tony Barbieri tackles the timely and original subject of love and mental illness, with the help of his two excellent leads, Stef Willen and Nathan Wetherington. It’s a sweet, sad, scary movie that feels completely contemporary.”
Special Jury Prize:
Jury Statement: “The Special Jury Prize is awarded to The Bluetooth Virgin and writer-director Russell Brown for his fresh and squirmy script.”
The New American Cinema jury was comprised of: Rajendra Roy, Chief Curator, Film Department at MoMA; David Schmader, associate editor at The Stranger; and Kyle Thorpe, Vice President of Publicity at Focus Features.
SIFF 2008 New Directors Showcase Competition
Grand Jury Prize:
Everything is Fine, directed by Yves-Christian Fournier (Canada)
Jury Statement: “The New Directors Showcase Prize for director of a first or second feature goes to Yves-Christian Fournier from Quebec, Canada, and his film Everything is Fine, for its skillful avoidance of the nihilistic clichés in its treatment of contemporary youth. The jury would also like to commend the outstanding performance of Marie Turgeon in the role of the mother.”
Special Jury Prize:
Mermaid, directed by Anna Melikyan (Russia)
Jury Statement: “The jury would also like to award a special mention to Mermaid by Anna Melikyan from Russia for its entertaining portrait of Russia and its growing pains as it transitions into a capitalist society.”
The New Directors Showcase jury was comprised of: Frederic Boyer, programmer for Director’s Fortnight, Cannes Film Festival; Oliver Mahrdt, president of Hanns Wolters International, and East Coast representative of German Films; and Charles Taylor, ?lm critic for the Newark Star-Ledger and Bloomberg News.
SIFF 2008 Documentary Competition
Grand Jury Prize:
Derek, directed by Isaac Julien (UK)
Jury Statement: “The Grand Jury Prize is awarded to Isaac Julien’s Derek for the strength of both the subject and the filmmaking.”
Documentary Competition Special Jury Prizes:
Jury Statements:
Combalion, directed by Raphaël Mathié (France), “…for its artistic integrity and visually arresting composition.”
Accelerating America, directed by Timothy Hotchner (USA), “…for capturing the inspiration of the subject and the humanistic heart of the film.”
The Documentary jury was comprised of: Ken Eisen, president of Shadow Distribution; Julie Goldman, founding partner of Cactus Three; and Steven Raphael, founder of Required Viewing.
SIFF 2008 Short Film Jury Awards
SIFF 2008 Grand Jury Short Film Award winners receive a $2,500 cash prize, a hand-made glass creation by artist James Mongrain, Movie Magic Screenwriter software, a DVD replication prize package from Discmakers, and an annual subscription to FilmTracker from Baseline Studio Systems.
Documentary Grand Jury Prize:
“Self Portrait With Cows Going Home” and Other Works: A Portrait of Sylvia Plachy, directed by Rebecca Dreyfus, USA
Documentary Special Jury Prize:
The Ladies, directed by Christina Voros, USA
Animation Grand Jury Prize:
The Pearce Sisters, directed by Luis Cook, UK
Animation Special Jury Prize:
Home, directed by Kim Slate, USA
Narrative Grand Jury Prize:
Rewind, directed by Atul Taishete, India
Narrative Special Jury Prizes:
Walnut, directed by Amy Gebhardt, Australia
Dog Altogether, directed by Paddy Considine, UK
A Mate, directed by Teemu Nikki, Finland
New Boy, directed by Steph Green, Ireland
Honorable Mentions for Inventive Filmmaking:
Introduction to Lucid Dreaming, directed by John Grigsby, USA
On the Assassination of the President, directed by Adam Keker, USA
The Short Film jury was comprised of: Scilla Andreen, co-founder of IndieFlix; Seattle ?lmmaker Douglas Horn, winner of the 2006 Golden Space Needle for Best Short Film; and Jeff Shannon, ?lm critic for the Seattle Times and P-I.
SIFF 2008 FutureWave Jury Award
SIFF 2008 FutureWave WaveMaker Award winner receives a $2,500 cash prize.
Grand Jury Prize (WaveMaker Award):
Disorder, directed by Rose McAleese
Honorable Mentions:
4th Floor, directed by Misami Kubo, “…for excellence in visual storytelling.”
Driving to the New Age: American Automobiles and You, directed by Meng Mao, Eli Shalcross, Charlie Shelton, and Matt Yaggy, “…for delivering a serious message through outstanding use of satire.”
New Perspective, directed by Dave Riff, “…for clarity of vision.”
The FutureWave jury was comprised of the participants in the 2008 Fly Filmmaking challenge: Cheryl Slean, Megan Griffiths, Rob Cunningham, Andy McCone and Joe Shapiro.
SIFF and IndieFlix 2008 MyFestival Winners
SIFF and IndieFlix MyFestival Feature Film winner receives a $1,500 cash prize; Short Film winner receives a $500 cash prize.
SIFF Official Selection and MyFestival Feature Film Winner:
Perfect Sport, directed by Anthony O’Brien
SIFF Official Selection and MyFestival Short Film Winner:
Robbie’s Withdrawal, directed by John Burish
MyFestival Special Recognition Awards:
Eternal City, directed by Jason Goodman
Hot Wind: America’s Fallout Casualties, directed by Kirsten Alaqidy
SIFF 2008 Golden Space Needle Audience Awards
SIFF 2008 Golden Space Needle Award winners receive a hand-made glass creation by artist James Mongrain. Golden Space Needle Award Best Short Film winner receives $1,000 of Color Negative Motion Picture Film from the Eastman Kodak Company Entertainment Imaging Division, and an Apple Intel 15" Laptop Computer loaded with the Final Cut Pro Suite of products from IrisInk and The Mac Store.
Best Film Golden Space Needle Award:
Cherry Blossoms – Hanami, directed by Doris Dörrie (Germany)
The remaining top ten audience favorites (in order)
Frozen River, directed by Courtney Hunt (USA)
Fugitive Pieces, directed by Jeremy Podeswa (Canada)
Captain Abu Raed, directed by Amin Matalqa (Jordan)
The Drummer, directed by Kenneth Bi (Hong Kong)
Summer Heat, directed by Monique van de Ven (the Netherlands)
Letting Go of God, directed by Julia Sweeney (USA)
Late Bloomers, directed by Bettina Oberli (Switzerland)
Bliss, directed by Abdullah Oguz (Turkey)
Michou d’Auber, directed by Thomas Gilou (France)
Best Documentary Golden Space Needle Award:
The Wrecking Crew, directed by Denny Tedesco (USA)
The remaining top ten audience favorites (in order)
Great Speeches From a Dying World, directed by Linas Phillips (USA)
Man on Wire, directed by James Marsh (UK)
Accelerating America, directed by Timothy Hotchner (USA)
Creative Nature, directed by John Andres (USA)
Emmanuel Jal: War Child, directed by C. Karim Chrobog (USA)
Trouble the Water, directed by Carl Deal and Tia Lessin (USA)
Stranded: I’ve Come From a Plane that Crashed in the Mountains, directed by Gonzalo Arijon (France)
Good Food, directed by Melissa Young and Mark Dworkin (USA)
They Killed Sister Dorothy, directed by Daniel Junge (USA)
Best Director Golden Space Needle Award:
Amin Matalqa, for Captain Abu Raed (Jordan)
The remaining top five audience favorites (in order)
Courtney Hunt, for Frozen River (USA)
Nina Paley, for Sita Sings the Blues (USA)
Dorota Kedzierzawska, for Time to Die (Poland)
Nic Balthazar, for Ben X (Belgium)
Best Actor Golden Space Needle Award:
Alan Rickman, for Bottle Shock (USA)
The remaining top five audience favorites (in order)
Nadim Sawalha, for Captain Abu Raed (Jordan)
Andrew Garfield, for Boy A (UK)
Zdenerk Sverák, for Empties (Czech Republic)
Greg Timmermans, for Ben X (Belgium)
Best Actress Golden Space Needle Award:
Jessica Chastain, for Jolene (USA)
The remaining top five audience favorites (in order)
Catinca Untaru, for The Fall (USA)
Melissa Leo, for Frozen River (USA)
Danuta Szaflarska, for Time to Die (Poland)
Melanie Diaz, for American Son (USA)
Best Short Film Golden Space Needle Award:
Felix, directed by Andreas Utta (Germany)
The remaining top five audience favorites (in order)
Sleeping Betty, directed by Claude Cloutier (Canada)
Bailey-Boushay House: A Living History, directed by Terence Brown (USA)
Zoologic, directed by Nicole Mitchell (USA)
Spider, directed by Nash Edgerton (Australia)
Lena Sharpe Award:
Frozen River, director Courtney Hunt (USA)
This award is given to the film by a woman director that receives the most votes from the public.
SIFF 2008 Highlights
More than 150 directors, actors, and film industry professionals attended this year’s Festival, including Tribute guest Sir Ben Kingsley introducing the North American premiere of Elegy (directed by Isabel Coixet), John Waters, Danny Glover, and Colin Hanks. Bill Pullman and Freddy Rodriguez, stars of the Closing Night film, Bottle Shock, were on hand for last night’s Gala at the Pan Pacific Hotel. Closing Night festivities echoed the glamour of the Opening Night Gala, which featured a Red Carpet celebration honoring Charlize Theron, Stuart Townsend, Martin Henderson, Michelle Rodriguez, Andre Benjamin, and Battle in Seattle.
Among the successes at this year’s Festival was the inaugural ShortsFest Weekend, a festival within the Festival over four days at SIFF Cinema. Fourteen shorts packages comprising more than 150 films offered something for everyone, with jury Prizes awarded in the categories of animation, narrative, and documentary.
SIFF’s MyFestival online film competition, presented in partnership with IndieFlix, hosted more than 22,000 screenings of the 10 feature and 10 short films showcased in this year’s competition, with more than 11,000 unique visitors from 75 countries in just two weeks. Another successful online component to the Festival is SIFFTalk, providing video “podcast” interviews with Festival guests. Since launching on May 8, SIFFTalk has attracted approximately 38 new subscribers a day. This year’s SIFF Interactive programs have proven that the Internet is viable and exciting venue to experience SIFF.
In partnership with the Mayor’s Office of Film + Music, WashingtonFilmWorks and the Washington State Film Office, SIFF also launched the Northwest Production Summit. Held during the final weekend of the Festival, the Summit introduced the nation’s top directors, producers, agents, and financiers from the independent film world to industry professionals in Washington through an invitation-only symposium, an IFP/Seattle mentorship program, and three specialized panel events.
SIFF 2008 also highlighted youth participation with FutureWave: Expanding Cinema Through Education. FutureWave programs reached more than 3,200 students at 52 schools and youth organizations, with 38 events, including filmmaker visits to schools, free screenings, the “Media Literacy in the Classroom” workshop for teachers, and participation in SIFF’s Digital Media Lab. Events included a youth roundtable discussion with American Teen director Nanette Burstein and a special screening of Great Speeches From a Dying World for 250 students at Ballard High School, followed by a Q&A discussion about homelessness with director Linas Phillips. Another popular component of FutureWave was the SuperFly Filmmaking Workshop weekend, during which 57 students and 39 mentors created six films in 36 hours.
Several co-presentations with Seattle arts organizations added to SIFF 2008’s success. SIFF and Seattle Arts and Lectures presented John Waters at Benaroya Hall, and the acclaimed director hosted a special screening of his cinematically rebellious classic, Cecil B. Demented at the Egyptian Theatre. In partnership with the Seattle Symphony, SIFF presented Alexander Nevsky (1938) with live accompaniment by the Seattle Symphony playing Sergei Prokofiev’s original score, for four performances at Benaroya Hall. In partnership with The Burke Museum and Seattle Theatre Group, SIFF presented photographer Edward S. Curtis’ In The Land of the Headhunters (1914), accompanied by a performance featuring descendents of the original Kwakwaka’wakw cast, and the original orchestral score.
SIFF presented a special live event as part of the Face the Music program at the Triple Door with Sub Pop indie-rock band The Album Leaf performing a new original score to F. W. Murnau's Sunrise (1927). SIFF’s Planet Cinema program featured an array of environmentally themed films including the World Premiere of Good Food, and the popular Films4Families series was headlined by Disney Channel celebrity Alyson Stoner, star of the Festival favorite Alice, Upside Down.
During the Festival, SIFF concluded a year-long partnership agreement with TV5 Monde USA to become a major sponsor of SIFF Cinema. “TV5 Monde USA has been a long-time supporter of the Seattle International Film Festival, and we are now proud to extend that successful partnership to SIFF’s year-round home,” says Deborah Person, SIFF Managing Director.
About the Festival
Detailed information about the Seattle International Film Festival can be found online at www.siff.net.
SIFF produces the Seattle International Film Festival, the largest, most highly attended, and longest running film festival in the United States, and operates SIFF Cinema, SIFF's year-round flagship theater at McCaw Hall. In 2009 SIFF will open the SIFF Film Center at Seattle Center's Alki Room, thereby fulfilling its long-standing vision of creating a permanent home where SIFF's successful educational programs, film industry development, and community outreach can thrive, as well as providing necessary office space and a screening venue.
SIFF is a 501(c)3 non-profit arts organization. SIFF's mission is to create experiences that bring people together to discover extraordinary films from around the world. It is through the art of cinema that we foster a community that is more informed, aware, and alive.
The 34th Seattle International Film Festival is made possible in part by support from Comcast, Digital Kitchen, Modern Digital, POP, Wong Doody, American Airlines, Brotherton Cadillac Pontiac Buick GMC, The W Seattle, City Arts Magazine, Cinerama, Alpha Cine, and Alaska Airlines.
