Despite all the uncertainties we had been hearing about in past months, the festival organizers managed to make their 38th edition a fairly enjoyable one.
As usual the festival offered up a large number of independent films from around the globe. It is always interesting to have an opportunity to see films here that you would normally not get a chance to see otherwise or even know about.
There were some hits and misses but on the average, the films I saw were good. My personal favorites were Cape Nostalgia (Japan) for the stunning cinematography and for the depth captured in the simplicity of the story which also had likeable characters. Traces of Sandalwood (Spain/India) featured the talented Nandita Das who as usual, brought realism to the character that she played. The story was a bit different as well so that made for an interesting film.
If you had the chance to attend the festival, we hope you enjoyed it. Check out the awards listing below to see if your favorite films were honored at the closing ceremony.
AWARDS OF THE WORLD FILM FESTIVAL – MONTREAL 2014
Jury
President : SERGIO CASTELLITTO, director and actor (Italy)
RACHID BOUCHAREB, director (France-Algeria)
ANDRÉANNE BOURNIVAL, cinéma professional (Canada)
FRIDRIK THOR FRIDRIKSSON, director and producer (Iceland)
ANA TORRENT, actress (Spain)
JANE ZHANG, singer and actress (China)
FEATURE FILMS
Grand prix des Americas:
OBEDIENCIA PERFECTA (PERFECT OBEDIENCE) by Luiz Urquiza Mondragon (Mexico)
Special Grand Prix of the jury:
FUSHIGI NA MISAKI NO MONOGATARI (CAPE NOSTALGIA) by Izuru Narushima (Japan)
Best Director:
SOKONOMINITE HIKARI KAGAYAKU (THE LIGHT SHINES ONLY THERE) by Mipo O (Japan)
Best Actress :
RACHAEL BLAKE and LUCIE DEBAY for the film MELODY by Bernard Bellefroid (Belgium-France-Luxembourg)
Best Actor :
YAO ANLIAN for the film DA GONG LAO BAN (FACTORY BOSS) by Zhang Wei (China)
Best Screenplay:
UN RAGAZZO D’ORO by Pupi Avati, screenplay by Pupi Avati (Italy)
Best Artistic Contribution :
DAS ZIMMERMÄDCHEN LYNN (THE CHAMBERMAID LYNN) by Ingo Haeb (Germany)
Innovation Award:
TRAVELATOR by Dusan Milic (Serbia-Montenegro)
SHORT FILMS :
1st prize: HJONABANDSSAELA (CHUM) by Jörundur Ragnarsson (Iceland)
Jury Award: BAD HUNTER by Sahim Omar Kalifa (Belgium)
Special mention: RABBIT by Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre (France)
ZENITHS FOR THE BEST FIRST FICTION FEATURE FILMS 2014:
Members of the jury of the First Fiction Films:
Noboru Hirose (Japon)
Bahman Maghsoudlou (Iran-USA)
Martin Malina (Canada)
Golden Zenith for the Best First Fiction Feature film:
GONZALEZ by Christian Diaz Pardo (Mexico)
Silver Zenith for the First Fiction Feature Film :
L’ANNÉE PROCHAINE (NEXT YEAR) by Vania Leturcq (Belgium-France)
Bronze Zenith for the First Fiction Feature Film :
A BERNI KÖVET (THE AMBASSADOR TO BERN) by Attila Szasz (Hungary)
PUBLIC AWARDS
The public was invited to vote for the most popular films in different categories:
Public Awards for the most popular film of the Festival:
RASTRES DEL SANDAL (TRACES OF SANDALWOOD) by Maria Ripoll (Spain)
Public Award for the most popular Canadian Feature Film:
SWEEPING FORWARD by Patricia MacDowell (Canada)
Glauber Rocha Award for the Best Latin American Film:
OBEDIENCIA PERFECTA (PERFECT OBEDIENCE) by Luiz Urquiza Mondragon (Mexico)
Award for Best documentary:
NO LAND’S SONG by Ayat Najafi (Germany-France)
Award for Best Canadian Short Film:
TODAY, I DID MY LAUNDRY by Zach Patton (Canada)
FIPRESCI PRIZES
FIPRESCI Prize for a film in the World Competition:
DAS ZIMMERMÄDCHEN LYNN (THE CHAMBERMAID LYNN) by Ingo Haeb (Germany)
FIPRESCI Prize for a film in the First Films Competition:
LOS BAÑISTAS (OPEN CAGE) by Max Zunino (Mexico)
ECUMENICAL PRIZES
FUSHIGI NA MISAKI NO MONOGATARI (CAPE NOSTALGIA) by Izuru Narushima (Japan)
Special mention of the Ecumenical jury:
MELODY by Bernard Bellefroid (Belgium-France-Luxembourg
OTHER AWARDS:
Special awards for their exceptional contribution to the cinematographic art:
CLAUDE LELOUCH
MICHAEL J. WERNER
ALAIN RESNAIS (posthumous)
