29/06/2009

Duncan Jones’ Moon [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] has won the Michael Powell Award for Best British Film at the 63rd Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF).

The Jury citation read: “We award Moon for its singular vision and remarkably assured direction as well as for the inspired manner in which it transcends genre. The central performance by Sam Rockwell embodies the film’s emotional complexity and compelling philosophical perspective.”

Katie Jarvis won Best Performance in a British Feature Film for Andrea Arnold’s Fish Tank [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Andrea Arnold
film profile] (see the interview). The Jury cited: “We award Katie Jarvis’ performance in Fish Tank for her portrayal of obsessive first love and visceral alienation. The moral ambiguity is illuminated by this extraordinary debut.”

Tomm Moore’s The Secret of Kells [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Didier Brunner
interview: Tomm Moore
interview: Viviane Vanfleteren
film profile] won the Audience Award while Aliona Van der Horst took home the Best Documentary Award for Boris Ryzhy. The UK Film Council Award for Best British Short Film went to Emma Sullivan’s After Tomorrow.

UK Film Council CEO John Woodward said, “Winning the Michael Powell Award confirms Duncan Jones as an emerging British director with a very bright future. And I’m delighted for Emma Sullivan, awarded the short film prize for After Tomorrow, and newcomer Katie Jarvis, winner of the best performance prize for Fish Tank, both of whose films were funded through the Film Council’s New Cinema Fund.”

EIFF Artistic Director, Hannah McGill said: “We have had a fantastic year and I’m thrilled that all of our prizewinners have been part of it, as well as, of course, all the other filmmakers who’ve attended and given us the privilege of screening their work. I hope their success here helps them go forward in their careers, and I hope we’ll see them all back in Edinburgh in the future with further work.”