Seattle Fest Announces Its Jury Prizes: “Hot Coffee,” “To Be Heard,” and “Gandu” Among the Winners
Eric Kohn
Seattle Fest Announces Its Jury Prizes: "Hot Coffee," "To Be Heard," and "Gandu" Among the Winners
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IndieWire
The Seattle International Film Festival completed its 37th year with an awards ceremony at the Space Needle this morning, where it announced the Competition and Golden Space Needle Audience Awards. Top winners included “Q” Kaushik Mukherjee’s “Gandu,” from India, which won the Grand Jury Prize for Best New Director. The film premiered earlier this year at the Slamdance Film Festival. Susan Saladoff’s Sundance entry “Hot Coffee” won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary, while the high school poetry slam documentary “To Be Heard” and the fishing industry exposé “Sushi: The Global Catch” won special jury prizes. Spanish director Emilio Aragón won the Best Film Golden Space Needle Award for “Paper Birds,” while the filmmakers and subjects of “To Be Heard” won a second prize for Best Documentary Golden Space Needle Award.

“I’m gratified that Seattle audiences continue to embrace the Festival’s wide-ranging selection of films from around the world proving that Seattle filmgoers see more films per capita than any other city in the nation,” said SIFF Artistic Director Carl Spence in prepared remarks. “For the second year in a row, we have surpassed one million dollars in ticket sales, making this another record-setting year.”

The complete list of winners and jury members can be found below.

SIFF 2011 COMPETITION AWARDS

SIFF 2011 Best New Director Grand Jury Prize

Gandu, directed by “Q” Kaushik Mukherjee (India, 2010)

The New Directors Competition jury was comprised of: Robert Abele, Film and TV Critic/Journalist; Peter Goldwyn, Samuel Goldwyn Films; and Sara Rose, Acquisitions Executive

SIFF 2011 Best Documentary Grand Jury Prize

Hot Coffee, directed by Susan Saladoff (USA, 2011)

Special Jury Prizes

To Be Heard, directed by Roland Legiardi-Laura, Amy Sultan, Deborah Shaffer and Edwin Martinez (USA, 2010)

Sushi: The Global Catch, directed by Mark Hall (USA, 2011)

The Documentary jury was comprised of: Krysanne Katsoolis, Cactus Three; Richard Lorber, Kino Lorber Inc.; and Katherine Tulich, Hollywood Foreign Press and International Federation of Film Critics.

SIFF 2011 FIPRESCI Prize for Best New American Film

FIPRESCI Prize

On the Ice, directed by Andrew Okpeaha MacLean (USA, 2011)

The FIPRESCI jury was comprised of members of the International Federation of Film Critics: Peter Keough, USA; Gideon Kouts, France; and Lucy Virgen, Mexico

SIFF 2011 GOLDEN SPACE NEEDLE AUDIENCE AWARDS

Best Film Golden Space Needle Award

Paper Birds, directed by Emilio Aragón (Spain, 2010)

First runner up: Tilt, directed by Viktor Chouchkov Jr. (Bulgaria, 2010)

Second runner up: Simple Simon, directed by Andreas Öhman (Sweden, 2010)

Third runner up: The Whistleblower, directed by Larysa Kondracki (Canada/Germany, 2010)

Fourth runner up: King of Devil’s Island, directed by Marius Holst (Norway, 2010)

Rounding out the top ten: My Afternoons With Margueritte, directed by Jean Becker (France, 2010); Spud, directed by Donovan Marsh (South Africa, 2010); Service Entrance (The Women of the Sixth Floor), directed by Philippe Le Guay (France, 2011); Almanya, directed by Yasemin Samdereli (Germany, 2011); Old Goats, directed by Taylor Guterson (USA, 2010).

Best Documentary Golden Space Needle Award

To Be Heard, directed by Roland Legiardi-Laura, Amy Sultan, Deborah Shaffer, Edwin Martinez (USA, 2010)

First runner up: Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey, directed by Constance Marks (USA, 2011)

Second runner up: Buck, directed by Cindy Meehl (USA, 2011)

Third runner up: How to Die in Oregon, directed by Peter D. Richardson (USA, 2011)

Fourth runner up: Hot Coffee, directed by Susan Saladoff (USA, 2011)

Rounding out the top ten: Holy Rollers: The True Story of Card Counting Christians, directed by Bryan Storkel (USA, 2011); The Interrupters, directed by Steve James (USA, 2011); Circus Dreams, directed by Signe Taylor (USA, 2011); 12 Angry Lebanese, directed by Zeina Daccache (Lebanon, 2010); A Lot Like You, directed by Eliaichi Kimaro (Tanzania/USA, 2011).

Best Director Golden Space Needle Award

Larysa Kondracki, The Whistleblower (Canada/Germany, 2010)

First runner up: Emilio Aragón, Paper Birds (Spain, 2010)

Second runner up: Mohammad Rasoulof, The White Meadows (Iran, 2009)

Third runner up: Yasemin Samderelli, Almanya (Germany, 2011)

Fourth runner up: Maryam Keshavarz, Circumstance (Iran, 2011)

Rounding out the top ten: Carlos Saura, Flamenco, Flamenco (Spain, 2010); Robbie Pickering, Natural Selection (USA, 2011); Megan Griffiths, The Off Hours (USA, 2011); Raul Ruiz, The Mysteries of Lisbon (Portugal, 2010); Mike Mills, Beginners (USA, 2010).

Best Actor Golden Space Needle Award

Bill Skarsgård, Simple Simon (Sweden, 2010)

First runner up: Matt Smith, Womb, (Germany/Hungary/France, 2010)

Second runner up: Imanol Arias, Paper Birds (Spain, 2010)

Third runner up: Matt O’Leary, Natural Selection (USA, 2011)

Fourth runner up: Ron Eldard, Roadie (USA, 2011)

Rounding out the top ten: Ewan McGregor, Beginners (USA, 2010); Peter Stormare, Small Town Murder Songs (Canada, 2010); Toni Servillo, A Quiet Life (Italy, 2010); Peter Mullan, Tyrannosaur (UK, 2011); Gerard Depardieu, My Afternoons with Margueritte (France, 2010).

Best Actress Golden Space Needle Award

Natasha Petrovic, As If I Am Not There (Ireland/Macedonia/Sweden, 2010)

First runner up: Bodil Jorgensen, Nothing’s All Bad (Denmark, 2010)

Second runner up: Rachel Weisz, The Whistleblower (Canada/Germany, 2010)

Third runner up: Rachael Harris, Natural Selection (USA, 2011)

Fourth runner up: Magaly Solier, Amador (Spain, 2011)

Rounding out the top ten: Eva Green, Perfect Sense (UK, 2011); Yahima Torres, Black Venus (France, 2010); Sara Forestier, The Names of Love (France, 2010); Katja Kukkola, Princess (Finland, 2010); Sandra Hüller, Above Us Only Sky (Germany, 2011).

Best Short Film Golden Space Needle Award

The Fantastic Flying Books Of Mr. Morris Lessmore, directed by William Joyce (USA, 2011)

First runner up: North Atlantic, directed by Bernardo Nascimento (Portugal, 2010)

Second runner up: Interview, director Sebastian Marka (Germany, 2010)

Third runner up: Amazonia, director Sam Chen (USA, 2010)

Fourth runner up: Cataplexy, director John Salcido (USA, 2010)

Lena Sharpe Award for Persistence of Vision, Presented by Women in Film/Seattle

This award is presented to the female director whose feature film receives the highest number of audience ballots.

Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey, directed by Constance Marks (USA, 2011)

SIFF 2011 FUTUREWAVE AND YOUTH JURY AWARDS

Youth Jury Award for Best FutureWave Feature

Detention, directed by Joseph Kahn (USA, 2011)

Youth Jury Award for Best Films4Families Feature

Circus Dreams, directed by Signe Taylor (USA, 2011)

WaveMaker Award for Excellence in Youth Filmmaking (Grand Jury Prize)

The Million Dollar Watch, directed by Joseph Yao (USA, 2010)

WaveMaker Special Jury Prize

Deaf Perspective, directed by Rogan Shannon (USA, 2011)

Joseph Yao (The Million Dollar Watch, USA, 2010) and Blair Scott (Reflection, USA, 2010) also received a scholarship to TheFilmSchool’s Prodigy Camp, a weeklong, immersive, overnight film camp for youth aged 12–18 held in late June.

FutureWave Shorts Audience Award

Deaf Perspective, directed by Rogan Shannon (USA, 2011)

First runner up: The Million Dollar Watch, directed by Joseph Yao (USA, 2010)

Second runner up: Reflection, directed by Blair Scott (USA, 2010)

Third runner up: Henry, directed by Amelia Elizalde (USA, 2011)

Fourth runner up: Noticed, directed by Reel Youth CampOut (Canada, 2010)

SIFF 2011 SHORT FILM JURY AWARDS

Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative Short

Time Freak, directed by Andrew Bowler (USA, 2010)

Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary Short

Library of Dust, directed by Ondi Timoner and Robert James (USA, 2010)

Grand Jury Prize for Best Animated Short

The Eagleman Stag, directed by Mikey Please (USA, 2010)

Special Jury Prizes

Narrative – Howard From Ohio, directed by SJ Chiro (USA, 2011)

Our Ship, directed by Garon Campbell (South Africa, 2011)

Animation – New Digs, directed by Martin Sen (South Africa, 2010)

The Short Film jury was comprised of: Kellie Ann Benz, The Shorts Report; Bill Murray, Northwest Screenwriters Guild; Jason Plourde, Three Dollar Bill Cinema and Tom Skerritt, actor and founder, TheFilmSchool.