AFI Fest announces 2011 audience, jury award winners
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Two films — one documentary about an 85-year-old Japanese sushi chef and a feature film about the 1994 Rwandan genocide — were the audience favorites in the world cinema section at this year’s AFI Fest.
‘Jiro Dreams of Sushi’ and ‘Kinyarwanda,’ both made by American filmmakers in foreign countries, tied for the audience award at this year’s festival. The eight-day event, which concludes Thursday evening in Hollywood, places heavy emphasis on screening international films.
Other films favored by this year’s festival crowd include ‘Bullhead,’ Belgium’s official foreign-language Oscar submission about a cattle farmer with a drug problem. The picture was named the best film in the New Auteurs section and its star, Matthias Schoenaerts, was also given an acting award by the festival’s jury. Clay Liford’s ‘Wuss,’ about a dopey substitute teacher, was the audience pick in the Young Americans section, while Swedish filmmaker Alexandra-Therese Keining took home a $5,000 prize for her so-called breakthrough feature ‘With Every Heartbeat.’
The festival’s New Auteurs grand jury prize went to ‘The Loneliest Planet,’ Julia Loktev’s film about an engaged couple wandering through the Caucasus Mountains.
AFI Fest closes with a screening of Steven Spielberg’s ‘The Adventures of Tintin.’ Find a complete list of this year’s award-winning films below.
AUDIENCE AWARDS Breakthrough (includes $5,000 cash prize)
‘With Every Heartbeat’ by Alexandra-Therese Keining
New Auteurs
‘Bullhead’ by Michaël R. Roskam
World Cinema
A tie: ‘Jiro Dreams of Sushi’ by David Gelb and ‘Kinyarwanda’ by Alrick Brown
Young Americans
‘Wuss’ by Clay Liford
LIVE ACTION AND ANIMATED SHORT FILM SECTION JURY AWARDS
Live Action Short Film
Grand Jury Prize: ‘Frozen Stories’ from Grzegorz Jaroszuk
Honorable Mention: ‘Babyland’ by Marc Fratello
Animated Short Film
Grand Jury Prize: ‘The Eagleman Stag’ by Michael Please
Honorable Mention: ‘The Voyagers’ by Penny Lane
NEW AUTEURS SECTION CRITIC’S PRIZE
Grand Jury Prize: ‘The Loneliest Planet’ by Julia Loktev
Special Jury Prize: ‘Attenberg’ by Athina Rachel Tsangari
Acting Award Prize: ‘Bullhead’s’ Matthias Schoenaerts
[Updated, Nov. 10, 4:02 p.m.: A previous version of this post said that ‘Kinyarwanda’ is a documentary; it is in fact a feature film.]
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The Cheat Sheet: AFI Film Festival 2011
AFI Fest will screen cream of other film festivals
AFI Fest Director Jacqueline Lyanga explores her passion for film
-- Amy Kaufman