The current busy film festival season has harvested a bonanza of awards for worthy films at a number of film festival events. The Provincetown International Film Festival, which held its ninth and most successful session from June 14 to 19, announced a host of awards at its Gala Closing Night Party at the Boatslip Resort overlooking beautiful Cape Cod Bay.

The Best Dramatic Feature prize was won by HEIGHTS, the multi-character drama starring Glenn Close and James Marsden. The film, directed by Chris Terrio, has opened theatrically in North America via specialty distributor Sony Pictures Classics.

Taking Best Documentary honors was SAME SEX AMERICA, an explosive look at the controversy over gay marriage when Massachusetts became the first state in the United States to legalize gay unions. The hot-button issue film was directed by Henry Corra and Charlene Rule. Pay cable television network Home Box Office, a Presenting Sponsor of the Festival, contributed a $1500 cash award each for the Dramatic Feature and Documentary categories.

The highlight of the Awards Gala was undoubtedly the presentation by legendary maverick director John Waters of the “Filmmaker On The Edge” award to writer/director Marry Harron (I SHOT ANDY WARHOL, AMERICAN PSYCHO), who accepted her honors to the loud cheers of the assembled audience.

Less than 200 miles away, on the exclusive summer resort island of Nantucket, the Nantucket Film Festival celebrated its 10th anniversary with an exciting gala ceremony. The Festival, which uniquely focuses on the art of screenwriting, had a number of outstanding films in its awards roster, including Best Writer/Director Award to Craig Brewster for the Sundance prize winner HUSTLE AND FLOW.

Best Storytelling In A Documentary Film honors went to Jessica Sanders for her powerful documentary AFTER INNOCENCE. The Audience Award was given to the documentary film MURDERBALL, which chronicles the competitive basketball championship among paraplegic players who take to the courts in their wheelchairs.

The Showtime Tony Cox Awards for screenwriting were presented at a star-studded event hosted by actor Oliver Platt. Winner of the Screenplay Competition was William Leurs for his original script MINK. Top honors for screenwriting in a feature film went to James C. Strouse for LONESOME JIM,
directed by indie favorite Steve Buscemi.

This year’s Festival was marked by record-breaking attendance and such highlights as the North American premiere of BROKEN FLOWERS, the winner of the Cannes Film Festival Grand Prix, directed by Jim Jarmusch and starring Bill Murray; the NBC Universal Tribute to actor/writer Steve Martin, presented by Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels; and two staged readings: SPECTACLE, a new script by Stacy Weiss and Dan Chariton, featuring the participation of such stellar actors as Ben Stiller, Macaulay Culkin, Robert Sean Leonard, Seymour Cassel and Amy Sedaris; and 9/11 KEVIN, a script by Stephen Garvey and George Bradshaw, the winner of Kevin Spacey’s Triggerstreet.com screenplay competition.


Called "America's Premiere Documentary Festival" by the Associated Press, the recently concluded SILVERDOCS presented an astonishingly rich and varied program of the best in non-fiction film at its main venue, the AFI Silver Theater in suburban Washington DC. The Festival, and its accompanying International Documentary Conference, brought together a who’s who of filmmakers, distributors, critics, television executives and documentary film fans.

Top honors in the International Competition went to DARWIN’S NIGHTMARE by Austrian director Hubert Sauper. The film shows the impact of globalization and the scourge of AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa through the microcosm of life on the shores of Lake Victoria in Tanzania. The International Jury praised the film for being “complex, disturbing, made with integrity and courage….making us aware that wherever we are, we are interconnected.” The Sterling Award is sponsored by Microsoft, and the director will receive US $10,000 in cash and US $10,000 in-kind services from Video Labs, and US $5,000 in film stock from Kodak.

YOU’RE GONNA MISS ME by director Keven McAlester won the Dr. Martens Music Documentary prize, while the Feature Audience Award was a tie between director Marshall Curry’s STREET FIGHT and THE BOYS OF BARAKA, co-directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady.

A biting black comedy from the UK has emerged as one of the more talked-about Festival award winners on the international circuit. GUY X, a new film from British director Saul Metzstein, was a double award winner at the recently concluded Taormina Film Festival, which celebrated its 51st anniversary in picturesque Sicily.

Metzstein grabbed the Best Director prize for the film, while actor American actor Jason Biggs, best known for his role in the AMERICAN PIE films, was honored with the Best Actor prize at the prestigious festival. Biggs is part of a stellar cast that includes such notable actors as Jeremy Northam (GOSFORD PARK), Natascha McElhone (SOLARIS) and Michael Ironside (THE MACHINIST).

GUY X, which is adapted from the debut novel NO ONE THINKS OF GREENLAND by John Grisemer, is set at a secret Arctic military base at the end of the Vietnam War. The film is a co-production between Film and Music Entertainment, the Spice Factory, Invicta Capital, Tartan Films and the Icelandic Film Corporation. Stephen Daldry (director of BILLY ELLIOT and THE HOURS) served as executive producer on the project. International sales are being handled by UK sales agent The Works.

As one of the busiest film festival months comes to a close, award announcements are forthcoming from such events as FRAMELINE 29, the San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, and the Los Angeles Film Festival, which conclude this week. Stay tuned.


Sandy Mandelberger
Industry Editor