amNewYork, New York
May 5 2007
International films reign supreme at Tribeca
BY GENE SEYMOUR, Newsday Staff Writer
gene.seymour@newsday.com
The awards at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival assumed a decidedly
international flavor.
"My Father, My Lord," Israeli director David Volach’s story of a
rabbi torn between the conflicting demands of faith and family in an
ultra-Orthodox community, won the festival’s $50,000 Founders Award
for Best Narrative Feature. Volach accepted the award in cash and art
at Thursday night’s ceremony from festival co-founders Robert De Niro
and Jane Rosenthal.
A Moroccan film, "Making Of," won two Tribeca festival awards.
Writer-director Nouri Bouzid’s story of a Tunisian breakdancer (Lofti
Edbelli) whose life is changed when he becomes involved with radical
Islamic fundamentalists won the $15,000 award for Best Screenplay,
while Edbelli was honored as Best Actor in a Narrative Feature. The
Best Actress prize went to Marina Hands for playing the title role in
"Lady Chatterly."
Alex Gibney ("Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room") won the $25,000
Best Documentary Feature cash-and-art prize for "Taxi to the Dark
Side." an inquiry into the death of an Afghan cab driver from
injuries inflicted by U.S. soldiers.
Mexican director Enrique Begne was honored as Best New Narrative
Filmmaker for "Two Embraces" ("Dos Abrazos") about four lost souls in
Mexico City who find — and embrace — each other. Vardan
Hovhannisyan was named the Best New Documentary Filmmaker for "A
Story of People in War and Peace," a meditative look at the 1994
conflict between the director’s homeland of Armenia and Azerbaijan
over the Nagorno Karabakh region.
"A Walk into the Sea: Danny Williams and the Warhol Factory," Esther
Robertson’s delicate probe into her late uncle’s involvement with the
1960s underground art movement, won the $5,000 "NY Loves Film"
Documentary award. The "Made in NY" Narrative prize, also $5,000,
went to "The Education of Charlie Banks," a coming-of-age story
directed by Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst. Andrew Piddington’s "The
Killing of John Lennon" was given special recognition by the "Made in
NY" jury.
The Tribeca Film Festival continues through Sunday. The audience
award will be presented at the BMCCI Tribeca Performing Arts Center
Saturday night at the screening of "The Gates."
Award-winning films will be screened throughout the weekend.
Information is available at tribecafilmfestival.org.