MIFF Honors the Best

And that’s a wrap folks.

The 27th Annual Miami International Film Festival closed what many people have called one its strongest years Sunday night with a closing ceremony and awards presentation.

Organizers of the MIFF, presented and produced by Miami Dade College, capped 10 days of 115 films from 45 countries with the Awards Night Ceremony at the Gusman Center for the Performing Arts. A special screening of Best Foreign Film Oscar winner The Secret in Their Eyes (El secreto de sus ojos) followed the ceremony. 

Both juried and audience awards were presented in the following competition categories:

WORLD COMPETITION - Grand Jury Prize: Lola by Brillante Mendoza (France/Philippines, 2009): Starring Philippine cinema icon Anita Linda, this is the daunting story of two elderly women implicated in a robbery-homicide involving their respective grandsons: one the victim, the other the accused. Mendoza offers an earnest, compassionate study of forgiveness and redemption in the aftermath of an everyday killing in a poverty-stricken Filipino community.

Audience Award: No One Knows About Persian Cats (Kasi az gorbehaye irani khabar nadareh) by Bahman Ghobadi (Iran, 2009): Veteran director Bahman Ghobadi’s biting exposé of Iran’s myriad social and economic restrictions chronicles the struggle of two teenagers to form a band in Tehran’s outlawed, underground indierock scene and secure visas to perform in London.

IBERO-AMERICAN COMPETITION - Grand Jury Prize: To the Sea (Alamar) by Pedro González-Rubio (Mexico, 2009): A straightforward account of a Mexican fisherman who romances an Italian tourist. When the relationship ends, she returns to Rome with their child. The son later reunites with his father and they embark upon a heart-warming journey at sea. This feature debut from Pedro González-Rubio balances delicately between documentary and fiction.

Audience Award: Undertow (Contracorriente) by Javier Fuentes-León (Peru/Colombia/France/Germany, 2009): An unusual Peruvian ghost story about a married fisherman and his secret lover (played by popular Colombian actor Manolo Cardona). When the boyfriend drowns, his ghost returns demanding his body receive a proper burial. The tormented fisherman struggles to balance his wishes with the community’s rigid traditions.

THE JORDAN ALEXANDER RESSLER SCREENWRITING AWARD - Grand Jury Prize: The Last Summer of La Boyita (El último verano de La Boyita) by Julia Solomonoff (Argentina/Spain/France, 2009): Derived from Argentine writer-director Julia Solomonoff’s childhood experiences, this gentle coming-of-age tale involves two sisters in conflict and their bubble-shaped family camping trailer, “La Boyita.” During a summer trip to a rural Pampas farm, the youngest confronts her impending adulthood and encounters sexual curiosities amid the bulls and the fields.

DOX COMPETITION - Grand Jury Prize: Sins of My Father (Pecados de mi padre) by Nicolás Entel (Argentina/Colombia, 2009): In 1993, Colombia’s most brutal and notorious drug lord was murdered in Medellín, and his son fled to Buenos Aires to escape a dubious legacy. Years later, filmmaker Nicolás Entel captures the powerful and historic moment when Pablo Escobar’s eldest son finally comes forward to tell his father’s story.

Special Jury Mention: Kawase-san by Cristián Leighton (Chile, 2009): A meditative portrait of Japanese film director Naomi Kawase by documentarian Cristián Leighton. The young Chilean obsesses over her works, which compels him to visit Japan to uncover who it really is that tells such intimate, disturbing stories. While actively seeking to understand her, Leighton ponders his own identity as well.

Audience Award: Sins of My Father (Pecados de mi padre) by Nicolás Entel (Argentina/Colombia, 2009)

CUTTING THE EDGE & CUTTING THE EDGE VIDEO ART COMPETITION - Grand Jury Prize: Pepperminta by Pipilotti Rist (Switzerland/Austria, 2009) (a Cutting the Edge Feature Film): Swiss video-art wunderkind Pipilotti Rist makes her feature debut with this quirky, psychedelic fantasy tale in hypnotic primary colors which introduces a redheaded young woman – a mix of both Pippi Longstocking and Pollyanna – who exuberantly brings girlish good will and the determination to live without fear to an uncomprehending world.

Special Jury Mention: Nora by Alla Kovgan and David Hinton (USA, 2009) (a Cutting the Edge Video Art Film)

SHORTS COMPETITION - Grand Jury Prize: Believe by Paul Wright (Scotland/UK, 2009) (a nominee from Shorts Competition 2)

DIESEL ONLINE SHORTS COMPETITION - Grand Jury Prize: Telegastrovision by Antanas Janauskas (Lithuania)

Audience Award: Zombies Vs. Vampires by Franz Palomares (USA)

THE FIPRESCI PRIZE - The FIPRESCI Prize: Judge (Tou Xi) by Liu Jie (China, 2009): Caught up in death penalty deliberations, a judge and a convicted criminal both discover that justice is rarely ever a simple matter. Based on true events, this dramatic yarn from writer-director Liu Jie highlights the various legal and personal machinations behind a case as it proceeds through the Chinese justice system.

THE CINEUROPA PRIZE FOR BEST EUROPEAN FILM - The Cineuropa Prize: Ordinary People by Vladimir Perisic (France/Switzerland/Serbia/Netherlands, 2009): War’s dehumanizing effects on man is the heart of this feature debut from Serbian writer-director Vladimir Perisic. This devastating day in the life of a young Serbian soldier poignantly chronicles his initiation into the cruel ritual of military killings.

Special Mention: Medal of Honor (Medalia de onoare) by Calin Peter Netzer (Germany/Romania, 2009): Romanian director Calin Peter Netzer again delves into his native country’s post-Ceauçescu woes. This drama depicts the story of 75-year-old Ion, who reevaluates his life when he receives a decoration for a WWII act of heroism he hardly remembers.

FLORIDA FOCUS COMPETITION

Best Short Film by a High School Student: Last Laugh by David Harrison (Design & Architecture High School)

Special Jury Mention for a Short Film by a High School Student: Agyrophobia by Clara Diez (Design & Architecture High School)