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AFI FEST – Intl Jury Awards: BLUE, BEAH & DEEP SILENCE stand-outs

Friday night, Nov 14th, at a standing-room-only celebration at CineSpace,
the International Jury Award winners of AFI FEST 2003 were announced.

Taking the Feature Jury Prize was Natasha Arthy's OLD, NEW, BORROWED AND BLUE, a Danish bittersweet comedy and an official Dogme film about the perils of love and honesty.

"I'm really proud," said an elated Arthy minutes after winning. "It's very unreal. We didn't expect anything like this." Arthy and producer Birgitte Skov said that they planned to ring the two lead actors from the film ("We don't care if we wake them up," said Skov), before waiting a few hours to call their other producers and cast and crew.

LisaGay Hamilton's BEAH: A BLACK WOMAN SPEAKS took the Documentary Jury Prize,
sponsored by SILVERDOCS. Hamilton's directorial debut captures the life and thoughts of Beah Richards, poet, activist and actress, who starred in GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER, ROOTS, and BELOVED, among countless other films. When AFI FEST caught up with Hamilton after the victory, she and Co-Producer Joe Viola were leaving a message for Jonathan Demme, who financed the film. "We just won Best Documentary at AFI FEST!" they yelled in unison to Demme's answer machine. "I'm shocked," said a breathless Hamilton, after hanging up.

The Short Jury Prize, sponsored by Dell, went to Gustavo Loza's DEEP SILENCE, a poetic, gripping tale about two missing children from Havana and what happens when one of them returns. Honorable Mention went to Sharat Raju's AMERICAN MADE, the story of an Indian-American family who confront issues of tradition, faith, and conformity while stranded on the side of a desert road. "Everyone should have a time in one's life that they get to do something
that they really enjoy, something that they really like," said Raju about the short and, clearly, about life beyond film.