Editor

AFI FEST 2008 presented by Audi today announced the 2008 award winners with Federico Veiroj’s ACNE named as the recipient of the Grand Jury Prize for International Feature Competition. Special Mention went to Igor Voloshin’s NIRVANA.

Kief Davidson’s KASSIM THE DREAM took the International Documentary Grand Jury Prize. Special Mention went to Jan Louter’s THE LAST DAYS OF SHISHMAREF.

SHORTS
Audience award:
BUSCO PERSONAS
Grand Jury Prize:
THE LEGLESS BOY CANNOT DANCE;
Special Mention
APOLOGY LINE
DOCUMENTARY
Audience Award: Tie:
THE WORLD WE WANT;
KASSIM THE DREAM
Grand Jury Prize:
KASSIM THE DREAM;
Special Mention
THE LAST DAYS OF SHISHMAREF
NARRATIVE
Audience Award:
A NECESSARY DEATH
Grand Jury Prize:
ACNE;
Special Mention
NIRVANAThe Shorts Jury Prize went to Michel Lipkes’s THE LEGLESS BOY CANNOT DANCE. Special mention went to James Lees’s “The Apology Line”.

Daniel Stamm’s A NECESSARY DEATH won the Audience Award for best feature film, while Davidson’s KASSIM THE DREAM and Patrick Davidson’s THE WORLD WE WANT shares the Audience Award for best documentary. Lagan Sebert’s and Sandra Sampayo’s BUSCO PERSONAS: THE FACES OF COLUMBIA’S WAR won the Audience Award for the Short section.

The three Jury Award winners each receive prizes of Fuji Film stock.

AFI FEST Artistic Director Rose Kuo said, “This year, AFI FEST featured an exciting lineup of films in the competitive categories featuring really accomplished and inspired work from a diverse group of talented filmmakers. Our jury had their work cut out for them to single out one film from each group.”

JURY AWARDS
INTERNATIONAL FEATURE COMPETITION
GRAND JURY PRIZE: ACNE
DIR: Federico Veiroj Cast: Alejandro Tocar, Julia Catala, Gustavo Melnik, Belen Pouchan PROD: Fernando Epstein EXEC PROD: Fernando Epstein Uruguay/Argentina/Spain/Mexico

SPECIAL MENTION: NIRVANA
DIR: Igor Volshin Cast: Olga Sutulova, Mariya Shalayeva, Arthur Smolyaninov, Mikhail Evlanov PROD: Sergei Selyanov Russia

INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
GRAND JURY PRIZE: KASSIM THE DREAM
DIR: Kief Davidson PROD: Kief Davidson, Liz Silver EXEC PROD: Joshua A. Green, Luke Thornton, Forest Whitaker, Keisha Whitaker Uganda/USA

SPECIAL MENTION: THE LAST DAYS OF SHISHMAREF
DIR: Jan Louter PROD: Juul Kappelhof EXEC PROD: Renske Meertens Netherlands

INTERNATIONAL SHORTS COMPETITION
GRAND JURY PRIZE: THE LEGLESS BOY CANNOT DANCE (EL NINO SIN PIERNAS NO PUEDE BAILAR)
DIR: Michel Lipkes SCR: Michel Lipkes and Maximiliano Cruz PROD: Milko Luis Coronel DP: Gerardo Barroso ED: Leon Felipe Gonzalez MUS: Gala Duran Cast: Sebastian Alvarado, Domingo Diaz Ordaz, Pumba

SPECIAL MENTION: THE APOLOGY LINE
DIR/PROD/SCR: James Lees SCR: William Bridges DP: Mattias Nyberg ED: Tony Norto

AUDIENCE AWARDS
FEATURE: A NECESSARY DEATH
DIR: Daniel Stamm Cast: Gilbert John, Matt Tilley, Valerie Hurt, Michael Traynor, Konima Parkinson-Jones PROD: Brian Udovich, GJ Echternkamp USA

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: KASSIM THE DREAM
DIR: Kief Davidson PROD: Kief Davidson, Liz Silver EXEC PROD: Joshua A. Green, Luke Thornton, Forest Whitaker, Keisha Whitaker Uganda/USA

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: THE WORLD WE WANT
DIR/PROD: Patrick Davidson USA

SHORT: BUSCO PERSONAS: THE FACES OF COLUMBIA’S WAR
DIR/PROD: Lagan Sebert, Sandra Sampayo ED: Lagan Sebert MUS: JUanes, ChocQibTown, Aterciopelados