At the '09 Camden International Film Festival award ceremonies this evening at the beautiful Camden Opera House (which preceded the closing night film, Robert Stone's Earth Days), the recipients of the Harrell Award for Best Documentary Feature and the CIFF Award for Emerging Cinematic Vision were announced, with prizes of $1,000 each. The CIFF Award winner also receives a free course at the Maine Media Workshops.
The Harrell Award went to Jean-Pierre Duret and Andrea Santana's Because We Were Born (Puisque Nous Sommes Nés). Camden was the French-Brazilian film's US premiere and it's about to launch its theatrical run in France in a few days. Here's what I and fellow jurors, Ryan Harrington and Dana Rae Warren, had to say about Duret and Santana's exquisite work: "The jury gives Jean-Pierre Duret and Andrea Santana's Because We Were Born the Harrell Award for Best Documentary Feature for its excellence in cinematic craft and for its rigorously pure vérité aesthetic. The filmmakers have created a work that challenges the viewer on many levels. Told with a quiet intensity and deep love and respect for their subjects, in our opinion, this piece represents the best of what nonfiction cinema has to offer."
The CIFF Award went to Patrick Shen's The Philosopher Kings, a journey through the corridors of the most prestigious colleges and universities in America to learn profound life lessons from the custodians that clean and maintain these hallowed halls of academe. You can watch the trailer here.
I will have much more from CIFF in the coming days, along with several film reviews from the outstanding program. Congratulations to Ben Fowlie, Leah Hurley, Dominic Musacchio and the entire festival team for putting on a really magical event. We were duly impressed and look forward to visiting again in the years to come.
Because We Were Born website :
http://puisquenoussommesnes.com
Posted by: MBDM | October 06, 2009 at 07:54 PM