The sixth annual Tribeca Film Festival on Friday announced 2007
award winners. Chinese film Lost in Beijing received
honorable mention for its screenplay.
The Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature went to Israeli
film My Father My Lord telling the story of a respected
rabbi in an ultra-Orthodox community who is forced to come to terms
with the demands of his faith and the welfare of his own
family.
Best Documentary Feature was awarded to Taxi to the
Darkside, directed by US director Alex Gibney. It examines the
death of an Afghan taxi driver at Bagram Air Base from injuries
inflicted by US soldiers. In an unflinching look at the Bush
administration's policy on torture, the filmmaker takes the
audience from a villagein Afghanistan to Guantanamo and straight to
the White House.
Best Actor in a Narrative Feature Film was claimed by Lofti
Edbelli who plays Bahta, a 25-year-old Tunisian who fall in with a
group of fundamentalists and was brainwashed to be a suicide bomber
in film Making of. The film written and directed by Nouri
Bouzid also received Best Screenplay.
Two awards were also given to honor New York films, which were
chosen from 14 narrative and eight documentary features.
The festival was founded in 2002 by Robert De Niro, his
producing partner, Jane Rosenthal, and her husband, the
entrepreneur Craig Hatkoff, to help economically and culturally
revitalize Lower Manhattan after the Sept. 11 attacks.
This year's festival included 157 features and 88 short films
from 47 countries. The world competition winners were chosen from
18 narrative and 16 documentary features from 25 countries.
"The talent of this year's award winners and their diverse
storytelling styles is truly impressive," said Jane Rosenthal. "We
are thrilled that the Festival has helped to bring all of our
filmmakers' voices to light and that the film community and our New
York neighbors have continued to embrace the festival year after
year."
"It's gratifying that several juries offered spontaneous
enthusiasm for the high level of work they watched during this
festival," said Peter Scarlet, executive director of the
festival."This in fact echoes remarks we've heard from viewers at
many of our screenings: intelligent, challenging movies are indeed
alive and well, and there is an appreciative audience for films
that find new ways to open our eyes to the world around us."
Organizers said in its first five years, the festival attracted
over 1.5 million attendees from the United States and abroad and
created more than US$325 million in economic activity for NewYork
City.
The sixth annual Tribeca Film Festival runs from April 25 to May
6, 2007.
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(Xinhua News Agency May 7, 2007)