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Film Festival Announces Winners
Monday, September 17, 2001 12:00 AM EDT
The 26th Toronto International Film Festival, which began with such hope September 6th, ended with quiet resignation yesterday in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on the U.S.
In a low-key press conference yesterday that replaced the usual boisterous awards luncheon, festival director Piers Handling and managing director Michele Maheux again paid respects to the victims of the attacks, thanked their staff for their "remarkable team spirit" and festival-goers for their unstinting cooperation in ensuring the festival continued with dignity. Then they announced this year's award winners.
"Obviously, this was an extraordinary festival," Handling said. "We began in celebration and, after five days, we experienced what we thought was a near-perfect event. From Tuesday forward, the tone obviously shifted and we experienced a different kind of event. We bonded more closely, seeking solace in the cinemas. I think the films themselves were definitely seen in a different context in light of the tragedy."
Jean-Pierre Jeunet's wonky and wonderful romantic comedy Le Fabuleux Destin D'Amelie Poulain (or Amelie, as it will be called in a forthcoming release in Canada) won the AGF People's Choice Award as the most popular film. The choice is determined by audience vote.
Runners-up were Indian-born Digvijay Singh's Maya, a U.S. film about a happy girl's suddenly traumatic coming-of-age; and Mira Nair's giddy Monsoon Wedding, an Indian film about a chaotic Punjabi wedding celebration.
The stunning all-Inuit production, Zacharias Kunuk's Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner), won the $25,000 Toronto-CITY-TV Award for best Canadian feature film. It is based on an ancient Arctic fable with Shakespearean-like complexity.
Two Winnipegers took the other Canadian awards. Sean Garrity won the $15,000 CITY-TV Award for best first feature for his offbeat romantic comedy Inertia. Experimental filmmaker Deco Dawson took the $2,500 NFB-John Spotton Award for best Canadian short for his bizarrely fascinating FILM (Dzama).
The Volkswagen Discovery Award, the result of a general critics' vote, went to Malaysian-born director Cheak Chee Kong's Chicken Rice War, a Singapore film that tells a warped modern version of Romeo And Juliet.
The FIPRESCI Award, the result of an international critics' jury vote, went to director Yamina Benguigui's Inch'Allah Dimanche, a French drama about Franco-Algerian struggles.
Special mentions went to the Austrian-German Be My Star and the Canadian drama Khaled, by Iranian-born director Asghar Massombagi, who tells the heartbreaking story of a Moroccan-Canadian boy who keeps his mother's death a secret.
After the press conference, Handling told reporters that he hopes the "international" aspect of his festival, and the film community at large, will be emphasized more in the future because it is a source of information and understanding.
"I think there is just such a danger in demonizing races, cultures and religions and there is one thing that art can do, and do it well, and that is to give you a look at the culture of people who you don't understand and perhaps perceive as your enemy.
"If there is anything that comes out of this, it is the need to understand the why, what's behind it. Hopefully the cinema will be able to do that too."
Handling also predicted that, at least in the short term, Hollywood will be obliged to make fewer violent films, especially with terrorist themes. "I think it will happen. I'm not sure if I want to comment on whether it should happen. But I think there obviously will be a major change in the tone and content of some of the films that are coming out of Hollywood over the next year. There has to be."
Later, he added: "It will likely be a slight hiccup, but I hope it's longer-term."
The only filmmakers at the press conference were Winnipegers Garrity and Dawson, who both took pains to tell interviewers that awards seemed secondary at this time.
"I spent many of my days here (at the festival) just trying to cope with the situation in the world," Dawson said.
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