Leeds International Film Festival (LIFF)

What We Do in the Shadows

What We Do in the Shadows was voted by 28th Leeds International Film Festival (LIFF28) audiences as overall favorite and X+Y, starring Asa Butterfield and Sally Hawkins, came second. In What We Do in the Shadows, Viago, Deacon, Vladislav and Peter are four vampires sharing a house in Wellington, trying to balance being undead with everyday problems like whose turn it is to wash up, where to find virgin blood and how to dress for a night out when you don’t have a reflection. As a documentary film crew follows them round we learn about each of their histories and what it means to be hundreds of years old in the 21st century. Co-written and starring Jemaine Clement from Flight of the Conchords, What We Do in the Shadows balances comedy, horror and social commentary perfectly in this hilarious film.

Overall the vote was incredibly close for the top 5 films, and the top 20 winners in the LIFF28 Audience Award for Best Film are: 1) What We Do in the Shadows 2) X+Y 3) Song of the Sea 4) The Possibilities are Endless 5) The Imitation Game 6) Heaven Adores You 7) Giovanni’s Island 8) Seventh Heaven 9) Housebound 10)  Birdman 11) Poverty Inc 12) Brasil Bam Bam Bam 13) Testament of Youth 14) Everybody Street 15) Kingdom of Dreams and Madness 16) Vessel 17) No One’s Child 18) Rurouni Kenshin 2 19) The House at the End of Time 20) #chicagoGirl – The Social Network

28th Leeds International Film Festival also announced its winning short films

Louis le Prince International Short Film Competition 2014

Winner: Art (Arta) (Dir. Adrian Sitaru, Romania)
Special Mentions:  Chorus (Dir. Tiago Guedes, Portugal) + Greenland (Dir. Oren Garner, Israel)

Jury statement on Art:
‘An engaging, accomplished and technically superb film about manipulation.’

World Animation Award 2014

Winner: Walk the Dog (Dir. Sonja Rohleder, Germany)
Special Mentions: Zepo (Dir. César Díaz Meléndez, Spain) + Baths (Lanzi) (Dir. Tomek Ducki, Poland + UK)

Jury statement on Walk the Dog:
‘Immersive, cinematic and a graphic joy.’

British Short Film Competition 2014

Winner: Exchange and Mart (Dir. Cara Connolly, Martin Clark, UK)
Special Mentions: Goes to the actor Oliver Woolford for A Generation of Vipers + Alice (Thomas McNaught, UK)

 Jury statement on Exchange and Mart: 
‘A beautifully executed coming of age film.’

Yorkshire Short Film Competition 

Winner: Cushy (Dir. Fliss Buckles, Cat Jones, UK)
Special Mention: Rare (Dir. Jim Morgan, UK)

Jury Statement on Cushy: 
‘Cushy featured a demanding lead performance that was excellently portrayed by James Cooney. Superb writing of spoken word by Cat Jones and slick camera direction by Fliss Buckles provided the audience with a unique insight into the world of modern day imprisonment.’

Leeds International Screendance Competition

 Winning Film: Amauros (Dir. Nicole Seiler, Switzerland)
Special Mentions: Black Tape (Michelle and Uri Kranot, Denmark, 2014) + Memorias (Ponciano Almeida & Bertie, Brazil+ UK, 2014)

Jury Statement on Amouros: 
‘The film creates the visualization of a dance in detail without ever featuring a moving body on screen. The medium of film provides the perfect vehicle to create new dialogues about memory and perception which are present in the original stage piece, Pina Bausch’s Cafe Müller. A work which mines the potentials and conventions of screendance making.’

Short Film Audience Award
For films under ten minutes in length, voted for by the audience.

 Winner: Carpark (Dir: Anthony Blades, UK)
Special Mentions: Voluntario (Javier Marco, Spain) + Manny Gets Censored (Graeme Robertson, Australia)

The Silver Méliès Short Film Competition 2014

 The European Fantastic Film Festivals’ Federation exists to raise the profile of European fantastic films through its Méliès competition, which is hosted by numerous film festivals across Europe. Leeds International Film Festival has been a member since 2005 and this year has allowed the audience to pick which film should win the Leeds Méliès d’Argent and go forward to compete for the coveted Méliès d’Or at Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival next year.

 Winner: Wind (Dir. Robert Löbel, Germany)
Special Mentions: Ghost Train (Dir. Lee Cronin, Finland + Ireland)

Dead Short Competition 2014

 Winner: Cannibals and Carpet Fitters (James Bushe, UK)
Special Mentions: Safari Heat (Antti Lassko, Simo Ruotsalainen, Finland) + Liquid (Kaichi Sato, Japan)

Sci-Fi Shorts

 Winner: The Nostalgist (Giacomo Cimini, UK)
Special Mentions: Metamorphosis (Rob Nevitt, UK) + Enfilade (David Coyle, Australia)

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Testament of Youth

Testament of Youth opens the 28th Leeds International Film Festival (LIFF28) on Wednesday 5th November, with very special guests James Kent (director) and Rosie Alison (producer) in attendance. Backed by Screen Yorkshire and filmed primarily in the region, Testament of Youth is the first big screen adaptation of Vera Brittain’s iconic and powerful WW1 memoir. Irrepressible and free-minded, Vera Brittain overcomes the prejudices of her family and hometown to win a scholarship to Oxford. With everything to live for, she falls in love with her brother’s close friend Roland Leighton as they go to university to pursue their literary dreams. But war is looming and everything will change. From award-winning television director James Kent, Testament of Youth stars Alicia Vikander, Kit Harington, Dominic West and Emily Watson.

LIFF28’s Opening Night will be a double Yorkshire spectacular of particular interest to fans of the festival’s Fanomenon horror and cult film strand, as we follow Testament of Youth with the World Premiere of The Taking. Two market stall holders’ dreams of opening a tea room are shattered when they fall foul of a sociopathic loan shark in this intense new thriller directed by Dominic Brunt, who will make a special guest appearance along with cast members. Known foremost for his role as Paddy on ITV’s Emmerdale, Brunt is an emerging filmmaking talent with a penchant for suspense.

Catch Me Daddy

Catch Me Daddy and X+Y, two other films which were supported with investment from Screen Yorkshire’s Yorkshire Content Fund also feature at the festival. Cast and crew will be in attendance for Cannes Film Festival selection Catch Me Daddy, a remarkable and visceral chase thriller by Daniel Wolfe (the award-winning director of Plan B’s music videos), in which a girl on the run from her family is hiding out in West Yorkshire when her brother arrives in town with a vicious gang to track her down. British screen favourite Sally Hawkins and Asa Butterfield star in Toronto International Film Festival hit X+Y, about an autistic maths prodigy who begins to experience the world differently under the guidance of an unconventional maths teacher.

Other screenings in LIFF28’s Yorkshire film line-up include Mr Somebody?, about eccentric Huddersfield resident Jake Mangle Wurzel; To Hell With Culture, exploring the life of Yorkshire poet Herbert Read and the Yorkshire Short Film Competition.

LIFF28’s Testament of Youth screening coincides with Remembrance Sunday this coming weekend, and leads an important programme of films and events commemorating the centenary of World War One in the festival’s War on Film programme. 

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THE ROCKET was voted by 27th Leeds International Film Festival audiences as overall favorite from 139 feature films. Set against the lush backdrop of rural Laos, The Rocket is described as a spirited, fable-like family drama from Australia that tells the story of ten-year-old Ahlo, who yearns to break free from his ill-fated destiny. After his village is displaced to make way for a massive dam, Ahlo escapes with his father and grandmother through the Laotian outback in search of a new home. Along the way, they come across a rocket festival with a competition that offers a lucrative, but dangerous, chance for a new beginning.The two feature films that were closest in the voting to The Rocket are both music documentaries, FILMAGE: THE STORY OF DESCENDENTS / ALL and REVENGE OF THE MEKONS. The top ten winners in the LIFF27 Audience Award for Best Film are: 1) The Rocket 2) Filmage: The Story of Descendents / ALL 3) Revenge of the Mekons 4) Final Cut, Ladies & Gentlemen 5) Ghost Graduation 6) Mistaken for Strangers 7) Brothers Hypnotic 8) We are the Best! 9) Gravity 10) Sign Painters.

27th Leeds International Film Festival announced its winning short films 

Louis le Prince International Short Film Competition 2013

Winner: JUST BEFORE LOSING EVERYTHING (Avant que de tout perdre) (Dir. Xavier Legrand, France)
Special Mentions: Room 606 (Zimmer 606) (Dir. Peter Volkart, Switzerland) + We’re Flying (Wir Fliegen)(Dir. Ulrike Kofler, Austria/ Germany)  Jury statement on Just Before Losing Everything: 
‘The Jury was impressed by the tense and immediately affecting atmosphere of this film. Though seen on the first day this film remained with the jury. It maintains a momentum portraying a real life family drama that projects the terrifying reality of domestic violence.’

World Animation Award 2013

Winner: Guilt (Kalte) (Dir. Reda Bartkute, Lithuania)
Special Mention: Rabbit and Deer (Nyuszi és Őz) (Dir. Péter Vácz, Hungary)
+ In the air is Christopher Gray (Dir. Felix Massie, UK)
Jury statement on Guilt (Kalte):
‘The Jury was mesmerised by the surreal imagery and clear artistic vision of the Director. With a clear independent spirit the film told a story that could only be portrayed through the medium of animation.

‘British Short Film Competition 2013

Winner: Sea View (Dir. Jane Linfoot) 
Special Mentions: L’Assenza (Dir. Jonathan Romney) + Getting On (Dir. Ninian Doff)
Jury statement on Sea View:
‘Elevated by an impressive central performance that suggests a talent beyond her years. The Jury felt that Sea View is accomplished in its atmosphere, sense of place and treatment of aesthetics. It sits well in the contemporary British cinema landscape.’

Yorkshire Short Film Competition 2013

Winner: OH MESSY LIFE (Dir. Jonathan Harrold)
Special Mention: Ratzilla (Dir. Rad Miller)
Jury statement on Oh Messy Life:
‘It was driven by a very clear and visual sense of storytelling. The Jury felt it captures the essence of what it is to be in love, and the fears and uncertainties that such feelings provoke.

‘The Silver Méliès Short Film Competition 2013

Winner: DEATH OF A SHADOW (Dood van een Schaduw) (Dir. Tom van Avermaet, Belgium / France, 2012)
Special Mentions: Shell Shocked (Dir. Dominic Brunt, UK, 2013) + Raw Meat (La Carne Cruda) (Samuel Lema, Spain, 2013) 

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 GRAVITY, starring George Clooney and Sandra Bullock

The sci-fi drama GRAVITY, starring George Clooney and Sandra Bullock, will open the 27th Leeds International Film Festival (LIFF27) on Wednesday November 6, 2013. From Alfonso Cuarón, the director of Children of Men, Gravity is described as “a unique and unforgettable cinema experience about a brilliant medical engineer on her first shuttle mission with a veteran astronaut. On a seemingly routine spacewalk, disaster strikes.”  Closing LIFF27 on Thursday November 21, 2013, is a rare screening of Hungarian director Gyórgy Pólfi’s unique FINAL CUT: LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, described as “an irresistible celebration of cinema, telling the ultimate love story using tiny excerpts from hundreds of movies ranging across film history.”

LIFF27 runs from Wednesday November 6th until Thursday 21st, and includes 163 feature films, short film programs and events, presented at over 250 screenings. The line-up is arranged across five main program sections: the Official Selection for previews and new discoveries; Retrospectives; Fanomenon for genre cinema; Cinema Versa for documentaries; and Short Film City.

The Official Selection includes some of the most acclaimed films of the year including the winner of the Palme d’Or at this year’s 2013 Cannes Film Festival, BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOUR. Other award winners in the Official Selection include Romanian drama CHILD’S POSE, which won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, Alexander Payne’s NEBRASKA (Best Actor for Bruce Dern) and Alain Guiraudie’s STRANGER BY THE LAKE (Un Certain Regard, Best Director). 

The Official Selection also includes new discoveries, including Kazakh director Emir Baigazin’s debut HARMONY LESSONS and THE STRANGE LITTLE CAT from German film student Ramon Zürcher, a minimalist depiction of domestic mayhem over one day in a Berlin flat. Receiving its UK Premiere at Leeds, CONCRETE NIGHT is the latest feature from veteran Finnish filmmaker Pirjo Honkasalo, a drama about a teenage boy’s downfall.

LIFF27 retrospective program ranges from rare opportunities to rediscover forgotten gems to celebrated classics including Walerian Borowczyk, the Polish animator and avant-gardist and Japanese master,Masaki Kobayashi with rare cinema screenings of his samurai classics Hara-Kiri and Samurai Rebellion alongside his milestone Japanese wartime epic, the 579-minute THE HUMAN CONDITION. 

The Fanomenon section is the home of cult and fantasy cinema and includes the South Korean action blockbuster COLD EYES, receiving its UK Premiere in Leeds, and a unique cinema presentation for the complete animated BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, screening with a brand new documentary about Frank Miller. 

Cinema Versa focuses on documentary films showcases low budget, independent features: alternative music docs, grassroots political activist films and profiles of mavericks and outsiders. The Music on Film lineup ranges from the unconventional new tour film MISTAKEN FOR STRANGERS about indie darlings The National made by the singer’s brother to HARLEM STREET SINGER about the legendary ragtime guitarist Reverend Gary Davis, whose history mirrors that of popular music in the twentieth century.  Underground Voices ranges in subject matter from everyday life in a war zone as filmed by a group of ordinary Afghans in MY AFGHANISTAN to the history of hand crafted sign painting in the USA in SIGN PAINTERS and a delegation of artists and scientists visiting the melting ice caps of Greenland in EXPEDITION TO THE END OF THE WORLD. 

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 [caption id="attachment_2918" align="alignnone" width="550"]Thomas Vinterberg’s The Hunt [/caption]

The 26^th Leeds International Film Festival ended on Sunday November 18th, after 18 days packed with 270 screenings and events, and an audience of 35,000. The Hunt was voted by Leeds 2012 audiences as overall favorite from 140 feature films, and a record 14,196 completed votes were cast. 

The film is described by the festival as Danish filmmaker Thomas Vinterberg’s best film since Festen, The Hunt is a gripping, provocative and devastating drama about a respected member of a close-knit Danish community whose life is destroyed when a young girl accuses him, falsely, of abuse. Winner of Best Actor in Cannes, Mads Mikkelsen plays Lucas, a 40-year-old, good-natured primary school teacher who is recently divorced and trying to rebuild his relationship with his son. Once the accusation is made, Lucas is deemed guilty by the community-turned-mob, ostracized, and hunted by his former friends and neighbors.

Other winners include: 

THE LEEDS 2012 MÉLIÈS D’ARGENT WINNERS

Leeds International Film Festival is the UK representative of the European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation and as such holds its Méliès d’Argent competition in the UK for fantasy film. The Méliès d’Argent Jury consisted of Dr Patricia MacCormack, Dominic Brunt and Dave Bryan and announced the following winners:

Best European Fantasy Feature Film

Winner: Eddie the Sleepwalking Cannibal (Dir. Boris Rodriguez, Denmark/Canada, 2011)

Special Mentions: Sightseers (Dir. Ben Wheatley, UK, 2012) + Thale (Dir. Aleksander L Nordaas, Norway, 2012)

Best European Fantasy Short Film

Winner: The Fright (El Espanto) (Dir. J.J. Marcos, Spain, 2012)

Special Mentions: Blinky (Dir. Ruairi Robinson, Ireland / USA, 2011) + Photo (Dir. J Enrique Sanchez, Spain, 2011)

The Méliès d’Argent Jury said:

“Eddie the Sleepwalking Cannibal pipped the others to the post by virtue of its sheer charm and, in the grand traditions of ‘anti-hero’, introduces a character with whom you are happy to invest your emotion and time into. The movie perfectly balances that very difficult task of mixing horror and dark comedy and as such will have appeal to a wide variety of genre fans. Expertly crafted by first time feature director Boris Rodriguez, the movie is well paced with great characterization and a climax which will give even the most hardened horror fan that sense of sentimental satisfaction that is so often missed.”

Both Eddie the Sleepwalking Cannibal and The Fright will now go forward to compete for the coveted Méliès d’Or at Sitges International Festival of Fantastic Film in Spain in 2013.

THE LEEDS 2012 SHORT FILM CITY WINNERS

The International Short Film Jury, judging the Louis le Prince International Short Film Competition and World Animation Award, consisted of Jacqueline Chell (UK), Wannes Destoop (Belgium), Marlena Lukasiak (Poland), Mike McKenny (UK), and Erik Rosenlund (Sweden).

Louis le Prince International Short Film Competition 2012

Winner: Mon Amoureux (My Sweetheart) (Dir. Daniel Metge, France)

Special Mentions: The Return (Kthimi) (Dir. Blerta Zeqiri, Kosovo) + Frozen Stories (Dir. Grzegorz Jaroszuk, Poland)

The International Short Film Jury said of the Winner:
“The jury was blown away by the emotional force of this subtle but impactful film. With skilled and beautifully observed performances that enhance a stunning, perfectly paced script, Mon Amoureuxstood out as a deeply personal story – but one of social value that is too rarely told and shared with audiences.” 

World Animation Award 2012

Winner: The Pub (Dir. Joseph Pierce, UK)

Special Mention: Body Memory (Dir. Ülo Pikkov, Estonia)

The International Short Film Jury said of the Winner:

“The jury was unanimous in its praise of this film. The Pub manages to seamlessly combine form and narrative, making excellent use of very distinctive rotascope animation – accentuating and exacerbating the character traits of the many familiar faces of ‘the pub’. Capturing a sincere and earnest slice of life, the film manages to be grotesque and beautiful, repulsive yet captivating – all the while being completely recognisable and grounded in reality.”

The National Short Film Jury, judging the British Short Film Competition and Yorkshire Short Film Competition, consisted of David Lilley, Kathryn Penny and Alex Ramseyer-Bache.

British Short Film Competition 2012

Winner: Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared by Joseph Pelling and Becky Sloan) 
Special Mentions: Worm (by Bert & Bertie) + Dylan’s Room (by Layke Anderson)

The National Short Film Jury said of the Winner:

“The judges felt this was truly different film and an assault on the senses. As soon as the audience has made a judgement on the film the rug is pulled out from under their feet! A brilliant combination of darkness and levity. Wonderfully acted, puppeteered and animated. The judges couldn’t wait to see the film again and look forward to seeing more from these directors.”

Yorkshire Short Film Competition 2012

Winner: The Farmer’s Wife (by Francis Lee)
Special Mention: Kiss (by Cathy Brady)

The Natonal Short Film Jury said of the Winner:
“This was a clear winner for the judges. A fantastic central performance and a poignant journey for the central character. Wonderful contrasts of rugged and delicate. A stylish and dignified film which tackled a sad story against a bleak backdrop without being at all depressing.”

The 27^th Leeds International Film Festival will run from 8th to 22nd November 2013.

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 [caption id="attachment_2885" align="alignnone" width="550"]Argo[/caption]

Ben Affleck’s new thriller Argo has been announced as the Opening Gala film of this year’s Leeds International Film Festival. Argo, based on the remarkable true story of a CIA expert posing as a fake film producer in order to infiltrate Iran at the time of the hostage crisis in 1979 and rescue a group of stranded Americans, will open the annual festival at Leeds Town Hall on Thursday November 1, 2012. 

The Official Selection will close with Michael Haneke’s second Palme d’Or winnerAmour, a drama about the bond of love between an elderly couple in their eighties, starring Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva.

Other new feature film highlights in the Official Selection include Thomas Vinterberg’s The Hunt, Carlos Reygadas’ Post Tenebras Lux, Martin McDonagh’s Seven Psychopaths, Tribeca award winners Lucy Mulloy’sUna Noche and Kim Nguyen’s War Witch, and Dominga Sotomayor’s Rotterdam Tiger Award winner From Thursday Till Sunday.

The Retrospectives section will include an appearance by leading Russian filmmaker Andrei Konchalovsky, who will attend the festival as part of a focus on his early work. Best known for cult favorite Runaway Train, the focus will screen five of his early Soviet works from his directorial debut The First Teacher in 1965 to Asya’s Happiness, A Nest of Gentlefolk, Uncle Vanya, and his Cannes prize-winner Siberiade. The work of legendary Japanese actress and filmmaker Kinuyo Tanaka (1909-77) will also be honored at the festival with a selection of her finest performances in films by Yasujirô Ozu, Mikio Naruse, and Kenji Mizoguchi, and two rarely shown features she directed herself, The Eternal Breasts (1955) and Girls of Dark(1961). 

Fanomenon section, considered the home of cult films at Leeds International Film Festival,will include Ben Wheatley’s long-awaited Sightseers, a pitch-black story of a camping holiday killing spree across Yorkshire and the Lakes, together with some of the most anticipated genre films of the year: Antiviral (Dir. Brandon Cronenburg), Citadel (Dir. Ciaran Foy), John Dies at the End (Dir. Don Coscarelli),The Legend of Kaspar Hauser (Dir. Davide Manuli), and V/H/S (Dirs. Adam Wingard, David Bruckner, Ti West, Glenn McQuaid, Joe Swanberg). Fanomenon 2012 also features a special focus on the growth of genre filmmaking in Yorkshire with screenings of Before Dawn (Dir. Dominic Brunt), When the Lights Went Out (Dir. Pat Holden), and the world premiere of new feature Heretic (Dir. Peter Handford).

Cinema Versa section is the home of documentaries inspired by the underground festival aesthetic with two major themes of human rights and music films. Highlights among the human rights films selection for 2012 include: Anand Patwardhan’s acclaimed epic Jai Bhim Comrade, one of the best documentaries of the year, about the culture of India’s Dalits, dehumanized in the traditional caste system as ‘untouchables’; the extraordinary 1/2 Revolution, featuring unmissable first person camcorder reportage from the streets of Cairo, smuggled out of the country in a pram after the filmmakers were arrested by the secret police; and the UK Premiere of Back to the Square, tracking the changes in the lives of five ordinary Egyptians after the overthrow of Mubarak. Music films in Cinema Versa 2012 range across every style and genre including: the UK Premiere of Charles Bradley: Soul of Americaabout the world-weary Brooklyn soul man, who made it big in his ‘60s after paying his dues over the decades as a James Brown impersonator; the wonderfully entertaining tale of the first tour of China by a UK punk band, dogged veterans Sham 69 in This Band is so Gorgeous; and Jobriath AD, profiling the fascinating career of the first openly gay pop star.

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[caption id="attachment_1849" align="alignnone"]Fanomenon Audience Award: Juan of the Dead[/caption]

The 25th Leeds International Film Festival which ran November 3 to November 20, 2011, attracted its largest ever audience of over 35,000, including a record audience for a single screening with 1000 people attending Closing Gala Shame. The Festival today announced its Audience Award winners and three prestigious Jury prizes.  

LIFF25 Audience Awards

Official Selection Audience Award: The Artist (dir. Michael Hazanavicius, France, 2011)

The Artist is a highly original and hilariously funny story about ambition and passion set in 1920s’ Hollywood. George Valentin is a silent movie superstar. The advent of the talkies will sound the death knell for his career and see him fall into oblivion. For young extra Peppy Miller, it seems the sky’s the limit – major movie stardom awaits. Acclaimed French filmmaker Michel Hazanavicius has directed a glorious cinematic surprise, featuring a stunning recreation of the silent era and superb performances from all, including Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, John Goodman, Malcolm McDowell, and Uggy the dog.

Fanomenon Audience Award: Juan of the Dead (dir. Alejandro Brugues, Cuba, 2011)

For Juan and his rag-tag bunch of Cuban slackers, a new revolution is about shake up their laid-back Havanan lifestyle. Juan of the Dead has a bit of everything for fans of the genre: zombie splatter, belly laughs, great characters, social and political comedy, and laconic Cuban style. A crowd-pleasing zombie comedy with intelligence, shedding a humorous light on life and politics in modern Cuba through the premise of the zombie apocalypse, Juan’s UK premiere is a significant event as it is not just the country’s first zombie film, but the first independently produced film to break out of Cuba in 50 years.

Cinema Versa Audience Award: Sound It Out (dir. Jeanie Finlay, UK, 2011)

A cultural haven in one of the most deprived areas in the UK, Sound It Out Records in Stockton-on-Tees is thriving against the odds and the film pays tribute to the eccentric and enthusiastic Northern community that keeps it alive. Sound It Out is presented in collaboration with Jumbo Records.

LIFF25 Golden Owl Award –  22nd May (dir. Koen Mortier, Belgium, 2010).

The Golden Owl Jury presented the Golden Owl Award to 22nd May (dir. Koen Mortier, Belgium, 2010).

The Méliès d’Argent

Méliès d’Argent (feature film Winner): The Divide (dir. Xavier Gens, Germany/USA/Canada, 2011)

In The Divide, Frontier(s) director Xavier Gens delivers an incredible nightmarish portrayal of fear, paranoia, love and survival set against an apocalyptic backdrop. As nuclear bombs fall on New York eight strangers take refuge in the basement of their now destroyed apartment building, home to paranoid superintendent Mickey (a brilliant performance from The Terminator’s Michael Biehn). With food, water and supplies they are safe for now, but it isn’t long before anger and mistrust starts to divide the group and it soon becomes clear that the fight to survive has only just begun.

Méliès d’Argent (feature film) Special Mention: Masks (dir. Andreas Marschall, Germany, 2011)

Director Andreas Marschall disturbed LIFF audiences in 2004 with his previous film Tears of Kali. Now he’s back with a giallo-esque bloody thriller in a homage to Suspiria. Stella, an ambitious but unfocused acting student, is offered a place at the mysterious Mateusz Gdula school, which was infamous for a strange method which killed a number of students in the 70s. As Stella begins to hear strange noises and the other girls start to disappear she suspects that the method is still being practiced. Intrigued, she decides to investigate, but finds herself sucked into a nightmare beyond her control.

Méliès d’Argent (short film) Winner: Decapoda Shock (dir. Javier Chillón, Spain).

Méliès d’Argent (short film) Special Mention: Tommy  (dir. Arnold du Parscau, France, 2011)

Both The Divide and Decapoda Shock will now go forward to compete for the coveted Méliès d’Or at Sitges International Festival of Fantastic Film in Spain in 2012.

The Augustin Awards (short film)

World Animation: The Gloaming (dir. Nicholas Schmerkin, France, 2010)
Louis le Prince International Short Film: Bear (dir. Nash Edgerton, Australia, 2011)
British Shorts: Grandmothers (dir. Afarin Eghbal, UK, 2011)
Yorkshire Short Film – (We are Poets) ‘I Come From…’ (dirs. Alex Ramseyer-Bache, Daniel Lucchesi, UK, 2011).

Leeds also received news that it has been accepted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles as qualifying festival in the Academy Awards®  category of Short Film. Starting with 2012’s 26th Leeds International Film Festival, the winners of the annual World Animation and Louis Le Prince International Short Film awards at the Film Festival will be considered by the Academy voters in the Academy Awards® categories of Live Action Short Film and Animated Short Film of the from the 2013 Oscars® onwards.

Submissions for the 26th Leeds International Film Festival will open in January 2012.

film descriptions via LIFF

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[caption id="attachment_1700" align="alignnone" width="550"]Shame by Steve McQueen[/caption]

The 25th Leeds International Film Festival runs November 3 – November 20, 2011, today announced that Steve MQueen’s Shame will screen at the Closing Gala on Friday 18th November, and also released it full Official Selection program.

Directed by Steve McQueen and starring Michael Fassbender, Shame follows Brendan (Fassbender) who plans his life around relentless sexual encounters until a visit from his wayward sister forces him to reassess his priorities. The festival will kick off with the Opening Gala screening of BAFTA and Oscar-winning director Andrea Arnold’s bold new adaptation of Wuthering Heights.

Other films in the Official Selection for the Golden Owl Competition include titles that have won major international awards such as The River Used to be a Man which screens fresh from director Jan Zabeil’s winning of the Kutxa-New Directors Award at San Sebastian Film Festival, and Nana, awarded the Locarno 2011 Opera Prima for Best First Film. The lineup also includes new international films such as dreamlike Irish murder story The Other Side of Sleep, Australian aboriginal docudrama Toomelah, and the latest gem from the Romanian new wave, Best Intentions.

Out of competition, preview screenings of new cinema from around the world include Take Shelter, a domestic drama/supernatural thriller blend starring Michael Shannon in his second collaboration with director Jeff Nichols (Shotgun Stories), and Béla Tarr’s The Turin Horse, recently announced as Hungary’s Oscar nomination for this year, and winner of both the Jury Grand Prix and the FIPRESCI prize at this year’s Berlinale. Tarr’s epic Sátántangó will also screen in its full 450 minute form in the Film Festival’s retrospective selection. Two of Rotterdam’s 2011 Tiger Award winners Finisterrae and Journals of Musan will also screen as part of the Official Selection.

The full program of the 25th Leeds International Film Festival including the complete Official Selection program, genre cinema strand Fanomenon, documentary strand Cinema Versa, experimental cinema section Cherry Kino, and short film competition program Short Film City, is available in full at leedsfilm.com.

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The 24th Leeds International Film Festival has announced the winners of its several competitions. “Tuesday, After Christmas” by Radu Muntean wins the Golden Owl Award at the 24th Leeds International Film Festival 2010. A Special Mention wentto Hitoshi Yazaki’s “Sweet Little Lies”.

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