Day 9: Awards Night at the Gusman!!! Last-minute deliberations and rumored deadlocks among the jurors of the World, Ibero-American, DOX, Cutting the Edge and Shorts competitions, and the FIPRESCI international film critics consortium could mean ties and/or special mentions in multiple categories, and MIFF is forced to turn away more than 250 film lovers clamoring for tickets to the sold-out, post-awards-ceremony screening of surprise Oscar winner The Secret in Their Eyes (El secreto de sus ojos)…

The last Saturday of the Festival satiated the public’s unabashed appetite for cinematic feasts, resulting in a single-day record of eight sold-out screenings in theaters from Little Havana to South Beach: Spanish-Catalan father-daughter con-artist caper 25 Carat (25 Kilates); Colombian vallenato music celebration The Accordion Kings; the historical documentary The Beatles on Record; Brazilian capoeira martial arts actioner Besouro; unrequited love story Eccentricities of a Blond Hair Girl (Singularidades de uma Rapariga Loura) by the world’s oldest living director, Portugal’s Manoel de Oliveira (age 101 and counting!); the Festival’s first-ever feature from Bahamas, the love and discrimination portrait Children of God; Haiti’s despot in decline drama Moloch Tropical; and, the cinematographically sumptuous Aboriginal teenage love story Samson & Delilah.  

Red Carpet, Oscar Gold: OK, so Secret director Juan José Campanella didn’t bring Oscar the Statue as his plus-one for Awards Night as previously promised (Artistic Director Tiziana Finzi gave him a mock scolding), but he regaled journalists and spectators with stories from his harried, post-Oscar-ceremony week in Los Angeles on the party and film-meetings circuit, which no doubt will translate into more directing opportunities beyond U.S. TV hits Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, 30 Rock and House, M.D. for the veteran Argentine helmer. Providing the other captivating Red Carpet presence outside the Gusman Center for the Performing Arts: the lovely Rebekah Keida, model-star of MIFF 2010’s celluloid seaside advertising campaign.

After the screening, more than 1,000 festival-goers paraded into the Miami Design District’s fabled Moore Building for the Awards Night after-party, an Argentine affair complete with tango flair, that was sponsored by Rums of Puerto Rico, Stella Artois, DACRA Group, the culinary delights of Graspa Group, Barefoot Wine & Bubbly and Nespresso.

And the award goes to…Here are the Awards Night results of the 2010 Miami International Film Festival:

WORLD COMPETITION

Grand Jury Prize:
Lola by Brillante Mendoza (France/Philippines, 2009)
(A $25,000 USD cash prize awarded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation)

Special Jury Mention 1:
Medal of Honor (Medalia de Onoare) by Calin Peter Netzer (Germany/Romania, 2009)

Special Jury Mention 2:
No One Knows About Persian Cats (Kasi az gorbehaye irani khabar nadareh) by Bahman Ghobadi (Iran, 2009)

Audience Award:
No One Knows About Persian Cats (Kasi az gorbehaye irani khabar nadareh) by Bahman Ghobadi (Iran, 2009)
(Co-sponsored by American Airlines and VeneMovies)

IBERO-AMERICAN COMPETITION

Grand Jury Prize:
To the Sea (Alamar) by Pedro González-Rubio (Mexico, 2009)
(A $25,000 USD cash prize awarded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation)

Audience Award:
Undertow (Contracorriente) by Javier Fuentes-León (Peru/Colombia/France/Germany, 2009)
(Co-sponsored by American Airlines and VeneMovies)

THE JORDAN ALEXANDER RESSLER SCREENWRITING AWARD

Grand Jury Prize:
The Last Summer of La Boyita (El último verano de La Boyita) by Julia Solomonoff (Argentina/Spain/France, 2009)
(A $5,000 USD cash prize awarded by the Jordan Alexander Ressler Charitable Fund)

DOX COMPETITION

Grand Jury Prize:
Sins of My Father (Pecados de mi padre) by Nicolas Entel (Argentina/ Colombia, 2009)
(A $25,000 USD cash prize awarded by Miami Dade College)

Special Jury Mention:
Kawase-san by Cristián Leighton (Chile, 2009)

Audience Award:    
Sins of My Father (Pecados de mi padre) by Nicolas Entel (Argentina/Colombia, 2009)
(Co-sponsored by American Airlines and VeneMovies)

CUTTING THE EDGE & CUTTING THE EDGE VIDEO ART COMPETITION

Grand Jury Prize:   
Pepperminta by Pipilotti Rist (Switzerland/Austria, 2009) (a Cutting the Edge Feature Film)
(A symbolic prize sponsored by Miami Dade College)

Special Jury Mention:         
Nora by Alla Kovgan and David Hinton (USA, 2009) (a Cutting the Edge Video Art Film)

SHORTS COMPETITION

Grand Jury Prize:   
Believe by Paul Wright (Scotland/UK, 2009) (a nominee from Shorts Competition 2)
(A $2,500 USD cash prize awarded by Miami Dade College)

DIESEL ONLINE SHORTS COMPETITION 

Grand Jury Prize:   
Telegastrovision by Antanas Janauskas (Lithuania)
(Sponsored by Diesel)

Audience Award:    
Zombies Vs. Vampires by Franz Palomares (USA)
(Sponsored by Diesel)

THE FIPRESCI PRIZE (from the international film critics association):
Judge (Tou Xi) by Liu Jie (China, 2009)

THE CINEUROPA PRIZE FOR BEST EUROPEAN FILM 

The Cineuropa Prize:
Ordinary People by Vladimir Perisic (France/Switzerland/Serbia/Netherlands, 2009)

Special Mention:
Medal of Honor (Medalia de Onoare) by Calin Peter Netzer (Germany/Romania, 2009)

FLORIDA FOCUS/FILM FLORIDA COMPETITION

Best Short Film by a High School Student:
Last Laugh by David Harrison (Design & Architecture Senior High)
($500 USD Sarah Fuller Student Scholarship from FilmFlorida, $500 USD in film from Kodak)

Special Jury Mention for a Short Film by a High School Student:
Agyrophobia by Clara Diez (Design & Architecture Senior High)

Best Short Film by a College Student:
Blooming Hope by Marcela Moyana-Rosero and Fernando Rosero (St. Thomas University)
($500 USD Sarah Fuller Student Scholarship from FilmFlorida, $500 USD in film from Kodak)

Best Miami Mini Film (no age restrictions):
Where It Stops by Kyle Shea
($500 USD in film from Kodak)

MIAMI COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS AWARD WINNERS

Best Original Song:
Luis Martinez (Miami Senior High School)

Best Public Service Announcement:
Bailey Stasevich (Miami Beach Senior High School)

Best Short Film:
Last Laugh by David Harrison (Design & Architecture Senior High)

That’s a wrap!

by Dana Ballestero, Daily Wrap Editor

VIEW DAILY WRAP Day 10: Sunday, March 14, 2010