And the winners are: Sundance film awards announced
The following are some of the award winners for the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. Many of them represent some of the best in filmmaking – regardless of studio backing or budget. If you want to see any of these films for yourself, look for them either at the Alternative Cinema in Smithfield or at your local video store.
Films are judged in separate categories, each assigned a panel of judges from the industry. Aside from receiving critical acclaim, winning films are often picked up by larger studios – giving them much greater exposure and their creators opportunities to grow professionally.
Documentary grand jury prize: “Southern Comfort”
Robert Eads is a female-to-male transsexual suffering from ovarian cancer who faces certain death after 20. Doctors have refused to treat him for his condition. Far away from Atlanta’s city lights, Robert makes a life for himself and his family – his two families: his biological family of two parents, a brother and a 3-year-old nephew; and his chosen family of two female-to-male transsexual sons, Maxwell and Cass. Robert is falling in love with Lola Cola, a sultry male-to-female transsexual, but as hard as he tries to resist, in the face of his impending death, the romance blooms in bittersweet irony.
“Southern Comfort” was produced by Kate Davis (“American Babylon,” “Girltalk”).
Dramatic grand jury prize: “The Believer”
Based on a true story, “The Believer” recounts the life of Danny Balint, who turns from fervent Jewish student to rising star in a neo-fascist political movement that subverts almost everything he was brought up to believe. Danny exhibits all the passion of an ardent skinhead as he browses militia-movement Web sites, utters hate-filled but articulate discourses on Judaism and its teachings and promotes the violent attack upon and ultimate destruction of his most hated enemies.
When his own suppressed identity seems likely to be revealed, he flees to an upstate training enclave. But as events ensue and contradictions multiply, something in Danny’s soul prompts a complex and incredible resolution.
“The Believer” stars Ryan Gosling (“Remember the Titans”), Summer Phoenix (“SLC Punk”) and Billy Zane (“Titanic”).
Documentary audience awards: “Dogtown and Z-Boys” and “Scouts Honor”
“Dogtown and Z-Boys” documents the story of how skateboarding crossed over into the mainstream population due in large part to the humble beginnings of a group of eight teenagers in an area of Santa Monica called Dogtown. It was there that this mismatched gang of kids from broken homes formed a group known as the Zephyr Team, a.k.a. Z-Boys. They rode surfboards in the morning and skateboards in the afternoon and created a style all their own.
“Dogtown” was written and directed by Stacy Peralta, one of the original Z-Boys.
“Scouts Honor” traces the conflict between the anti-gay policies of the Boy Scouts of America and the movement by many of its members to overturn them.
“Scouts Honor” was written and directed by San Francisco-based Tom Shepard.
Dramatic audience award: “Hedwig and the Angry Inch”
Hedwig was born a boy named Hansel in Communist East Berlin who dreamed of finding his other half and becoming a big American rock star. When a handsome American GI promises love and liberation, it seems like a dream come true. But there’s a catch – in order to marry and emigrate Hansel must “leave a little something behind.”
What follows involves a botched sex change operation, Hedwig’s getting stranded in a Kansas trailer park the very day the Berlin Wall comes down and her formation of a rock band – The Angry Inch.
“Hedwig” stars and was directed by John Cameron Mitchell.
World cinema award: “The Road Home”
Luo Yusheng, a businessman, comes home to his native village for his father’s funeral. He finds his grieving mother sitting in vigil at the deserted school where his father taught for 40 years. In accord with custom, she plans for him to be carried from the hospital back to the village “so he won’t forget the way.”
As his mother begins to weave the funeral cloth for her husband’s coffin, the scene dissolves to the past, and Luo Yusheng reminisces about his parents’ courtship. We watch their first meeting, the kindling of their romance, the yearning and obsession of love and the torment his mother suffers during their brief time apart when his father is sent away for “mistakes” and “retraining.”
Through the son’s memories, the essence of life in the Chinese countryside is revealed: respect for learning, sense of community and importance of tradition in the family. These values, now seen through the prism of contemporary China, combine in the powerful final scenes of “The Road Home.”
“The Road Home” is directed by Zhang Yimou.
Waldo Salt screenwriting award: “Memento”
A grisly murder rewinds onscreen – a photograph undevelops and is sucked up into a flashing Polaroid; blood and gore reassemble into human features as a gun barrel pulls away from a twisting mouth.
The opening moments of “Memento,” Christopher Nolan’s new thriller, unfold in reverse in rhythm to one man’s journey through the chaos of memory loss. “Memento” tells of a life guided by photographs, charts, notes and tattoos.
It is an engaging story of a man struggling to find himself within the rag-tag remnants of his past. The plot twist at the ending is certain to leave audiences at a loss.
“Memento” stars well-knowns Guy Pearce (“L.A. Confidential”) and Carrie-Anne Moss (“The Matrix” and “Red Planet”).