Winners Announced For 2011 LOS ANGELES FILM FESTIVAL

PRESENTED BY LOS ANGELES TIMES

Stéphane Lafleur’s Familiar Ground and Beverly Kopf & Bobbie Birleffi’s Wish Me Away Win Jury Awards

Joe Cornish’s Attack the Block, Michael Rapaport’s Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest and Asif Kapadia’s Senna Win Audience Awards

Best Performance, Short Film and Music Video Award Winners Also Announced

The two top juried awards of the Los Angeles Film Festival are the Narrative Award and Documentary Award, each carrying an unrestricted $15,000 cash prize, funded by Film Independent, for the winning film’s director. The awards were established by the Festival encourage independent filmmakers to pursue their artistic ambitions.

“It was such a rich year in competition films, so our juries had really tough choices to make. The winning films are the cream of a particularly delicious crop, and we’re delighted that they reflect the Festival’s dedication to movies from all over the world,” said Festival Artistic Director David Ansen.

The Narrative Award recognizes the finest narrative film in competition at the Festival and went to Stéphane Lafleur for the North American Premiere of Familiar Ground. The Documentary Award recognizes the finest documentary film in competition at the Festival and went to Beverly Kopf and Bobbie Birleffi for the World Premiere of Wish Me Away.

The award for Best Performance in the Narrative Competition went to Amber Sealey, Kent Osborne, Amanda Street, and Gabriel Diamond for their performances in Amber Sealey’s How to Cheat. Given to an actor or actors from an official selection in the Narrative Competition, this is the eighth year the award has been given at the Festival.

For the first time, the Los Angeles Film Festival awarded an unrestricted $5,000 cash prize to each short film category. The award for Best Narrative Short Film went to Saba Riazi’s The Wind Is Blowing on My Street. The award for Best Documentary Short Film went to Susan Koenen’s I Am a Girl!. Mikey Please’s The Eagleman Stag won the award for Best Animated Short Film.

The Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature went to Attack the Block, directed by Joe Cornish and the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature went to Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest, directed by Michael Rapaport. Asif Kapadia’s Senna won the Audience Award for Best International Feature.

The Audience Award for Best Short Film went to Blind Date, directed by Joe Rosen. Can’t Shake This Feeling, directed by The General Assembly’s Adam Littke, Ryan McNeill, Adam Willis won the Audience Award for Best Music Video for Grum.

The Narrative Feature Competition jury was comprised of director Lynn Shelton (Humpday, My Effortless Brilliance), Head/Founder of Giant Robot Eric Nakamura, and screenwriter Daniel Waters (Heathers, Batman Returns). The Documentary Feature Competition jury was comprised of Spirit Award-winning director Jeff Malmberg (Marwencol), Executive Director of the International Documentary Association Michael Lumpkin, and Co-editor of Slake magazine Laurie Ochoa. The Shorts Competition jury was comprised of casting director Margery Simkin, film critic Alonso Duralde, and actress Lisa Gay Hamilton.

Now in its seventeenth year, the Festival is recognized as a world-class event, showcasing the best in new American and international cinema and providing the movie-loving public with access to critically acclaimed filmmakers, film industry professionals, and emerging talent from around the world. As previously announced, the 2011 Los Angeles Film Festival will screen over 200 feature films, shorts, and music videos, representing more than 30 countries.

The Festival kicked off on Thursday, June 16 with the world premiere of Richard Linklater’s Bernie, sponsored by Virgin America, and will close tonight with the world premiere of FilmDistrict’s Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, directed by Troy Nixey. Gala Screenings included the North American premiere of FilmDistrict’s Drive, directed by Nicolas Winding Refn; the world premiere of Summit Entertainment’s A Better Life, directed by Chris Weitz and sponsored by CBS2/KCAL9; Liongsate’s The Devil’s Double, directed by Lee Tamahori; and Screen Gems’ Attack the Block, directed by Joe Cornish.

In addition, the Festival held Conversations with James Franco, Julie Taymor, Jack Black, and Shirley MacLaine, with panelists and moderators including Diablo Cody, Dustin Lance Black, Ruben Fleischer, Robert Ben Garant, Andy Garcia, Rachael Harris, Quincy Jones, Richard Kelly, Thomas Lennon, Derek Luke, Frank Pierson, David Milch, Thomas Newman, Philip Noyce, and Jason Ritter. Poolside Chats at the JW Marriot Pool Los Angeles at L.A. LIVE ION Rooftop Pool Bar, a two-day seminar on Money Talks & Art Matters, and free outdoor anniversary screenings of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Stand By Me and Rudy were held throughout the ten days.

Guillermo del Toro was this year’s Guest Director of the 2011 Los Angeles Film Festival. In his role as Guest Director, del Toro presented Pupi Avati’s The Arcane Enchanter, a rarely seen Italian horror film that has inspired his work. Erykah Badu and Daniele Luppi served as this year’s Artists in Residence.  As Artists in Residence, each programmed an event that inspired their work. Grammy Award-winning musician Erykah Badu selected Ricky Gervais’ The Invention of Lying, followed by a conversation, and composer Daniele Luppi selected Sergio Corbucci’s Navajo Joe, followed by a conversation about movies and music.