53rd San Francisco International Film Festival 22 April - 6 May 2010
AWARDS/
NEW DIRECTORS PRIZE
In Support of Innovative Filmmaking
The New Directors Prize is awarded to the director of a debut narrative feature in the San Francisco International Film Festival. It is accompanied by a $15,000 cash award. Films selected to compete for the New Directors Prize are first narrative features that exhibit a unique artistic sensibility or vision and deserve to be seen by as wide an audience as possible. An independent jury of film professionals from various fields screens the 12 international selections during the Festival. The New Directors Prize will be announced at the Golden Gate Awards Wednesday, May 5 at Temple Nightclub-Prana Restaurant.
Official Selections 2010
Alamar
Pedro González-Rubio
Mexico
Animal Heart]
Séverine Cornamusaz
France/Switzerland
A Brand New Life
Ounie Lecomte
South Korea/France
The Day God Walked Away
Philippe van Leeuw
France
The Famous and the Dead
Esmir Filho
Brazil/France
Night Catches Us
Tanya Hamilton
USA
Northless
Rigoberto Perezcano
Mexico/Spain
La Pivellina
Tizza Covi, Rainer Frimmel
Austria/Italy
Shirley Adams
Oliver Hermanus
South Africa/USA
Susa
Rusudan Pirveli
Georgia
Tehroun
Nader Takmil Homayoun
France/Iran
You Think You’re the Prettiest
But You Are the Sluttiest
Ché Sandoval
Chile
New Directors Prize Jury
Sylvia H. Feng is president and CEO of Public Television Service of Taiwan. Since 1992, she has devoted herself to the promotion of public broadcasting in Taiwan and succeeded in rallying public support that brought about the passage of the Public Television Act in 1997. In 1994, she started the first indigenous TV reporters' training program in Taiwan and consequently produced the first indigenous news program Indigenous News Magazine. In 1999, Feng created Viewpoint, the first and only documentary program in Taiwan, widely recognized as a prime moving force behind the rapid growth of documentary filmmaking in the country.
Lisa Kennedy has been the Denver Post film critic since May 2003. She is a member of the National Society of Film Critics as well as the Alliance of Women Film Journalists. She has been a juror for Film Independent's Someone to Watch Spirit Award. For five years she was host of the Denver Film Society's DocNight gathering. She began her career in New York City at the Village Voice. The lion's share of her nine years there were spent as editor of the Voice's film section, where she had the good fortune to be schooled by some of the best: Georgia Brown, Manohla Dargis, J. Hoberman and Amy Taubin.
Jim McKay is a filmmaker and cofounder, along with Michael Stipe, of C-Hundred Film Corp. He has produced and directed a full-length documentary, Lighthearted Nation; a feature-length concert film, R.E.M.'s Tourfilm; numerous music videos; and an award-winning series of public service announcements called Direct Effect. McKay's films as a writer/director include Girls Town (1996), Our Song (1999), Everyday People (2004) and Angel Rodriguez (2006). McKay has directed numerous TV shows including The Wire, Big Love, Hung, In Treatment and Treme (HBO), Breaking Bad (AMC) and The Good Wife (CBS). McKay was a Rockefeller Fellow in 2003 and a Guggenheim Fellow in 2004.
Past Winners of the New Director Prize
Snow 2009
Alda Begic
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Vasermil 2008
Mushon Salmona
Israel
The Violin 2007
Francisco Vargas
Mexico
Taking Father Home 2006
Ying Liang
China
Me and You and Everyone We Know 2005
Miranda July
USA
Squint Your Eyes 2004
Andrzej Jakimowski
Poland
The Man of the Year 2003
José Henrique Fonseca
Brazil
The Wild Bees 2002
Bhodan Sláma
Brazil
The Business of Strangers 2001
Patrick Stettner
USA
Eeny Meeny 2000
Alice Nellis
Czech Republic
Xiao Wu 1999
Jia Zhangke
China
Somersault in a Coffin 1998
Dervis Zaim
Turkey
Honey and Ashes 1997
Andrzej Jakimowski
Poland
