Prior to the closing night film at the Washington, DC International Film Festival(FilmFest DC), the winning entries were announced for this year's various competitive categories. Boasting more than 80 films from over 35 different countries, this year's event was one of the largest in its 26 year history. More than 23,000 people attended screenings of never-before-seen films ranging from light comedies, to hard hitting documentaries and rapturous musicals. The festival ran from April 12th to April 22nd, held at a number of participating Washington, DC area theaters.
This year, FilmFest DC offered two Audience Award categories: one for documentary film and another for feature film. The two selected winners also happened to be the most recognizable of the entire festival. Monsieur Lazhar, the renowned Canadian film that was a finalist for this year's Academy Award in the Best Foreign Language category, won in the Feature Film category. Kevin MacDonald's Bob Marley biopic, Marley, took home the award in the Documentary category.
The biggest award of the night goes to the winner of The Circle Award, a jury competition selecting a film deserving greater recognition and exposure. The winner receives a $10,000 prize and a tentative distribution deal with SnagFilms. The winner of the award this year was the powerful Iranian film, Facing Mirrors, about a conservative woman in Tehran who secretly drives the taxi cab of her jailed husband. She picks up the fare of a lifetime in a rich, pre-op transsexual on the run from an arranged marriage. Producer Fereshteh Taerpour was on hand to accept the award for director Negar Azarbayjani.
The full list of FilmFest DC award winners are below.
Audience award
- Best feature: Monsieur Lazhar, Philippe Falardeau - Canada
- Best documentary: Marley, Kevin MacDonald - UK
Circle award: Facing Mirrors, Negar Azarbayjani - Iran
Justice Matters: Granito: How to Nail a Dictator, Pamela Yates - USA
First Feature: Abu, Son of Adam, Salim Ahmed - India
Signis
- Special commendation: Monsieur Lazhar, Philippe Falardeau - Canada
- Winner: The Snows of Kilimanjaro, Robert Guediguian - France
