The Sydney Film Festival revealed the winners of its official competition today, and who will be taking the $60,000 Sydney Prize, Australia’s richest cash award for film.
Out of a selection of twelve films, the 2012 SFF Official Competition prize was awarded to Greek drama Alps, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos and starring Aggeliki Papoulia, Aris Servetalis and Johnny Verkis. The prize is given in recognition of courageous, audacious and cutting-edge film..
This year’s Official Competition finalists included: Alps, a film by Greek new-wave director Yorgos Lanthimos; winner of the US Dramatic Grand Jury Prize in Sundance, Beasts of the Southern Wild; winner of the Golden Bear at the Berlinale Caesar Must Die; the Australian Premiere of Dead Europe by Tony Krawitz; Anurag Kashyap’s Indian epic, selected for Director’s Fortnight at Cannes 2012, Gangs of Wasseypur; the first South Korean film in SFF’s Official Competition, The King of Pigs; Cate Shortland’s Lore; the Oscar®-nominated drama Monsieur Lazhar; Brazilian director Kleber Mendonça Filho’s, Neighbouring Sounds; Jack Kerouac’s legendary work, brought to life by Walter Salles, On The Road; winner of the FIPRESCI Jury Prize at the Berlinale, Miguel Gomes’ Tabu; and Senegalese drama Today by Alain Gomis.
This year’s jury comprised Rachel Ward as Jury President, award-winning filmmakers Amiel Courtin-Wilson (Australia) and Mahamat-Saleh Haroun (Chad), Variety critic Boyd van Hoeij (The Netherlands) and acclaimed producer Lorna Tee (Hong Kong).
The selection of films in Competition for the Sydney Film Prize were:
- Alps (Greece) |Australian Premiere | Director: Yorgos Lanthimos | Cast: Aggeliki Papoulia, Aris Servetalis, Johnny Vekris
- Beasts of the Southern Wild (USA) |Australian Premiere|Director: Benh Zeitlin | Cast: Quvenzhané Wallis, Dwight Henry
- Caesar Must Die (Italy) | Australian Premiere |Directors: Paolo Taviani, Vittorio Taviani | Cast: Cosimo Rega, Salvatore Striano
- Dead Europe (Australia) | Australian Premiere | Director: Tony Krawitz | Cast: Ewen Leslie, Marton Csokas, Kodi Smit-McPhee
- Gangs of Wasseypur (India) |Australian Premiere | Director: Anurag Kashyap Cast: Manoj Bajpayee, Richa Chaddha, Tigmanshu Dhulia
- The King of Pigs (South Korea) |Australian Premiere |Director: Yuen Sang-ho | Cast: Yang Ik-june, Oh Jeong-se, Kim Hye-na
- Lore (Australia) | Australian Premiere |Director: Cate Shortland | Cast: Saskia Rosendahl, Nele Trebs, André Frid
- Monsieur Lazhar (Canada) | Australian Premiere | Director: Philippe Falardeau | Cast: Fellag, Sophie Nélisse, Émilien Néron
- Neighbouring Sounds (Brazil) |Australian Premiere | Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho | Cast: Irandhir Santos, Gustavo Jahn, Maeve Jinkings
- On The Road (U.S.A) |Australian Premiere | Director: Walter Salles | Cast: Sam Riley, Garrett Hedlund, Kristen Stewart, Viggo Mortensen, Kirsten Dunst
- Tabu (Portugal, Germany, Brazil, France) |Australian Premiere | Director: Miguel Gomes| Cast: Teresa Madruga, Laura Soveral, Ana Moreira, Carlotto Cotta
- Today (France, Senegal) |Australian Premiere | Director: Alain Gomis | Cast: Saül Williams, Djolof M’Bengue, Anisia Uzeyman
