2010 Abu Dhabi Film Festival Award Winners

Recently the 2010 Abu Dhabi Film Festival held its Closing Night Ceremonies, and gave its Black Pearl Awards for the winners in the feature film categories.

The jury presidents who decided the awards for the feature films were Argentine director and producer Luis Puenzo, Syrian auteur Ossama Mohammed and acclaimed Palestinian filmmaker Elia Suleiman. The awards ceremony was followed by the screening of the Festival’s Closing Night film, Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame, the new historical fantasy epic from renowned Hong Kong director Tsui Hark.

These are the award winners

Narrative Feature Competition

Best Narrative Film: Ovsyanki  (Silent Souls), directed by Aleksei Fedorchenko, Russia "For its poetic depiction of the echoes of a cultural heritage for the people of today, and for the excellence of its cinematic language."

Jury Special Mention: Carlos, directed by Olivier Assayas, France/Germany "For rendering the complex portrait of an era, a region and a controversial character."

Best Narrative Film from the Arab World: Shatti Ya Dini (Here Comes the Rain), directed by Bahij Hojeij, Lebanon
Best Actress: Lubna Azabal in Incendies, directed by Denis Villeneuve, Canada/France
Best Actor: Andrew Garfield in Never Let Me Go, directed by Mark Romanek, United Kingdom/USA

Documentary Feature Competition

Best Documentary (tie):
Pink Saris, directed by Kim Longinotto, United Kingdom, India
Nostalgia de la luz (Nostalgia For the Light), directed by Patricio Guzmán, Chile/Germany/France

Best Documentary by an Arab Director or Related to Arab Culture (tie):
Homeland, directed by George Sluizer, The Netherlands
Sheoeyin Kenna (We Were Communists), directed by Maher Abi Samra, Lebanon/France/United Arab Emirates

New Horizons Competition

Best Narrative Film by a New Director: Gesher, directed by Vahid Vakilifar, Iran
Best Narrative Film by a New Director from the Arab World: Tayeb, Khalas, Yalla (OK, Enough, Goodbye), directed by Raniah Attieh and Daniel Garcia, Lebanon, United Arab Emirates

Best Documentary by a New Director: Bill Cunningham New York, directed by Richard Press, USA
Best Documentary by a New Director: El ambulante, directed by Eduardo de la Serna, Lucas Marcheggiano and Adriana Yurcovich, Argentina
Jury Special Mention: Jeld Hayy (Living Skin), directed by Fawzi Saleh, Egypt
Audience Choice Award: West Is West, directed by Andy De Emmony, United Kingdom

That’s it for this year and congratulations to winners of the most magnanimous awards in the festival circuit.