After 10 days, and almost 300 screenings, the 2012 Durban International Film Festival wrapped up with an awards ceremony on Saturday evening. The winners, selected by a panel of judges and audience vote, were as follows.
A special mention goes to South African CGI-animated film Adventures in Zambezia – which was victorious in the increasingly competitive Best South African Film category. Seems like this ubuntu-themed adventure may be worth catching when it releases locally in December. Hopefully it’ll make up for the shoddy embarrassment that was last year’s blasphemous Jock of the Bushveld adaptation.
Best Film
Love (Amour) (France, Austria, Germany), directed by Michael Haneke
Best South African Feature Film
Adventures in Zambezia (South Africa), directed by Wayne Thornley
Best First Feature Film
Sleeping Beauty (Australia), directed by Julia Leigh
Best Director
Benh Zeitlin for Beasts Of The Southern Wild (USA)
Best Actress
Deanie Ip in A Simple Life (Tao Jie) (Hong Kong SAR China)
Best Actor
Joseph Wairimu in Nairobi Half Life (Kenya, Germany)
Best Cinematography
Gökhan Tiryaki for Once Upon A Time In Anatolia (Bir Zamanlar Anadolu’da) (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey)
Best Screenplay
Ercan Kesal, Ercan Ceylan and Nuri Bilge Ceylan for Once Upon A Time In Anatolia (Bir Zamanlar Anadolu’da) (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey)
Special Jury Mention Feature Film
Goodbye (Be Omid E Didar) (Iran), directed by Mohammad Rasoulof
Best Documentary
5 Broken Cameras (Palestinian Territories, France, Israel, The Netherlands), directed by Guy Davidi
Best South African Documentary
The African Cypher (South Africa), directed by Bryan Little
Documentary Special Jury Mention
Calvet (Costa Rica, France, Nicaragua, United Kingdom, United States), directed by Dominic Allan
Best Short Film
The Bird Spider (La Migala) (Spain), directed by Jaime Dezcallar
Best South African Short Film
Doppelganger (South Africa), directed by Joshua Rous
Amnesty International Durban Human Rights Award
Call Me Kuchu (USA), directed by Malika Zouhali-Worral and Katherine Fairfax Wright
DIFF Wavescape Audience Choice Award
The Art of Flight (USA), directed by Curt Morgan
DIFF Documentary Audience Choice Award
Searching for Sugarman (Sweden, United Kingdom), directed by Malik Bendjellou
DIFF Feature Film Audience Choice Award
The Lady (France, United Kingdom), directed by Luc Besson
Last Updated: July 30, 2012