The winners have been announced for the second Cardiff International Film Festival at a gala dinner which took place on Sunday evening (October 21st) at the Exchange Hotel in Cardiff Bay, compered by acclaimed broadcaster Lucy Owen.
The highlights of the ceremony were the lifetime achievement award for Dame Sian Phillips and the naming of American science fiction writer and director Marc Zicree as the first recipient of a Golden Dragon award for excellence in cinema and the arts.
Commenting on her accolade, Dame Sian Phillips said:
“I do feel very honoured by this award. I want to thank the members of the Cardiff International Film Festival for their generosity.”
Dame Siân’s exceptional talent on stage, film, tv screen and radio includes previous BAFTA and theatre awards and a Radio Lifetime Achievement Award. Originally from Gwaun Cae Gurwen, near Neath, her career has included a lengthy period in Hollywood and she is looked upon as perhaps the most acclaimed Welsh actor worldwide.
On receiving the first Golden Dragon Award, Marc Zicree said:
“The thing that’s wonderful about accepting this award here in Wales is that Elaine and I have received such a warm welcome here this weekend. My own writing career began as a teenager having watched The Prisoner television show, which was filmed in Portmeirion. So Wales is in part responsible for my career as a screenwriter.”
[aoa id=”1″]Marc Zicree and his wife Elaine, have sold over 100 teleplays, screenplays and pilots to every major studio and network, including landmark stories for such shows as Star Trek – The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, The New Twilight Zone, and Babylon Five. Their work has been nominated for the American Book Award, Humanitas Prize, Diane Thomas Award, and Hugo and Nebula Awards, and they’ve won the TV Guide Award, the prestigious Hamptons Prize and 2011 Rondo and Saturn Awards. Their new production, Space Command, premiered at the Cardiff International Film Festival.[/aoa]
Commenting on the winners, Cardiff based festival director Rahil Abbas Sayed said:
“From Taiwan to Turkey, from Costa Rica to China, from Mexico to Merthyr, the Cardiff International Film Festival has yet again provided a platform for Wales and the world. The quality of almost five hundred submissions this year was very strong and the winners can be rightly proud of their achievements. The Cardiff International Film Festival is now really on the map of world cinema.”
The films which won awards were:
WELSH FEATURE FILM
- Say My Name
DOCUMENTARY
- Dreaming in Voices – Francois Verster (Lesotho)
F- RATED
- Susu – Yixi Sun (China)
WELSH FILM
- Super Glued Up – Robert Gregor Greiner
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH WALES – SHORT FILM
- Maggie’s Farm – Patrik Krivanek, Alexandros Mattei
ANIMATION
- Shipwrecked – Sabrina Marengo (UK)
CRITICS CHOICE
- Girl and A Scar – David Cave (UK)
FEATURE FILM – ENGLISH LANGUAGE
- Boogie Man – Andy Morahan (UK)
FEATURE FILM – FOREIGN LANGUAGE
- Modern Love – Takuya Fukushima (Japan)
SHORT FILM – ENGLISH LANGUAGE
- Beautified – Emily Haigh (UK)
SHORT FILM – FOREIGN LANGUAGE
- Are You Volleyball?! – Mohammad Bakhshi (Iran)
