British thriller wins best film award
Jon Bon Jovi and wife Dorothea attend the Elton John AIDS Foundation 10th Enduring Vis-ion Benefit in New York on Wednesday. AP
British teenage killer thriller We Need To Talk About Kevin, which is an adaptation of the book of same name by London-based Lionel Shriver, has been awarded the best film award at the 55th BFI London Film Festival.
Argentine Pablo Giorgelli was honoured with the Sutherland award for his directorial debut Las Acacias and director Werner Herzog won best documentary for Into The Abyss.
Kevin, directed by Lynne Ramsay, has actress Tilda Swinton acting as the mother of a teenage boy who carries out a high-school killing spree.
“We were simply bowled over by one film, a sublime, uncompromising tale of the torment that can stand in the place of love. We Need To Talk About Kevin is made with the kind of singular vision that links great directors across all the traditions of cinema,” chair of the jury, British director John Madden, famous for directing Shakespeare in Love, said.
The win for We Need to Talk About Kevin meant that British director Michael Winterbottom’s latest film Trishna, a reimagining of Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Ubervilles and set in Rajasthan and Mumbai, lost its chance to get the prestigious award. Starring Slumdog Millionaire actress Freida Pinto and British actor Riz Ahmed in the lead roles, the film had been touted as the next Slumdog Millionaire.
The jury, however, battled it out to choose the best film from the shortlist of eight films. “There were a few that we did have to battle it out over the table,” Gillian Anderson said.
Indian films Nouka Dubi (Boat Wreck), directed by filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh; Nobel Chor (The Nobel Thief), directed by Suman Ghosh; Gandu (Asshole), directed by Kaushik Mukherjee; Gurvinder Singh’s Anhey Ghorey Da Daan (Alms of the Blind Horse); and Adaminte Makan Abu (Abu, Son of Adam), by debutant director Salim Ahamed, were shown at the festival this year.
British writer-director of Indian origin Nirpal Bhogal who had been shortlisted for Best British newcomer award for his film Sket, lost out on the award to actress Candese Reid, who won for her portrayal of a young homeless woman in Junkhearts. She also received a bursary of £5,000.
The film festival is closing on Thursday evening with Terence Davies’ post-World War love triangle Deep Blue Sea, starring Rachel Weisz.
Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg and British actor Ralph Fiennes received the BFI Fellowship, the highest accolade that the British Film Institute bestows, on Wednesday night.
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