‘Life,’ ‘To a Land Unknown’ Win Main Prizes at Sophomore Edition of Mediterrane Film Festival

Zeki Demirkubuz’s “Life” was awarded the Golden Bee for best feature film at the second edition of the Mediterrane Film Festival.

Mahdi Fleifel’s Un Certain Regard breakout “To a Land Unknown” took the Jury’s Choice prize, while Brandt Andersen’s “The Stranger’s Case” won Golden Bees for Best Director for Andersen and Best Acting for Yasmine Al-Massri.

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The awards were handed out at a glitzy ceremony at the grand Fort Manoel in the Maltese capital of Valletta, which served as a location for “Game of Thrones” and “Assassin’s Creed.” BAFTA-winning British filmmaker Mike Leigh (“Secrets and Lies,” ‘Vera Drake”) was honored with the festival’s Career Achievement Award after giving an extended career talk earlier at the festival with Maltese veteran production coordinator Rita Galea (“World War Z”) receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award.

This year’s jury was headed by Scottish filmmaker Jon S. Baird (“Tetris”) and featured casting director Margery Simkin, director Mario Philip Azzopardi, production designer Nathan Crowley, cinematographer Pedro Luque, writer/director Richie Mehta and director Tim Miller. Amongst the attendees at the ceremony were Danai Gurira (“Black Panther”), Joaquim de Almeida (“Road House”) and Colin Trevorrow (“Jurassic World”).

“Over the last nine days, it has been a privilege to welcome the international film community to the beautiful island of Malta, creating opportunities for inspiration, international collaboration and partnerships,” said the festival’s Artistic Director Teresa Cavina. “It’s been an honor this evening to recognize the immensely deserving winners of our Golden Bee Awards and to end this edition on an incredible high.”

Malta Film Commissioner Johann Grech pledged that the country’s film commission will “create a world-class industry in Malta.” “On the eve of our 100-year film anniversary, I set out my aim to double the value film brings to Malta’s economy and more quality jobs for the Maltese people,” he added, going on to emphasize the need to attract more shoots to Malta while also investing in the country’s infrastructure and upskilling.

Full list of winners below:

MAIN COMPETITION:

Best Feature Film

Zeki Demirkubuz for “Life” (Turkey)

Jury’s Choice:

Mahdi Fleifel for “To a Land Unknown” (Palestine; France)

Best Screenplay:

Best Acting:

Yasmine Al-Massri for “The Stranger’s Case” (Jordan)

Best Director:

Brandt Andersen for “The Stranger’s Case” (Jordan)

Stéphane Brizé, Marie Drucker for “Out of Season” (France)

Best Production Design:

Myrte Beltman for “Sweet Dreams” (Bosnia & Herzegovina)

Best Cinematography:

Carlos Alfonso Corral for “The Damned” (Italy)

MARE NOSTRUM:

Best Narrative Story:

Anirban Dutta, Anupama Srinivasan for “Nocturnes” (India)

OUT OF COMPETITION:

People’s Choice Award:

Alexandre De La Patellière, Matthieu Delaporte for “The Count of Monte Cristo”

(France)

FUTURE VISIONS:

Best Virtual Reality Work:

Simone Fougnier for “Tales from Soda Island” (U.K.)

Honourable mentions to:

“Over the Rainbow” (Taiwan) dir. Craig Quintero and

“Eggscape” (Argentina) dir. German Heller

ADDITIONAL AWARDS:

Career Achievement: Mike Leigh

Lifetime Achievement: Rita Galea

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