“Incendies” Leads Award-Winners at 2010 Vancouver Int’l FF

Canada’s Best Foreign-Language contender “Incendies” along with Japan’s “Good Morning” and Lucy Walker’s “Waste Land” were among the top prize winners at the recent Vancouver International Film Festival.

The 29th fest wrapped last week with nearly 150,000 tickets sold for over 600 screenings. Denis Villeneuve’s “Incendies,” won top Canadian honors. The film follows a pair of twins who travel to the Middle East after they read in their mother’s will that they have a brother they never knew and that, contrary to what they were told, their father is still living.

The 2010 Vancouver International Film Fest Winners are:

Dragons & Tigers Award for Young Cinema: “Good Morning to the World!” (Sekai Good Morning!), Hirohara Satoru (Japan)
Special Mentions: “Don’t Be Afraid, Bi!” (Bi, Dung So!), Phan Dang Di (Vietnam); “Rumination” (Fanchu), Xu Ruotao (China)

Best Canadian Feature Film: “Incendies,” Denis Villeneuve
Honorable Mention: “Curling,” Denis Côté

Most Promising Director of a Canadian Short Film: Halima Ouardiri, “Mokhtar”

Best Canadian Actress: Lubna Azabal, “Incendies”

Best Canadian Actor: Alexander Gammal, “Modra”

People’s Choice Award: “Waste Land,” Lucy Walker (UK/Brazil)

VIFF Most Popular Nonfiction Film Award: “Kinshasa Symphony,” Claus Wischmann and Martin Baer (Germany)

VIFF Most Popular Canadian Film Award: “Two Indians Talking,” Sara McIntyre (Canada)

NFB Most Popular Canadian Documentary Award: “Leave Them Laughing,” John Zaritsky (Canada)

VIFF Environmental Film Audience Award: “Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie,” Sturla Gunnarsson (Canada)