“Ajami” Tops at Thessaloniki

A scene from Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani's "Ajami," which took top honors at the 50th Thessaloniki International Film Festival.

A jury led by director Theo Angelopoulos presented Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani’s “Ajami” with the Golden Alexander for Best Feature Film at the 50th Thessaloniki International Film Festival this weekend, along with an award of 40,000 euros. The Silver Alexander and prize of 25,000 euros was given to Romanian director Calin Netzer for the film “Medalia de onoare,” while Rigoberto Perezcano received the Best Director Award for the Mexican/Spanish production “Norteado.”

The list of winners:

Best Feature Film Award - Golden Alexander (40,000 euros)
“Ajami” by Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani, Producers Mosh Danon, Thanassis Karathanos, Screenwriters Scandar Copti, Yaron Shani, Israel / Germany, 2009

Special Jury Award - Silver Alexander (25,000)
“Medalia de Onoare” by Calin Netzer, Producer Liviu Marghidan, Screenwriter Tudor Voican, Romania, 2009

Best Director Award
Rigoberto Perezcano for “Norteado” (“Northless”), Producer Edgar San Juan, Screenwriters Edgar San Juan, Rigoberto Perezcano, Mexico / Spain, 2009

Best Screenplay Award ex aequo
Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani for Ajami by Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani, Producers Mosh Danon, Thanassis Karathanos, Israel / Germany, 2009

and

Tudor Voican for “Medalia de onoare” (“Medal of Honor”) by Calin Netzer, Producer Liviu Marghidan, Romania, 2009

Best Actress Award
Ruth Nirere in “Le jour où Dieu est parti en voyage” (“The Day God Walked Away”), by Philippe van Leeuw, Producers Patrick Quinet, Toussaint Tiendredeogo, Screenwriter Philippe van Leeuw, Belgium / France, 2009

Best Actor Award
Victor Rebengiuc in “Medalia de onoare” (‘Medal Of Honor”) by Calin Netzer, Producer Liviu Marghidan, Screenwriter Tudor Voican, Romania, 2009

Artistic Achievement Award
“Sarameul Chastseumnida” (“Missing Person”) by Lee Seo, Producers Lee Jae-Ho, Son Seon-ok, Screenwriter Lee Seo, South Korea, 2009

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Special Mention Katharina Schuttler in “Es kommt der Tag” (‘The Day Will Come’), by Susanne Schneider, Producers Sabine Holtgreve, Stefan Schubert, Ralph Schwingel, Philippe Avril, Screenwriter Susanne Schneider, Germany / France, 2009 Special Mention for its screenplay and subject “Bakal Boys” (“Children Metal Divers”) by Ralston Jover, Producers Bessie Badilla, Albert Almendralejo, Screenwriters Henry Burgos, Ralston Jover, Philippines, 2009 Login to recommend this article » posted on November 23, 2009 |Share Comments 1 dovevg says on December 1, 2009 at 2:26pm I’d like to recommend the ISRAEL’s WAR HISTORY movie. It’s now available for download and is very recommended! It’s a 2-hour movie that describes the Israeli history in a beautiful way. Take a look at http://www.972films.com/israels-war-history/ By the way It can be purchased as DVD as well on the same site or at Amazon too. Enjoy! Login to Leave a Comment »