"Atletu," "Budrus" Run Away with Top Honors at Bahamas International Film Festival

A scene from Julia Bacha's "Budrus." [Image courtesy of Balcony Releasing]

Davey Frankel and Rasselas Lakew's "Atletu" took home high honors from the 7th annual Bahamas International Film Festival over the weekend. The Ethiopian sports drama about former Olympic Gold Medal winner Abebe Bikila won the Spirit of Freedom (Narrative) competition and was also named as the recipient of the festival's Audience Award for best feature narrative. The Israeli-American documentary "Budrus," from director Julia Bacha, won the Spirit of Freedom prize in the documentary division. Bacha's documentary has won a number of prizes during its festival run, including the Panorama Audience Award Second Prize at this year's Berlin Film Festival and a Special Jury Mention at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Adam Reid's "Hello Lonesome," won in the New Visions section and Bahamas filmmaker Gustavius Smith took the Short Film prize for "Contact Zone."

The festival was held from December 1-5 at the Atlantis Hotel and Resort, closing with a screening of Awards frontrunner "The King's Speech."