"The Cruise" and "Anima" Nab Multiple Prizes at first Newport Fest

by Eugene Hernandez

Heralded in the local media as an important new festival by Miramax topper Harvey Weinstein, the innaugural Newport Film Festival came to a close this weekend. Craig Richardson's dramatic feature, "Anima", and Bennett Miller's documentary, "The Cruise", were big winners at the Rhode Island event. Each received two awards on Saturday night, during a ceremony at the famed Hammersmith Farm in the upscale seaside community. Miller's acclaimed documentary, "The Cruise", took the documentary audience award and was also given a special jury prize, while Richardson's hometown entry, "Anima", nabbed the jury award for Best American Feature along with the "Claiborne Pell Award for Original Vision" for the filmmaker.

Niek Koppen's "The Hunt", a portrait of an English fox hunting master, won the jury prize for best documentary, and jurors also singled out Bob Pulcini and Shari Berman's "Off The Menu: The Last Days of Chasens" with a special jury prize. "Chasens" has screened at numerous festival's since closing the 1997 LAIFF, and has won numerous awards, including a top prize at the 1997 Hampton's International Film Festival. Elizabeth Schub's "Cuba 15", which premiered in The Hampton's last year, and will soon air on the PBS program P.O.V., was awarded a jury prize for documentary short-subject. In the dramatic category, George Krikkos' "That Was You", received the audience prize, while Raymond Boy took the jury's short-subject narrative prize and Jean Bach's short film "The Spitball Story" won the audience award.

For Bennett Miller's "The Cruise", which indieWIRE has been following since its debut at the LAIFF, the dual award win this weekend caps a three-festival run that included a stop at docfest in New York last weekend. Accepting the audience prize, a small wooden toy boat dubbed "The Lucy", Miller thanked the exhuberant crowd and was joined at the microphone by the subject of his film, Timothy "Speed" Levitch. On the heels of a standing ovation reception at the screening the previous night, Levitch beamed, "I'd like to dedicate this award to Edith Wharton who spent a lot of time trying to get respect in this town."

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In the case of Craig Richardson's "Anima", the recognition is especially poignant given that the filmmaker lives and works in nearby Jamestown, Rhode Island. The two awards add to the recognition the film has already received, including a premiere spot at the Athens Film Festival last fall, and a recent popular screening at the Gen Art Film Festival in New York. Other award winners included Majid Majidi's "Children of Heaven" (Iran), selected as the Best Foreign Film; Vladimir Michalek winner of Best Director Award for his film, "Forgotten Light" (Czech Republic); and Will Patton, for his role in "OK Garage" which premiered at the 1998 LAIFF. [An additional report from the Newport International Film Festival will be published soon in indieWIRE.] posted on June 8, 1998 |Share