WINNERS: 28th Palm Springs International Film Festival

WINNERS: 28th Palm Springs International Film Festival

27 Jan, 2017

At a luncheon at the Hilton Palm Springs on Saturday, January 14, 2017, the 28th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) announced this year’s juried award winners.  The Festival is held held from January 2-16, 2017 and screened 190 films from 72 countries.

We are extremely excited that TONI ERDMANN (Germany), directed by Maren Ade, has been chosen as the winner for the FIPRESCI Prize for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year. The film is an ironic, charming and hilarious comedy about a father’s attempt to enter back into his business-obsessed, consultant daughter’s life. A practical joker and loving father whose adoration for his daughter never ceases, our amusement of the characters and their ludicrous situations are sustained throughout the film.

We are also pleased by the win of Gael García Bernal in NERUDA (Chile), directed by Pablo Larraín, for the FIPRESCI Prize for the Best Actor in a Foreign Language Film. Bernal’s performance is applaudable as he portrays a detective on an extensive and exhaustive search to capture Pablo Neruda, a poet and celebrated historical figure. The jury said, “Bernal’s performance is the heart of the film’s tonal shifts, infusing the historical drama with the very poetry of its subject matter.”

The film has also been honored with the Cine Latino Award. The Cine Latino Award is presented to the best Ibero-American film screening at the festival.  The award aims to highlight the creativity seen in modern Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American films.  Cine Latino is supported in part by Acción Cultural Espanola, Spain’s Public Agency for Cultural Action.

And 69th Cannes Film Festival and 39th Mill Valley Film Festival favorite, ELLE (France), a challenging, unorthodox film, receives the FIPRESCI Prize for Best Actress in a Foreign Language Film. Isabelle Huppert’s performance shines through as emotionally complex and genuine as she is a master of conveying rich emotional tones in a striking manner that resonates with movie audiences.

FIPRESCI PRIZE
A special jury of international film critics reviewed 43 of the 85 official submissions for the Academy Awards(R) Best Foreign Language Film category screened at this year’s Festival. Awards are presented to the Best Foreign Language Film and Best Actor and Actress in a Foreign Language Film.

The FIPRESCI jury members were Kiva Reardon (programming associate, TIFF), Yael Shuv (chief film critic, Time Out Tel Aviv) and David Sterritt (editor-in-chief, Quarterly Review of Film and Video).

The Mercedes-Benz Audience Awards for Best Narrative Feature and Best Documentary Feature were announced on Sunday, January 15, 2017 during the closing night screening of “The Comedian:”

Summary of winners:

When We Rise and Take Me Home Huey Receives Mercedes-Benz Audience Awards;
• Toni Erdmann Receives FIPRESCI Prize;
• Gael García Bernal and Isabelle HuppertReceive Acting Prizes;
• White Sun Receives New Voices/New Visions Award;
• No Dress Code Required Receives The John Schlesinger Award;
• Neruda Receives Cine Latino Award; Mercenary Receives The HP Bridging The Borders Awards

About the author

Cindy Maram

Cindy Maram is a Dancer, Public Speaker and our Founder & Editor-in-Chief of the entertainment, fashion and arts publication, Dig IN Magazine. She is an accredited film critic for Cannes Film Festival in the South of France, Venice International Film Festival in Venice, Italy, Sundance Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, Mill Valley Film Festival, SFFilm Festival and CAAMFest, as well as a runway fashion photographer and editor for London Fashion Week and New York Fashion Week. She also serves as a professional sports photographer and writer. She is a prolific art critic providing media coverage for Art Basel Miami Beach and surrounding Miami Art Week fairs. As a creator, Cindy is a writer, vlogger, podcaster, social media strategist and manager possessing a Bachelor's Degree from UC Davis and Master's Degree completing graduate work in Mass Communications + Popular Culture Studies with an emphasis in Film/Marketing/Writing from Cal State Fullerton. Further, she is producer of independent feature length and short films, and is committed to supporting the visibility of underrepresented groups in the media and film industry.

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