Professional Motion Picture Production and Distribution NEWS

The SKYY Prize, which includes a $10,000 cash award, was established in 1997 by the Festival and premier sponsor SKYY Vodka to recognize a first-time feature filmmaker whose film exhibits unique artistic sensibility. The jury chose as the winner of the 2004 SKYY Prize SQUINT YOUR EYES, a Polish film directed by Andrzej Jakimowski.
Also announced today were the FIPRESCI Prize and the VirginMega Audience Awards for Best Narrative Feature and Best Documentary Feature. The FIPRESCI jury, comprising three members from the renowned international organization of film critics, selected the German/Mongolian co-production THE STORY OF THE WEEPING CAMEL as its award winner. The Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature went to S�nke Wortmann�s THE MIRACLE OF BERN. The Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature went to San Francisco�based filmmaker Amanda Micheli�s documentary about female stuntwomen DOUBLE DARE.

Golden Gate Awards were presented to filmmakers last night: CHECKPOINT won Best Documentary Feature; GIRL TROUBLE, which received its World Premiere at the Festival, won Best Bay Area Documentary Feature; A LIFE TO LIVE won Best Documentary Short; CRYSTAL HARVEST was named the Best Bay Area Documentary Short; PAPILLON D�AMOUR, won the New Visions Award; CHINESE DREAM won in the Best Narrative Shorts category; THE GREATER VEHICLE won the Bay Area Non-Documentary Short Award; and THE WAY won the Animation Award. The Golden Gate Award in the Youth Works category went to FOUR SHORT FILMS ABOUT LOVE, directed by participants in the Bay Area�s New Jewish Film Project while CIRKUSTOUR received the Best Work for Kids and Families award.

This year�s awards for the television categories went to BAD BEHAVIOUR for Best Documentary Long Form, A DIARY FROM THE NEXT WORLD for Best Documentary Short Form, SO CLOSE TO HOME for Best Narrative Long Form and LOT for Best Narrative Short Form.

San Francisco�s finest and Hollywood�s elite turned out for Film Society Awards Night, the Festival�s gala dinner. This year�s annual benefit raised over $260,000, an impressive 8.5 percent increase over 2003, to support the work of the San Francisco Film Society. Magisterial director Milos Forman received the Film Society�s Award for Lifetime Achievement in Directing sponsored by Bulgari. Actor Danny DeVito presented the award to Forman, stating that the director�s contribution to cinema was �off the charts.� Also in attendance for Film Society Awards Night were San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown, producer Saul Zaentz and Rolling Stone magazine cofounder Ben Fong-Torres.

The day after Awards Night, in front of a packed house at the Castro Theatre, Forman was interviewed by New York magazine�s Anne Thompson (followed by a screening of HAIR with Treat Williams in attendance). Actor Chris Cooper was also honored at Film Society Awards Night and received the Peter J. Owens Award, underwritten by the Peter J. Owens Trust, for his brilliant acting achievements. While presenting the award to Cooper, director Gary Ross stated that the star of ADAPTATION and SEABISCUIT was an actor who �embodies truth.� The previous day, an enthusiastic audience watched National Public Radio�s David D�Arcy interview Cooper on stage at the Castro Theatre prior to a screening of John Sayles�s MATEWAN. D�Arcy also interviewed Golden Gate Persistence of Vision Award winner Jon Else prior to a screening of THE DAY AFTER TRINITY, a film which remains all too relevant a quarter of a century after its initial release.

Festival highlights included the Opening Night film, COFFEE AND CIGARETTES, with director Jim Jarmusch and actor/musician The RZA in attendance and SUPER SIZE ME director Morgan Spurlock discussing the ramifications of his 30-day McDonald�s diet.

The 47th San Francisco International Film Festival is presented by the San Francisco Film Society, a nonprofit arts organization whose goal is to lead in expanding the knowledge and appreciation of international film art and its artists by showcasing the most compelling, thought-provoking international films, special tributes and major restorations and today�s brightest stars.

www.sffs.org