2. “Manchester By The Sea”
I have an issue with “Manchester By The Sea,” a late in the game cameo from a Kenneth Lonergan pal and regular which proves deeply distracting, and briefly takes you out of the scene. I bring this up only because, other than this one tiny moment, I thought “Manchester By The Sea” was more or less perfect. The novelistic sprawl of “Margaret” might have been abandoned for now, but Lonergan’s facility for capturing humanity is unchanged, and indeed might be on the finest display it’s ever been on here. The story might be built on a foundation of melodrama, but there’s never anything except deep truth on screen here, be it in the astonishing central performances from Casey Affleck and Lucas Hedges, the finely wrought writing or the phenomenal editing (only “Things To Come” is cut better this year). The film’s been so heavily praised that I thought it might disappoint me: if anything, I thought I thought it had been undersold in the end.
1. “Moonlight”
Though it never got a UK release, I saw Barry Jenkins’ directorial debut “Medicine For Melancholy” at the LFF eight years ago, and had been raving about it ever since. So I was unreasonably excited for “Moonlight” long before the rave reviews started landing, and now I’ve seen it, I’ll be thinking about it long after too. A triptych following the gradual coming-of-age and embrace of his sexuality of the Miami-based Chiron, it’s a film so deeply felt and necessary that it feels like it was born rather than made, one that gradually digs a well of emotion that then bursts and overflows at the end. With about half a dozen of the best performances of the year (Trevante Rhodes and Andre Holland particularly excelling in the last act), and Jenkins’ inarguably filmmaking talent on display, it’s the film we need in the world right now, a balm that is so tiny and quiet, yet makes an impact that can be seen from space.
I Also Liked: Just missing the top 5 were Mike Birbiglia’s wonderful “Don’t Think Twice,” which struck a nerve in more than one way, Park Chan-Wook’s giddily enjoyable “The Handmaiden,” his most beautiful and pervy movie, Maren Ade’s sublime comedy “Toni Erdmann,” Pablo Larrain’s fascinating and singular “Neruda” and, in the best surprise of the festival, Lone Scherfig’s “Their Finest,” a film that looks like a staid middlebrow grey-pound crowd-pleaser from a distance, but proves to be sad and lovely in the execution.
I Didn’t Like: The lazy and nightmarish “Trolls” (review here) was a brutal experience, but I had a much worse time “City Of Tiny Lights,” a huge missed opportunity, and by Michael Winterbottom’s dull “On The Road” (review here). Andrea Arnold’s “American Honey” is significantly better than all of them, but as a big fan of the director, I was disappointed by her latest, which felt like being slowly beaten up with a baseball bat painted in the colors of the stars and stripes and with the word ‘symbolism’ written on it. There’s good stuff in the film, but there’s also about an hour of scenes of kids standing around in motel car parks that you have to wade through to find it.
Below, find the full list of winners from the festival:
60th BFI London Film Festival Award Winners
OFFICIAL COMPETITION WINNER – BEST FILM: CERTAIN WOMEN, directed by Kelly Reichardt
Recognising inspiring, inventive and distinctive filmmaking, the winner of the Best Film Award, went to Kelly Reichardt’s “Certain Women,” the impeccable study of the lives of three very different women in Montana. The award was announced by President of the Official Competition jury, Athina Rachel Tsangari, whose film “Chevalier” won the LFF Best Film prize in 2015.
The film jury said “In a vibrant year for cinema it was the masterful mise en scène and quiet modesty of this film that determined our choice for Best film. A humane and poignant story that calibrates with startling vulnerability and delicate understatement the isolation, frustrations and loneliness of lives unlived in a quiet corner of rural America”.
FIRST FEATURE COMPETITION WINNER – THE SUTHERLAND AWARD: Julia Ducournau for RAW
The long-standing Sutherland Award is presented to the director of the most original and imaginative first feature in the Festival, and this year’s winner is Julia Ducournau for “Raw,” about a young woman’s insatiable appetite for flesh in a playful coming-of-age body horror tale. The winner was announced by the jury president, and BAFTA-winning Sarah Gavron, director of last year’s “Suffragette.”
About “Raw,” Sarah Gavron said “It is a film that shocked and surprised us in equal measure. We admired the way the director did something completely unexpected with the genre. We enjoyed the outrageousness of the story-telling, and the glee with which events unfolded. We loved the eerie originality of the setting, the dark, dark humour, the great score and the truly distinctive visual language. And the bold charismatic acting of the women at the centre of a film that is both unique and unsettling and will quite literally make some swoon”.
The jury also gave a special commendation to Uda Benyamina‘s “Divines” for its standout female performance from Oulaya Amamra and for its great energy and veracity.
DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION WINNER – THE GRIERSON AWARD: STARLESS DREAMS directed, produced and written by Mehrdad Oskouei
The Grierson Award for the best documentary recognises outstanding feature-length documentaries of integrity, originality, technical excellence or cultural significance. The award went to “Starless Dreams,” a thoughtful and complex portrait of juvenile delinquent women at the extreme margins of Iranian society, by veteran documentarian Mehrdad Oskouei. Announcing the winner was Jury President and Grierson, RTS and International Emmy-winner Louise Osmond
Louise Osmond commented “ ‘Starless Dreams’ is the story of young women in a juvenile detention centre in Iran. By that description you’d imagine a dark film exploring a bleak world of broken young lives. This film was the very opposite of that. It took us into a world none of us knew anything about – the street kids, thieves and children of crack addicts of Iran – and showed us a place full of humour, life and spirit. Beautifully paced with great characterisation and a very strong sense of place, director Mehrdad Oskouei captured the fears and friendships of these teenagers with such humanity. The profoundly moving irony of the film is that it was in this detention centre, with others like them, that these girls finally found a sense of family and home; you feared for them most the day they were released back into their family’s care. It’s a film that stays with you for a very long time.”
SHORT FILM COMPETITION WINNER – BEST SHORT FILM AWARD: 9 DAYS – FROM MY WINDOW IN ALEPPO, directed by Issa Touma, Thomas Vroege and Floor van de Muelen
This year marked the second year of presenting the Best Short Film Award which recognises short form works with a unique cinematic voice and confident handling of chosen theme and content. The award went to “9 Days — From My Window In Aleppo.” The award was presented by John Maclean.
Jury president and Academy Award winner, Mat Kirkby said “When Syrian photographer Issa Touma decided to pick up his camera and film events from his window in Aleppo, he did not know whether he would be alive to finish the filming. Not only does his documentary show what one person, one camera and a restricted view of an alleyway can do to reveal something as complex, confusing, and terrifying as a civil war, but also it demonstrates the power of film to reach the wider world, and make those of us more fortunate re-assess the freedom we take for granted.”
BFI FELLOWSHIP Steve McQueen (as previously announced)
This year’s BFI Fellowship was presented to the visionary Turner-prize-winning video artist, and Oscar-winning filmmaker Steve McQueen by his frequent collaborator Michael Fassbender. McQueen was accompanied by his producer wife Bianca Stigter and close family and friends to celebrate his receiving the highest accolade the BFI Board of Governors can bestow.
Click here for our complete coverage of the 2016 BFI London Film Festival
