The 2003 Philadelphia Film Festival ended on April 16th, reporting a record attendance of 57,500. This year’s jury winners were:
Best Feature Film – Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (South Korea): Park Chan-wook, director; Lee Jae-soon, producer ^ Best Director – Yukihiko Tsutsumi, for “2LDK” (Japan) ^ Best First Film – “Fancy Dancing” (Canada/Great Britain): Brock Simpson, writer-director ^ Best Documentary – Stevie (US): Steve James, director ^ Best Live Action Short – “The Wormhole” (US): Jessica Sharzer, director ^ Best Animated Short – Desert Story (Great Britain); Celia Galan Julve, director
Three Audience Awards were given out, based on tens of thousands of ballots filled out by audience members after every screening. The winners were:
Best Feature – “Mr. & Mrs. Iyer” (India): Aparna Sen, director ^ Best Documentary – “My Architect: A Son’s Journey” (US): Nathanial Kahn, director ^ Best Short – The Freak (Canada): Aristomenis Tsirbas, director
A long-standing component of the Festival is the Philadelphia CityPaper Festival of Independents, a showcase for regional filmmakers. On April 15, “FestIndies” announced its award winners:
Best Narrative – “The Unbelievable Truth”: Nathan Caswell and Jeremiah Zagar, co-directors ^ Best Experimental: “Phototropism”: Mary Sweeney, director ^ Best Animation – “Dreamscapes”: Sean McBride, director ^ Best Documentary – “Picture Me an Enemy”: Nathalie Applewhite, director ^ Best Feature – Stone Reader: Mark Moskowitz, director ^ NFL Films Technical Achievement Award – The Quality of Light: Keith Gaby, director
For more post fest information, visit the Philadelphia Film Festival website.
