2003 Winners

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM COMPETITION

The Gold Hugo is awarded to: Jafar Panahi’s CRIMSON GOLD (Iran) for “its compelling portrait of a man inexorably destroyed by social pressures.”
Mr. Panahi's statement: "I would like to thank the Chicago International Film Festival and the Jury for choosing me this year for the Gold Hugo Award. Also, it is an honor for me to give this award to Mrs. Shirin Ebadi, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, who has been fighting for human rights in my country." Jafar Panahi, October 15, 2003

The Silver Hugo – Special Jury Prize is awarded to: Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s DISTANT (Turkey) for “its intense and elegant depiction of overwhelming loneliness.”

The Silver Hugo for Best Female Performance is awarded to: Ludivine Sagnier in LA PETITE LILI (France), for “giving what is surely the first of many star performances.”

The Silver Hugo for Best Male Performance is awarded to: Pierre Boulanger in MONSIEUR IBRAHIM (France) – for “a remarkably accomplished and nuanced performance by an extremely promising young actor.”

A Gold Plaque is awarded to: GOODBYE DRAGON INN by Tsai Ming-liang (Taiwan) for “its highly distinctive vision.”

A Gold Plaque is awarded to: Manuel Claro for “the outstanding cinematography” of RECONSTRUCTION (Denmark).

The International Competition jury featured film critics Klaus Eder (Germany) and John Russell Taylor (UK), actress Florinda Bolkan (Brazil), journalist Nick Roddick (UK) and filmmakers Tahmineh Milani (Iran) and Yim Ho (Hong Kong).

NEW DIRECTORS COMPETITION

The Federation Internationale de la Presse Cinematographique (FIPRESCI) Award is given to first and second-time filmmakers whose productions demonstrate a strong command of the film medium.

The 2003 FIPRESCI Prize is awarded to: Jérôme Bonnell's OLGA'S CHIGNON (France), for “its cinematic fluency in service of an intricately conceived and delivered story of love and loss.”

A 2003 FIPRESCI Special Mention is awarded to: Peter Hedges’ PIECES OF APRIL (USA), for “its innovative, affectionate, witty and rueful observations of a family’s final attempt to reconcile in the face of seemingly intractable difficulties.”

The FIPRESCI jury featured Vecernje Novosti's Borislav Andjelic (Serbia-Montenegro), NZZ Am Sonntag/Neu Zürcher Zeitung's Pia Horlacher (Switzerland), The Sunday Times, BBC Radio and LBC - London Radio Cannel's George Perry, Die Welt and L'Humanité's Barbara Lorey (France) and Now Magazine's John Harkness (Canada).

DOCUFEST COMPETITION

The Gold Hugo for Best Documentary Feature is awarded to: Nathaniel Kahn’s MY ARCHITECT (USA)

The Silver Hugo for Best Documentary Feature is awarded to: Kim Bartley and Donnacha O’Briain’s THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED (Ireland/Venezuela)

The Gold Plaque for Best Documentary Feature is awarded to: Rithy Panh’s S21: THE KHMER ROUGE KILLING MACHINE (France) and Jonathan Demme’s THE AGRONOMIST (USA)

The Silver Plaque for Best Documentary Feature is awarded to: John Cadigan’s PEOPLE SAY I’M CRAZY (USA)

The DocuFest Jury featured filmmakers Rebecca Cammisa (Sister Helen) and Rob Epstein (The Times of Harvey Milk, Common Threads: Stories From the Quilt) and the Mexico City daily La Jornada’s film critic Leonardo Garcia Tsao.

Also, for winning the Best Documentary Feature award, Nathaniel Kahn is awarded $2000 and the Evian “On the Go” Best Documentary Prize.

SHORT FILM COMPETITION

The short film juries met before the Festival and watched several hundred shorts including live-action, animation, experimental and student productions.

The Gold Hugo for Best Short Film is awarded to Philippe Barcinski's THE OPEN WINDOW (Brazil).

The Gold Hugo for Best Student Film is awarded to Mervi Junkkonen's BARBEIROS (Finland).

The Gold Hugo for Best Animated Film is awarded to Rachel Johnson's THE TOLL COLLECTOR (Czech Republic/USA)

Gold Plaques are awarded to Seith Mann's FIVE DEEP BREATHS (USA) and Hans Petter Moland's UNITED WE STAND (Norway) for Narrative Short Film, Nanni Moretti's THE LAST CUSTOMER (Italy) for Documentary Short, Ezra Kyrbus and Matthew Miller's THE SCHOOL (Canada) for Student Narrative Short and Tess Ernst's THE DRIVE NORTH (USA) for Student Experimental Short.

Silver Plaques are awarded to Deva Palmier's FISHY (UK) for Narrative Short Film, Mark Mamalakis's PORTRAIT OF A FILMMAKER (USA) for Experimental Short Film, Annemarie Jacir's LIKE TWENTY IMPOSSIBLES (Palestine/USA) and Claus Withopf's NEON (Germany) for Student Narrative Short, Gemma Carrington's COMING HOME (UK) for Student Animated Short and Ted Gesing's NUTRIA for Student Documentary Short.Certificates of Merit are awarded to Alicia Duffy's THE MOST BEAUTIFUL MAN IN THE WORLD (UK) and Henry Moore Selder and Sara Lundén's SHE IS DEAD for Narrative Short Film and Dominique Monfery's DESTINO (France/USA) for Animated Short Film.

The winners of the Gold Hugo for Best Short Film, Best Student Film and Best Animated Film will each receive $2000. Additionally, for winning Best Short Film, Philippe Barcinski will receive 1500 ft. of Kodak film stock.

CHICAGO AWARD

Of the 3 feature films and 9 short films presented as part of this year’s Festival, a jury selected John Rangel’s AN ASSIGNMENT as the best local film and bestow upon it the annual Chicago Award.

AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARD

The Audience Choice Award, sponsored by AT&T Wireless and Motorola.

The Gold Plaque is awarded to: Peter Hedges’ PIECES OF APRIL (USA) – A United Artist release, this first-time feature from the screenwriter of WHAT’S EATING GILBERT GRAPE and ABOUT A BOY follows a 21-year-old family misfit (Katie Holmes) as she experiences a whole host of personal and culinary problems when she inexplicably volunteers to host her white-bread family’s Thanksgiving dinner. Peter Hedges attended the Festival and participated in enthusiastic Q&A sessions. The film was also awarded a Special Mention by this year’s FIPRESCI jury for the New Directors Competition.

The Silver Plaque is awarded to: Nathaniel Kahn’s MY ARCHITECT (USA) – A New Yorker Films release, this well-received documentary details the director’s personal journey to learn more about his deceased father, famed architect Louis Kahn. Nathaniel travels throughout the US and around the world to see all of his father’s buildings and talk to friends and coworkers of the architect. The film also received the 2003 Gold Hugo for Best Documentary Feature.

Rounding out the list of the audience’s top ten favorite films are: THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE (France/Belgium/Canada), THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS (Canada France), CALLAS FOREVER (Italy/UK/France/Spain/Romania), THE AGRONOMIST (USA), THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED (Ireland/Venezuela), THE STATION AGENT (USA), PEOPLE SAY I’M CRAZY (USA) and MONSIEUR IBRAHIM (France).

TRIBUTES

On July 19, 2003, NICOLAS CAGE received a CAREER ACHIEVEMENT AWARD to kick-off the Chicago International Film Festival season.

On October 2, 2003, Director ROBERT BENTON received a LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD preceding the Midwestern premiere of his new film, THE HUMAN STAIN, on the Opening Night of the Festival.

On October 6, 2003, ROBERT DOWNEY JR. received a CAREER ACHIEVEMENT AWARD preceding the Midwestern premiere of his new film, THE SINGING DETECTIVE.

On October 12, 2003, TAYE DIGGS received an EXCELLENCE IN FILMMAKING AWARD and was this year's BLACK PERSPECTIVES HONOREE.

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