MY MAGIC WINS THE "REGARD D’OR" AT THE FRIBOURG INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL THE 23RD EDITION OF THE FESTIVAL...

Festival ends with audience record of almost 30.000 admissions.

My Magic by Eric Khoo from Singapore won the main award Saturday night at Cap'Ciné. Lead actor and extreme magician Francis Bosco accepted the FIFF's "Regard d'Or" worth 30.000 CHF. Eric Khoo already won several awards at the FIFF in 2006 with his film Be with me. The Mexican documentary film Intimidades de Shakespeare y Victor Hugo by Yulene Olaizola won the Special Jury Award and several other prizes. The new "Talent Tape Award" worth 27.000 CHF went to Chilean director Sebastián Silva for his film La nana.

And this year's public award went to Pakistani director Mehreen Jabbar for her film Ramchand Pakistani.
The award ceremony marked the closure of the festival's 23rd edition. For eight days, Fribourg allowed the discovery of new cinematic trends and unusual films - most of them as Swiss or European premieres. Audience attendance was particularly high for this year's festival, the second edition under the artistic direction of Edouard Waintrop: about 29.700 visitors, an increase of almost 10 percent. The attendance of industry professionals also went up with an increase of accredited guests of about 25%. Many of them participated at Forum@FIFF. This platform - taking place for the second time this year - allowed directors and producers from different countries to present their projects to thirty professionals and co-producers.
§The 24th edition of the Fribourg International Film Festival will be taking place from March 13-20, 2010.

PALMARES
Before announcing the award winners, the International Jury wants to make a special mention of the quality of the selection, which made their job very difficult. After due deliberation, the decisions were made unanimously.
GRAND PRIX "REGARD D'OR"
The "Regard d'Or" (Golden Gaze) or Grand Prix of the Fribourg International Film Festival, consists of CHF 30,000, the State of Fribourg contributing CHF 20,000 and the Municipality of Fribourg, CHF 10,000. This award is conferred on the director (CHF 20,000) and the producer (CHF 10,000) of the winning film designated by the International Jury.
The members of the International Jury of the 23rd Fribourg International Film Festival are:
Adoor Gopalakrishnan (president)
Martina Gusman
Oliver Paulus
Nicolas Philibert
Norma Rivera Valdivia
This award goes to: My Magic, Eric Khoo,
Singapore, 2008
For its minimalist, magical treatment of an uncommon subject, its economy of expression, austerity and the surprises that recur all through.

SPECIAL JURY AWARD GRANTED BY THE SSA AND SUISSIMAGE
This award (CHF 5,000) is conferred by the Swiss Authors Society (Société Suisse des Auteurs - SSA) and Suissimage on the director of the winning film designated by the International Jury for inventiveness in script and directing, for renewal of cinematographic language or for thematic and formal audacity.
This award goes to: Intimidades de Shakespeare
y Victor Hugo, Yulene Olaizola, Mexico, 2007
For its clever and unique construction, revealing the enigma of human existence, where reality and fiction merge imperceptibly.

TALENT TAPE AWARD GRANTED BY EGLI FILM AG AND KODAK SA
Egli Film AG and Kodak SA are sponsoring this award worth CHF 27,000 going to a director with particular talent in cinematic composition. It consists of a tape-to-film transfer for the duration of 90 minutes. The transfer from video tape on Kodak film in cinema standard will be made in the laboratory of Egli Film AG in Zurich.
This award goes to:  Sebastián Silva, Director
of La nana, Chile, 2008
For its human, in-depth portrayal of the protagonist, the excellent quality of its mise en scene and a script that reveals the complexity of human relationships that lie burried deep under.

AUDIENCE AWARD
This award (CHF 5,000) is bestowed by the Fribourg International Film Festival and goes to the director of the film selected by the audience.
This award goes to: Ramchand Pakistani, Mehreen
Jabbar, Pakistan / USA, 2008

ECUMENICAL JURY AWARD
This award (CHF 5,000) is conferred jointly by two organisations of development, «Action de Carême» (Catholic) and «Pain pour le Prochain» (Protestant), to the director whose film best reflects the values upon which these two organisations are basing their support of the struggle of poor populations in African, Asian or Latin American countries. The Ecumenical Jury is composed of a representative of the two associations, and a representative each of the Swiss Catholic Media Agency and the Protestant Cinema Agency.
The members of the Ecumenical Jury of the 23rd Fribourg International Film Festival are:
Jean-Michel Duband (President)
Charles Ridoré
Martina Schmidt
This award goes to: Be calm and count to Seven,
Ramtin Lavafipour, Iran, 2008
In a context where survival is at stake, the characters have to make choices in which the respect for human dignity prevails the respect of laws. This is expressed with the poetic force of the images and sounds. The wind, the sea and the breathlessness of the characters are symbols for the mighty wind of life blowing through this film.

SPECIAL MENTION Ramchand Pakistani, Mehreen
Jabbar, Pakistan / USA, 2008
This film caught the jury's attention by the human values it carries. It illustrates the power of hope and of human relations in front of the absurdity of borders and conflicts.

THE FIPRESCI JURY AWARD
Conferred by the representatives of the International Federation of the Cinematographic Press, this award aims to promote cinema as an art and encourage new, young cinematographers.
The members of the FIPRESCI Jury of the 23rd Fribourg International Film Festival are:
Ronald Bergan (President)
Diego Brodersen
Övgü Gökce
Christian Jungen
Télesphore Mba Bizo
This award goes to:  Intimidades de Shakespeare
y Victor Hugo, Yulene Olaizola, Mexico, 2007
For its original approach to a fascinating subject which is an unusual love story, a personal document and a suspenseful mystery story.

E-CHANGER AWARD
Conferred by E-CHANGER, a Fribourg-based agency of North-South co-operation, this award (CHF 5,000) is bestowed by the Youth Jury. Its aim is to encourage the younger people to express themselves at the festival, but also to give preference to a film that takes into account the problems they encounter in today's world. It is bent on awakening students and apprentices to the fact that, beyond entertainment, cinema is an irreplaceable means to discover the riches of other cultures and to learn tolerance and justice.

The members of the E-CHANGER Jury of the 23rd Fribourg International Film
Festival are:
Vincent Burgy
Anne Chardonnens
Aysun Cengiz
Sebastian Diaz (President)
Jean-Lou Martin
Garance Mugny
Pauline Schnarrenberger
This award goes to: Breathless, Yang Ik-june,
South Corea, 2008
This film caught us like a blow in the face. But unlike some audience members who chose to leave during the projection, we saw more than the constant and brutal violence. More than anything else, we saw the courage of a filmmaker daring to show and to denounce universal violence. Behind all the hitting and swearing, the possibility of redemption is made visible. The main protagonist, off-putting and brutal at first, becomes human and touching in the end. The technical qualities of the direction and the alarmingly credible actors further motivated our choice.
SPECIAL MENTION Ramchand Pakistani, Mehreen
Jabbar, Pakistan / USA, 2008
This beautiful film, inspired by a true story, touched us with its naturalness. Carried by the authenticity of the actors, the film gives a good illustration of the issues between India and Pakistan. By awarding this special mention, we would like to express our support of Mehreen Jabbar. We are hoping that this talented director will be able to make further contributions to the renaissance and the development of Pakistani cinema.

FICC/IFFS "DON QUIJOTE AWARD"
The members of the IFFS (International Federation of the Film Societies) Jury are:
Peter Prazak
Carles Font Garcia (President)
John Bjornebye
The IFFS Jury would like to point out that its decision was based on the following criteria:
1) the promotion of new young authors; 2) the promotion of films that are able to spark off debates in society; 3) the promotion of films that do not dispose of traditional distribution channels.
Given the participation of several films of high quality in this competition, the task of our jury was not an easy one. We had to put aside some films of very good quality as they conflicted with the afore-mentioned criteria.
This award goes to the documentary:    Intimidades de Shakespeare y Victor Hugo, Yulene Olaizola, Mexico, 2007
Because it managed to turn a reconstruction of the past into a work of artby the means of a family film; to reveal the film's plot progressively with an efficient montage and intelligent use of music; to offer us, with the beautiful and humorous performance of the filmmaker's grandmother, Rosa Elena Carvajal, a touching story about the two faces of human nature by trying to solve a mystery buried in the past.