Fest Day 12: Wrap-up

Well my two weeks of movie madness is over, as both the Edinburgh and Los Angeles film festivals came to a close yesterday. I saw 42 films over this past month - not too bad! Here are my favourite 10 films from both fests...

1. Mary and Max (Edinburgh) - pictured above
   
2. Garapa (Edinburgh)
3. The First Day of the Rest of Your Life (Edinburgh)
4. Fish Tank (Edinburgh)
5. Cold Souls (Los Angeles)
6. Amreeka (Los Angeles)
7. In the Loop (Los Angeles)
8. Big River Man (Edinburgh and Los Angeles)
9. Soul Power (Los Angeles)
10. Paper Heart (Los Angeles)

Awards were handed out at both festivals yesterday...

Edinburgh International Film Festival:
Michael Powell Award for Best New British Feature Film: MOON
Best Performance in a British Feature Film: Katie Jarvis (Fish Tank)
New International Feature Award: EASIER WITH PRACTICE
Audience Award: THE SECRET OF KELLS
Documentary Award: BORIS RYZHY
Critical Consensus Award: HUMPDAY
New Directors Award: Cary Joji Fukunaga (Sin Nombre)

Los Angeles Film Festival:
Audience Award: THE STONING OF SORAYA M
Audience Award - doc: SOUL POWER
Audience Award - intl: BORN WITHOUT
Filmmaker Award: Sam Fleischner & Ben Chace (Wah Do Dem)
Documentary Filmmaker Award: Juan Carlos Rulfo and Carlos Hagerman (Those Who Remain)
Outstanding Performance: Shayne Topp (Dear Lemon Lima)
Dream in Color Award: LIPSTICK

And now I'm taking a break for 10 days to recover. There are still a few films to be seen (aren't there always?) and reviews to write, but I think lounging on the beach might be a priority for a change.....