"War Witch", a Canadian-made film about a girl conscripted into an African war, bagged the coveted Best Narrated Feature award. Meanwhile, its lead non-professional actress Rachel Mwanza was picked as the Best Actress.
Of why they chose "War Witch" as the Best Narrated Feature, the juries said, "This indelible character study of a girl who becomes a woman before our eyes in the midst of harrowing war gives words to the unspeakable." They added, "Riveting, heartbreaking, vivid, and eloquent, the movie balances scenes of crazy enemy hatred with moments of luminous private love."
On picking Mwanza as the Best Actress, the juries explained, "A nonprofessional actress, this remarkable young woman - barely a teenager when the movie was shot - so fully inhabits her role that there are no borders to her stunning performance, no distance at all between the actress and the unforgettable character Komona."
"Una Noche", meanwhile, led its actors Dariel Arrechada and Javier Nunez Florian to share the Best Actor prize. "We give the award for Best Actor in a Narrative Feature to Dariel Arrechada and to Javier Nunez Florian in 'Una Noche', for potent individual performances that together are even greater than the sum of their parts," said the jury, "Both young actors are nonprofessionals who took great risks to tell a daring story. Each won our hearts."
Lucy Mulloy, the director of "Una Noche", grabbed the Best New Narrative Feature Director award for her film. Additionally, the movie took home the Best Cinematography gong for its portrayal of Cuba.
Other winners at Tribeca included "The World Before Her" (Best Documentary Feature), "Asad" (Best Narrative Short), "Paraiso" (Best Documentary Short), "On The Mat" (Tribeca (Online) Film Festival Best Feature Film), and "CatCam" (Tribeca (Online) Film Festival Best Short Film).
The 2012 Tribeca Film Festival will announce winners of the Heineken Audience Awards, which are determined by audience votes throughout the Festival, on Saturday, April 28. All the winning movies will be screened throughout the final day of the festival on Sunday.
World Narrative Competition Categories:
- The Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature: "War Witch", directed by Kim Nguyen (Canada)
- Best Actor in a Narrative Feature Film: Dariel Arrechada and Javier Nunez Florian - "Una Noche", directed by Lucy Mulloy (U.K., Cuba, U.S.)
- Best Actress in a Narrative Feature Film: Rachel Mwanza - "War Witch"
- Best Cinematography in a Narrative Feature Film: Trevor Forrest and Shlomo Godder - "Una Noche"
- Special Jury Mention: Alex Catalan for "Unit 7"
- Best Screenplay for a Narrative Feature Film: Daniel Burman and Sergio Dubcovsky - (La Suerte en Tus Manos), directed by Daniel Burman (Argentina)
- Best New Narrative Director: Lucy Mulloy - "Una Noche"
- Special Jury Mention: P. Benoit for "Stones in the Sun" and Sharon Bar-Ziv for "Room 524"
- Best Documentary Feature: "The World Before Her", directed by Nisha Pahuja (Canada).
- Special Jury Mention: "The Revisionaries", directed by Scott Thurman
- Best Editing in a Documentary Feature: Tali Halter Shenkar - "The Flat" (Hadira), directed by Arnon Goldfinger, (Israel, Germany)
- Best New Documentary Director: "Wavumba", directed by Jeroen van Velzen (Netherlands)
- Special Jury Mention: Christian Bonke and Andreas Koefoed for "Ballroom Dancer"
- Best Narrative Short: "Asad", directed by Bryan Buckley (U.S.)
- Special Jury Mention: Ritesh Batra for "Cafe Regular Cairo"
- Best Documentary Short: "Paraiso", directed by Nadav Kurtz (U.S.)
- Special Jury Mention: David Darg and Bryn Mooser for "Baseball in the Time of Cholera"
- Student Visionary Award: "Stitches", directed by Adiya Imri Orr (Israel)
- Special Jury Mention: Tati Barrantes and Andinh Ha for "Adirake"
- Tribeca (Online) Film Festival Best Feature Film: "On The Mat", directed by Fredric Golding (U.S.)
- Tribeca (Online) Film Festival Best Short Film: "CatCam", directed by Seth Keal (U.S.)
