Innocence and Le goût des autres Win Top Prize at Montreal

Australia's Innocence and France's Le goût des autres shared the honors of the Montreal World Film Festival's coveted Grand Prix des Amériques at the closing ceremony on Monday September 4. This choice by the jury presided by famed Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami echoed popular taste, as Innocence was also voted best film by the audience, with Le goût des autres as a runner-up. Their Montreal triumph of the Australian and French pics, already very popular on their home turf, suggests that both films will travel well internationally. Aussie director was moved by the critical and popular reaction, especially since, as he told the audience, he has "always been accused of making films that nobody wanted to see." This certainly has not been the case here.

The arrival of Chinese diva Gong Li electrified the festival's final weekend. Faithful to the Montreal fest's popular orientation, the heroin of so many Zhang Yimou classics gracefully gave a press conference open to the public, and was on stage in the evening to receive a prize honoring her impressive young career. She was also voted best actress for Broken Silence, ex-aequo with Isabelle Huppert for Claude Chabrol's latest Merci pour le chocolat. Meanwhile, Yugoslav helmer Emir Kusturica, caused a sensation by donning his musician hat and performing with his Balkan No Smoking Band for the benefit of more than 10,000 people massed in the festival central square. Kusturica's visit, a last minute surprise, compensated for the absence of French star Daniel Auteuil, who had been announced to promote the Benoît Jacquot competition entry Sade.

Iranian cinema was, once again, dominant, with Smell of Camphor, Fragrance of Jasmine winning the equivalent of the competition's third prize, while Daughters of the Sun, by director Mariam Shahriar, nabbed the Prix de Montréal for the best first film, a prize applying to all categories of the festival. In accepting her award, Shahriar confided that she had been deeply honored to be invited to a festival featuring the latest work of her life inspiration-Ingmar Bergman. She was referring to Liv Ullman's Cannes competition entry Faithless, which screened to a packed house on Saturday. The actor-turned-director Ullman, who is deeply attached to Montreal and its festival, flew all the way from Sweden, over Telluride and Toronto, for a public press conference and the evening showing. With Ullman, Li, and Kusturica, the Montreal counter-Hollywood annual event had its share of true world cinema stars.

Overall, the competition's quality was fine, although a bit below the expectations created by the presence of a few big names. Maëlstrom, by Montreal up-and-coming director Denis Villeneuve, generated a strong buzz, and was rewarded with an award for best artistic contribution, as well as for the most popular Canadian film. The allegorical Combat d'amour en songe, by Raoul Ruiz, pleased both local and international critics, and was accordingly voted best film by the FIPRESCI. Germany's The Policewoman, the true sleeper of the competition, came away empty handed. The moving Sundance entry You Can Count on Me unexpectedly did not please local critics, but the jury rewarded young American thesp Mark Ruffalo as Best Actor.

Off competition, the revelations included Stand-by (France, the runner-up for the Montreal Prize for best first film), Pleure pas, Germaine (Belgium), To and Fro (Mexico), Meilleur espoir féminin (France), Rosa and Cornelia (Italy) and Sumo Bruno (Japan). On the minus side, France's two prestige picks in competition, Sade and Merci pour le chocolat, flopped, while Yugoslavia's The Mechanism revolted the critics. See you next year in Montreal!

FilmFestivals.com reporter
Dominique Arel

2000 World Film Festival Awards

Grand Prix des Amériques
Innocence (Australia), dir. Paul Cox
Le goût des autres (France), dir. Agnès Jaoui

Jury's Grand Prize
Smell of Camphor, Fragrance of Jasmine (Iran), dir. Bahman Farmanara

Grand Prix Spécial des Amériques
Gong Li, career achievement

Best Actress
Gong Li, The Broken Silence (China)
Isabelle Huppert, Merci pour le chocolat (France)

Best Actor
Mark Ruffalo, You Can Count on Me (USA)

Best Director
Silvio Caiozzi, Coronation (Chili)

Best Artistic Contribution
Denis Villeneuve, Maëlstrom (Canada)

Best Screenplay
Pupi Avati, Midsummer Night Dance (Italy)

Best First Film (Montreal Prize)
Daughters of the Sun, dir. Mariam Shahriar (Iran)
Special mention to Stand by, dir. Roch Stephanik (France)

Most Popular Film (Air Canada Prize)
Innocence, dir. Paul Cox (Australia)

Most Popular Canadian Film (Fedex Prize)
Maëlstrom, dir. Denis Villeneuve

FIPRESCI Prize
Combat d'amour en songe, dir. Raoul Ruiz (Chili-France)

Ecumenical Prize
Ai Zaoua, dir. Nabil Ayouch (Morocco-France)
Special mention to You Can Count on Me, dir. Kenneth Lonergan (USA)

Best Short Film
Unguent for Sore Hands, dir. Cezary Jaworsky (Venezuela)
Animal, dir. Miguel Diez Lasangre (Spain)