2009 Miami Film Festival: March 6-15, '09
Directed by Daniele Vicari, and adapted from attorney Gianrico Carofiglio's novel by Vicari, Carofiglio, Francesco Carofiglio, and Massimo Gaudioso, Il Passato è una terra straniera / The Past is a Foreign Land stars Elio Germano as a brilliant but bored law student who, after crossings paths with a card shark (Michele Riondino), is lured into the dangerous world of fixed decks.
WORLD COMPETITION
Knight Grand Jury Prize: The Past is a Foreign Land (Il Passato È Una Terra Straniera) by Daniele Vicari, Italy
Best Director: Enrique Rivero, Parque Vía, Mexico
Best Actor: Michele Riondino, The Past is a Foreign Land (Il Passato È Una Terra Straniera) by Daniele Vicari, Italy
Best Supporting Actress: Olga Louzgina in Katia's Sister (Het Zusje Van Katia) by Mijke de Jong, Netherlands
Audience Award: Kisses by Lance Daly, Ireland/Sweden
FIPRESCI AWARD
Involuntary (De Ofrivilliga) by Ruben Östlund, Sweden
IBERO-AMERICAN COMPETITON
Knight Grand Jury Prize - Historias Extraordinarias by Mariano Llinás, Argentina
Best Actress, Catarina Zaavera for The Maid (La Nana) by Sebastián Silva, Chile/Mexico
Special Jury Mention: Tony Manero by Pablo Larraín, Chile/Brazil
Special Jury Mention: Gasoline (Gasolina) by Julio Hernández Cordon, Guatemala
Audience Award: Nora's Will (5 Dias sin Nora) by Mariana Chenillo, Mexico
DOX COMPETITON
Miami Dade College Grand Jury Prize: Shakespeare and Victor Hugo's Intimacies (Intimidades de Shakespeare y Victor Hugo) by Yulene Olaizola, Mexico
Special Jury Mention for its poetic qualities: The Inheritors (Los Herederos) by Eugenio Polgovsky, Mexico
Special Jury Mention for the courage of the subject matter: Mental (Seishin) by Kazuhiro Soda, Japan/USA
Special Jury Mention for Cinematography: 16memories (16memorias) by Camilo Botero Jaramillo, Colombia
Audience Award: 16 memories (16memorias) by Camilo Botero Jaramillo, Colombia
SHORTS COMPETITION
Miami Dade College Grand Jury Prize: First Love (Elso Szerelem) by Ildikó Enyedi, Hungary
Runner Up: Sandpit#186 (Balastiera#186) by Adina Pintilie and George Chiper, Romania
Best Performance: Carla Ribas in Day In Day Out (Cotidiano) by Joana Mariani, Brazil
Best Cinematography: Isi Sarfati for Land and Bread (Tierra y Pan) by Carlos Armella, Mexico
CUTTING THE EDGE COMPETITION
Winner: On War (De La Guerre) by Bertrand Bonello, France
Special Jury Mention: Beket by Davide Manuli, Italy
SCREENWRITER JORDAN ALEXANDER RESSLER AWARD
The Maid (La Nana) by Sebastián Silva, Chile/Mexico
INTERNATIONAL FILM GUIDE INSPIRATION AWARD
The Maid (La Nana) by Sebastián Silva, Chile/Mexico
FLORIDA FOCUS AWARDS
Miami Mini Film: Electric Revolution by Mark Moormann
Student High School Short Film: Mighty Deadly by Marcus Gonzalez
Special Jury Mention: Legacy: The Story of Miami High by Andre Benitez
Student College Student Film (tie): Suddenly the Sunrise by Jhonny Obando and The Man Who Was Bold by Michal Zebede