Montreal: Iranian director Majid Majidi’s Baran, a story of illegal Afghan workers exiled in Iran, and Hungarian director Arpad Sopsits’s Torzok (Abandoned), a grim and finely crafted dramatization of the cruel fate of abandoned children in Hungary circa 1960, shared this year’s Grand Prix des Ameriques for top film in competition at the 25th edition of the Montreal World Film Festival.

Baran had been picked up by Miramax Films prior to WFF and will be distributed in Canada by Alliance Atlantis. It was unknown as press time whether Torzok had been acquired for distribution.

The win is Majidi’s third at WFF. He won top prize in 1997 for The Children of Heaven and again in ’99 for The Color of Paradise.

The Special Grand Prize went to Argentinean/Spanish director Juan Jose Campanella for El Hijo de la Novia. Also in official competition, Catherine Martin’s historical drama Mariages, produced by Montreal’s Productions 23 and distributed by Film Tonic, won for best screenplay. New Zealand director Sima Urale’s Still Life won first prize in the short film competition.

The WFF competition awards were handed out at the closing night gala on Sept. 3.

Good Canadian reviews

Festival reviews for the three Canadian films in competition were almost all positive.

Denis Chouinard’s L’Ange de Goudron (Tar Angel), produced by Studio Max Films and distributed by Alliance Atlantis Vivafilm, won the FedEx Award for best Canadian film, as voted by the public, as well as the $25,000 Telefilm Canada Prize.

German films made their mark at this year’s festival. Roland Suso Richter’s Der Tunnel (K-Films Amerique) won the Air Canada People’s Choice award as the festival’s most popular film, while first-timer Oliver Hirschbiegel won the best director prize for Das Experiment (Christal Films).

The International Press Award (FIPRESCI) went to Claude Miller’s Betty Fisher et autres Histoires, with special mention for U.S. director Todd Field for In the Bedroom. Both films are distributed in Canada by Alliance Atlantis.

Student film and video awards

Pain Relief by Jean-Francois Daigle of Concordia University won the $1,000 National Film Board/Norman Mclaren Award for best production, as well as the prize for best fiction – video at the 32nd Canadian Student Film & Video Festival. The Kodak Canada Grand Prix for best new Canadian director, worth $5,000 in services, went to York University’s Joseph Baron for his film Four. University of British Columbia’s Michelle Porter won the best fiction – film award for Insight.

In the inaugural WFF online short film competition, the Radio-Canada www.SilenceOn Court.TV public award went to Jingle, a short by Genevieve Poulette of Institut National de l’Image et du Son.

New releases

Films programmed at WFF2001 and now in commercial release include Jean-Luc Godard’s l’Eloge de l’amour (AAV), Little Senegal (Remstar), Salsa (TVA International), L’Ange de Goudron, Jean-François Richet’s De l’amour (Remstar), Slogan (Films Seville) and the closing night gala film, Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amelie Poulin (TVA International).

Renny Barlett’s historical drama Eisenstein (Film Tonic) began an exclusive engagement at Ex-Centris on Sept. 7.

Upcoming Canadian releases include Francis Leclerc’s Une jeune fille a la fenetre (AAV), on Sept. 21, and Catherine Martin’s Mariages and Catherine Corsini’s La Repetition (FunFilm), both on Sept. 28.