Control double winner at Edinburgh

by Naman Ramachandran

27/08/2007 - The 61st edition of the Edinburgh International Film Festival saw Anton Corbijn’s Control [trailer] win the prestigious Michael Powell Award for Best New Feature Film.

In addition, Sam Riley, who portrayed tormented Joy Division singer Ian Curtis in the film, walked away with the Best Performance in a British Feature Film award.

Upon receiving the award from director Stephen Frears and Scottish actress Kate Dickie, Corbijn said, “It's fabulous. It’s my first movie so I had no expectations for the film. I did all these things that people said I shouldn't be doing. Shooting in black and white, having an unknown as the main character, putting my own money in. Most of these things are what people say are great.”

Riley was grateful to Corbijn, saying, “He took a lot of risks with this film, which he hasn't really mentioned. He gave me the biggest opportunity of my life. I was working in a bar in Leeds when I got this job!”

The Audience Award went to documentary We Are Together (Thina Simunye) [trailer] that looks at the plight of South African orphans. Director Paul Taylor said, “We're incredibly proud to win the audience award, because it means they're connecting with the people in the film as much as we are.”

Producer Teddy Leifer added, “EMI, who are releasing the film in the UK, are doing an incredible thing. They're giving all their profits from the film to the kids in the film through our charity.”

Jennifer Venditti's Billy the Kid won the Best Documentary Award and the Skillset New Directors Award went to Lucia Puenzo for her hermaphrodite drama XXY [trailer], this year’s Grand Prize winner of Cannes’ Critics’ Week.

Other winners include James Griffiths’ The One and Only Herb McGwyer Plays Wallis Island, which won the UK Film Council Kodak Award for Best British Short Film; the European Film Academy Short Film Prix UIP for Simon Ellis’ Soft; the Short Scottish Documentary Award for Yasmin Fedda’s Breadmakers; and the New British Animation Award for Peter Baynton’s Over the Hill.