Jury and Audience Awards, both sculpted by Mik Augustin. Photo by Christine Michelini
On Sunday night the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded its Best Picture Oscar to The Hurt Locker – a film about the Iraq War – and made Kathryn Bigelow, that film’s director, the first female recipient of its Best Director honor.
Shortly before the Oscar ceremonies began, Salem Film Fest announced its 2010 Jury and Audience winners, and they proved somewhat prophetic. The Audience Award balloting ended in a dead heat between two documentaries by female directors and its Jury Prize went to Severe Clear – a first hand account of the Invasion of Iraq.
The Salem Film Fest Audience chose to honor No. 4 Street of Our Lady and Rough Aunties with its Audience Award. No 4’s co-director Judy Maltz visited Salem to present her documentary – her first film effort, which was co-directed by Barbara Bird and Richie Sherman. Rough Aunties was directed by accomplished documentary maker Kim Longinotto, who recently had a retrospective of her work at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. The Festival will honor both films with a week’s run at Cinema Salem, with dates to be announced. The films employ very different styles but are both emotional and inspiring looks at heroic woman.
No. 4 Street of Our Lady is the story of Francisca Halamajowa, a Polish-Catholic woman who rescued 15 Jews during the Holocaust by passing herself off as a Nazi sympathizer. For close to two years, Francisca hid and fed her Jewish acquaintances in her tiny home and barn, right under the noses of German troops. In the film, three of the survivors, along with Halamajowa’s two granddaughters, reconnect on a trip back to Halamajowa’s home.
Rough Aunties is a look at are a group of women caring for the abused, neglected and forgotten children of Durban, South Africa. Internationally acclaimed director Kim Longinotto (Sisters in Law, Divorce Iranian Style) uses an observational style to follow an outspoken, multiracial cadre of women who wage a daily battle against systemic apathy, corruption and greed to help the most vulnerable and disenfranchised of their communities. The Salem Film Fest screening was the New England Premiere of Rough Aunties, which claimed a 2009 Sundance Film Festival Jury Prize for World Cinema.
The Salem Audience Award is decided by ballots collected by audience members after screenings. The audience votes on a scale of 1 thru 5 and the film with the highest cumulative score, divided by the number of attendees, is the winner.
Jury Award winner Severe Clear tells the story of the 2003 Invasion of Iraq and the March to Baghdad through the eyes of first Lieutenant Mike Scotti. The film was directed and edited by Kristian Fraga. Scotti and other members of his platoon shot the film’s footage between incoming and outgoing rounds. Severe Clear is a unique and unfiltered look at this moment in history, not from the perspective of reporters or filmmakers, but from actual combat troops. The award is especially timely since the film will go into theatrical release starting this Friday in New York and Los Angeles.
In just its third year Salem Film Fest is establishing itself as one of the largest presenters of documentary films in the country and a favorite of filmmakers This week, in a statement to the festival about their Jury Award, Severe Clear director Kristian Fraga wrote, “Your enthusiasm and commitment to cinema is inspiring. We’ve traveled the world with Severe Clear and it’s been a great run…Salem had a certain energy and kindness that made it one of the best festivals by far.”
The Festival also hosted an out-of-competition screening of The Cove, which was awarded the Oscar for Best Documentary.
