Birds Eye View unveils winners

The London-based Birds Eye View (BEV) Film Festival has unveiled its 2013 award winners.

Leila Kilani’s On the Edge [pictured] won best feature and was praised by the jury, including My Brother the Devil director Sally El Hosaini, for being a “unique, utterly consuming and brilliantly fast-paced drama”, while Eliane Raheb’s Sleepless Nights was awarded best documentary by a jury including journalist Wendy Ide.

The Emerging Talent Award (Short Film) went to Leyla Bouzid’s Soubresauts.

The winners were announced at last night’s closing gala at the BFI Southbank and were presented by festival guests including El Hosaini, the latest BEV Board member. Susan Youssef’s Dubai award-winning romance Habibi was this year’s closing film.

This year’s festival, which celebrated Arab women filmmakers, hosted 10 UK premieres with more than half of the events selling out.

BEV’s new creative director Kate Gerova commented: “I’m delighted that this year’s special Festival has been such a hit with audiences, and I’m especially pleased that it has seen growing industry attendance as well as Birds Eye View’s first ever International Delegates programme in partnership with the British Council and BAFTA.”