Halley wins top prize at East End Film Festival

The 12th East End Film Festival (EEFF) has awarded its best feature prize, for first or second features, to Sebastian Hofmann’s Halley. Halley tells the story of a security guard at a Mexico City gym whose physical deterioration provides a stark contrast to the healthy bodies around him. Hoffman will be invited to be the festival’s director in residence next year, when EEFF will also spotlight Mexican cinema.

The jury was comprised of last year’s winner Armando Bo (El Ultimo Elvis), critic Peter Bradshaw, producer and Tugg co-founder Nicolas Gonda, My Brother The Devil director Sally El Hosaini, and RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan.

The best documentary jury, comprised of filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, musician Mark Stewart, producer Rachel Wexler and head programmer of CPH:DOX Niklas Engstrøm, chose two documentaries to share the top award. They are Marina Zenovich’s Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic and Mark Donne’s The UK Gold, which exposes the role the City of London plays in the complicated web of tax havens and tax evasion.

Best Short went to Ray Panthaki’s Life Sentence, a fictional story of two schoolboys and how their paths crossed one night in urban London.

The Best Soundtrack prize went to Underworld front man Karl Hyde’s score for The Outer Edges, which he performed live for an audience as part of EEFF’s closing night gala. 

The audience short film award went to Alexander Thomas’ The Undream.

This year EEFF added six more countries to offer work from a total of 56, and the festival has seen 450% growth in premiere status during the past five years.