Wadjda wins at Durban film festival

Scroll down for full list of awards

Haifaa Al Mansour’s Wadjda has picked up the best first feature award at the 34^th Durban International Film Festival in South Africa.

The film, about a young girl who enters a Qur’an-reading competition to raise the money to buy a bike, is the first to be shot by a woman in Saudi Arabian.

The best feature film award went to Japanese drama The Land of Hope, including a cash prize of $5,100 (R50,000).

The International Jury commended director Sion Sono for a film that “masterfully and humbly draws together an array of cinematic means of expression to engage us in a story”.

Best direction went to Xavier Dolan for Laurence Anyways, a film that also saw Suzanne Clement share the best actress award with Gloria’s Paulina Garcia.

In the audience awards, Roberta Durrant’s Felix won best film and Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer won best documentary.

The festival in Durban began with controversy earlier this month when Jahmil XT Qubeka’s Of Good Report was pulled by South African censor FPB (Film and Publication Board) on the basis that it contained child pornography.

The FPB subsequently reversed their decision and gave the film an R-Rating of 16 on Saturday [July 27].

The film was not screened in any of its allocated slots as a result of the refusal for classification and so could not be in competition but Durban festival manager Peter Machen announced a new annual award for Artistic Bravery, the first of which was given to director XT Qubeka.

Of Good Report was screened on the last day of the festival [July 28].

Full list of awards

Best Feature Film
The Land of Hope (dir. Sion Sono)

Best First Feature Film
Wadjda (dir. Al-Mansour Haifaa)

Best South African Feature Film
Durban Poison (dir. Andrew Worsdale)

Best Direction
Xavier Dolan for Laurence Anyways

Best Cinematography
MatÍas Penachino for Halley

Best Screenplay
Asghar Fahradi for The Past

Best Actor
David and Eitan Cunio for Youth

Best Actress
Paulina Garcia for Gloria
Suzanne Clément for Laurence Anyways

Durban International Film Festival Award for Artistic Bravery
Jahmil XT Qubeka

Best Short Film
Mercy (dir. Eliza Subotowicz)

Best South African Short Film
The Brave Unseen (dir. Duan Myburgh)

Best Documentary Film
Far out isn’t Far Enough: The Tomi Ungerer Story (dir. Brad Bernstein)

Best South African Documentary Film
Angel’s In Exile (dir. Billy Raftery)

Special Mention Documentary Film
I Am Breathing (dir. Emma Davie and Morag McKinonn)

Special Mention Documentary Film
Orania (dir. Tobias Lindner)

Special Mention Documentary Film
Algorithms (dir. Ian McDonald)

Amnesty International Durban Human Rights Award
Pussy Riot – A Punk Prayer (dir. Mike Lerner and Maxim Pozdorovkin)

Audience Choice Best Film
Felix (dir. Roberta Durrant)

Audience Choice Best Documentary
Pussy Riot – A Punk Prayer (dir. Mike Lerner and Maxim Pozdorovkin)

Audience Choice Best Wavescapes Film
Stand (dir. Anthony Bonello and Nicolas Teichrob)

Audience Choice Best WildTalk Film
2 Wings Many Prayers (dir. Lloyd Ross)