By Travis Johnson
Romantic comedy Ali’s Wedding heads the list of audience faves at this year’s Sydney Film Festival, having handily picked up the the Foxtel Movies Audience Award for Best Feature. The film, directed by Jeffrey Walker and based on star and co-writer Osamah Sami’s real life, beat out a number of highly regarded entries, including the sumptuous Italian romance Call Me By Your Name, Aussie teen flick Rip Tide, local indie comedy That’s Not Me and the sweet natured Brigsby Bear.
AUDIENCE AWARD FOR BEST FEATURE
1. Ali’s Wedding directed by Jeffrey Walker (Australia)
2. Call Me By Your Name directed by Luca Guadagnino (Italy, France)
3. Rip Tide directed by Rhiannon Bannenberg (Australia)
4. That’s Not Me directed by Gregory Erdstein (Australia)
5. Brigsby Bear directed by Dave McCary (USA)
6. On Body and Soul directed by Ildikó Enyedi (Hungary)
7. God’s Own Country directed by Francis Lee (UK)
8. Sami Blood directed by Amanda Kernell (Sweden, Denmark, Norway)
9. The Woman Who Left directed by Lav Diaz (Philippines)
10. The Wound directed by John Trengrove (South Africa, Germany, The Netherlands, France)
In the Best Documentary category, Kate Hickey’s Roller Dreams, about the 1980s roller dance scene at Venice Beach, was the most popular, followed by The Last Goldfish, Chauka Please Tell Us The Time, The Opposition, and Barbecue coming in close behind.
AUDIENCE AWARD FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY
1. Roller Dreams directed by Kate Hickey (Australia)
2. The Last Goldfish directed by Su Goldfish (Australia)
3. Chauka Please Tell Us the Time directed by Behrouz Boochani and Arash Kamali Sarvestani (The Netherlands, Papua New Guinea)
4. The Opposition directed by Hollie Fifer (Australia)
5. Barbecue directed by Matthew Salleh (Australia)
6. The Workers Cup directed by Adam Sobel (UK)
7. RUMBLE: The Indians Who Rocked the World directed by Catherine Bainbridge and Alfonso Maiorana (Canada)
8. The Farthest directed by Emer Reynolds (Ireland)
9. The Pink House directed by Sascha Ettinger Epstein (Australia)
10. It’s Not Yet Dark directed by Frankie Fenton (Ireland)
Congratulations to all those honoured.
