Tribeca Film Festival Announces Winners!

"This is very overwhelming," said Sweden's Tomas Alfredson as he took to the stage Thursday night to accept the Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature for his coming-of-age vampire tale Let the Right One In. "Since I am a director, I wonder if I could make a film for the people back home." Festival co-founders Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal watched as Alfredson took out a small camera and asked the crowd at the modish Target-Tribeca Filmmaker Lounge to help him with a "script" he had prepared. "It's in Swedish," he said. "When I say action, you say 'skol,'" a Swedish salute. Alfredson enthusiastically readied his camera and, with everyone waiting for the big moment, hilariously futzed around with the settings. Finally, we gave our roaring skol, and Alfredson graciously gave another round of thanks. As the pictures and interviews almost immediately began, Alfredson said everyone at the Tribeca Film Festival had already been treating him like a star. "My mouth is dry," he answered when asked how he planned to celebrate the big win. "A couple of glasses of wine maybe."

Earlier, juror Oliver Platt presented My Marlon and Brando director Hüseyin Karabey the award for best new narrative filmmaker. "I want to dedicate this award to the people who lost their lives in Iraq," said an emotional Karabey. "We wanted to tell one of their stories." Gini Reticker's Pray the Devil Back to Hell took the prize for best documentary feature. Reticker took the stage with a weeping Abigail Disney, the film's producer, to accept. "I can't tell you how much this means to the women of Liberia and women looking for peace all over the world," Reticker said. The New York State LOVES Film Best Documentary Award went to Daniela Zanzotto for Zoned In, which she filmed over the course of nine years in the South Bronx, "a part of New York not always shown," she said. "I hope this will get the film out there. It needs friends."

Highlights from the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival awards show will air Saturday at 7:30 p.m. on WNBC. The Cadillac Award for audience choice will also be announced at that time. Check out the full list of winners, prizes, and jury comments after the jump.

The Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature – Let the Right One In (Lat den rätte komma in), directed by Tomas Alfredson (Sweden). Winner receives $25,000 cash and the art award Maternal Nocture: Clearing Storm, created by Stephen Hannock. 

Jury Comments: “For its mesmerizing exploration of loneliness and alienation through masterful reexamination of the vampire myth.”

Best New Narrative Filmmaker – My Marlon and Brando (Gitmek), directed by Hüseyin Karabey (Turkey, Netherlands, UK). Winner receives $25,000 cash, sponsored by American Express, and the art award Bonfire, created by Ross Bleckner. 

Jury Comments: “For its skillful blending of documentary style with a classic love story and ultimate creation of a truly modern and unlikely international heroine.”

Best Actor in a Narrative Feature Film – Thomas Turgoose and Piotr Jagiello in Somers Town, directed by Shane Meadows (UK). Sponsored by Delta Air Lines. Each winner receives a business elite ticket voucher for anywhere Delta travels. 

Jury Comments: “For an extraordinary and exhilarating rendering of a friendship found, the Narrative Feature Jury is awarding the Best Actor prize to this magical team.”

Best Actress in a Narrative Feature Film – Eileen Walsh in Eden, directed by Declan Recks (Ireland). Sponsored by Delta Air Lines. Winner receives two business elite ticket vouchers for anywhere Delta travels.

Jury Comments: “For her exquisite rendering of a lonely wife aching to be seen and heard.”

Best Documentary Feature – Pray the Devil Back to Hell, directed by Gini Reticker (USA). Winner receives $25,000 cash and the art award Liza Minnelli, created by Timothy White. 

Jury Comments: “In a relentless pursuit of peace, the women of Liberia show us how community, motherly love, and perseverance can change the fate of a society. Pray the Devil Back to Hell is a reminder that we have the power to say 'Enough!' to the atrocities of our world.”

Best New Documentary Filmmaker – Old Man Bebo, directed by Carlos Carcas (Spain). Winner receives $25,000 cash, sponsored by American Express, and the art award Maquette for Primary Compass, created by Don Gummer. 

Jury Comments: “We the jury feel that Carlos Carcas showed us that if you truly have art in your body and soul it will find its way out into the world.  We applaud the filmmaker for bringing Old Man Bebo into our consciousness.”

New York State LOVES Film Best Documentary – Zoned In, directed by Daniela Zanzotto (USA,UK). Winner receives $5,000 cash, sponsored by New York State Governor's Office for Motion Picture and Television Development, and the art award Table Odeon, created by Donna Ferrato. 
Special Mention: Hotel Gramercy Park, directed by Douglas Keeve (USA).

Jury Comments: “This was a challenging and spirited discussion with two clear favorites: both films are very different and the jury felt that both should get equal mention even though only one gets the prize. We thought Hotel Gramercy Park was a highly entertaining and moving story about a New York family and a New York institution coming to terms with a changing city, but in the end we felt Zoned In deserved the prize for having the bravery to tell a seemingly typical story that ends up revealing bold and difficult truths.”

Made In NY Narrative – The Caller, directed by Richard Ledes (USA). Winner receives $5,000 cash, sponsored by The City of New York Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting, and the art award Nude on Guitar, created by Ralph Gibson. 

Jury Comments: “The Caller superbly uses its New York locations, from the sleek mid-town high-rises to the desolate Brooklyn Bridge piers, to create a chilling and finally stirring suspense movie: an unusual thriller whose mysterious plot finally exposes the mysteries of the heart.” 

Best Narrative Short – New Boy, directed by Steph Green. Sponsored by Edelman Studios. Winner receives $5,000 cash and the art award Air, created by Francesco Clemente. 

Jury Comments: “New Boy took us on a complete emotional journey. It was moving, funny, and powerful.”

Best Documentary Short – Mandatory Service, directed by Jessica Habie. Sponsored by Edelman Studios. Winner receives $5,000 cash and the art award The Screamer, created by John Alexander. 

Jury Comments: “Mandatory Service, a perspective of war and conflict from participants themselves. The Israeli’s empathy for the Palestinians is not a perspective we glimpse too often in Western media.”

Student Visionary Award – Elephant Garden, directed by Sasie Sealy. Sponsored by Apple. Winner receives an Apple Mac Pro Desktop with a 15" Display, Final Cut Studio 2, and the art award Harmonium, created by Clifford Ross.

Jury Comments: “Elephant Garden captured the inner life of a beautiful young girl and her confusion as she becomes a young adult. Wonderful visual storytelling, and the performance of Kelley Mack is stellar.”

View all of the art awards here.