A movie about the unraveling of a Turkish family and a documentary that explores reincarnation took top honors yesterday at the RiverRun International Film Festival.
Winning best narrative feature was Three Monkeys, directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan. The film is about a family that falls apart after the father takes the blame for a crime he didn't commit.
The best documentary feature jury award went to Unmistaken Child, which was directed by Nati Baratz. The movie is about the journey of a young monk who travels through Nepal and Tibet to find the reincarnation of his spiritual master.
The prizes were announced yesterday at the Main Theatre at the UNC School of the Arts.
In an interview before the award ceremony yesterday, Charles Coleman, a juror for the documentary feature competition, said he was looking for a film that didn't try to oversell its message or preach to the audience.
Coleman is the film program director of the Facets Cinematheque in Chicago, which presents new and classic foreign films and independent cinema. He also organizes the film courses at the Facets Film School.
"We want to have a movie confident in its own material," he said. "It should provoke more questions than answers."
Unmistaken Child was one of several films Coleman judged that stood out, he said. The movie did what he believes should be a goal for all films, which is help expose people to new experiences and new cultures.
Brett Ingram, the director of the documentary Rocaterrania, was the only filmmaker who was there to collect his award.
Many of the filmmakers had left during the weekend, Andrew Rodgers, the executive director of the film festival, said.
Ingram's movie received the special jury prize for original music.
The documentary explores the country of Rocaterrania, which was created by artist Renaldo Kuhler of Raleigh.
As he accepted the award yesterday, Ingram said he appreciated the musicians who worked on the movie.
"It was a long, long journey," he said.
The rest of the winners were:
□ Best director, narrative feature: Paolo Sorrentino, II Divo.
□ Best screenplay, narrative feature: Tulpan.
□ Best actor: Toni Servillo, II Divo.
□ Best actress: Hatice Asian, Three Monkeys.
□ Best cinematography, narrative feature: Luca Bigazzi, II Divo.
□ Best director, documentary feature: Robert Kenner, Food Inc.
□ Best documentary short: The Witness: From the Balcony of Room 306.
□ Best narrative short: Pop Art.
□ Best animated short: This Way Up.
□ Honorable mention, documentary short: Irinka and Sandrinka.
□ Special jury prize for cinematic audacity: Rumba.
■ Michael Hewlett can be reached at 727-7326 or at mhewlett@wsjournal.com.
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