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BEVERLY HILLS FILM FESTIVAL
ANNOUNCES 2006 AWARD WINNERS

“Assyriska: A National Team Without a Nation” Wins Golden Palm Award

Los Angeles (April 10, 2006) –The winners of the 6th Annual Beverly Hills International Film Festival (BHFF) — www.beverlyhillsfilmfestival.com — were announced on Sunday night, April 9, 2006, at the closing Gala Awards ceremony, which was attended by leading independent filmmakers and actors at the Beverly Hills Hotel (9641 Sunset Boulevard).

The Golden Palm Award (best film in all categories), voted on by the BHFF jury and the BHFF festival-goers, was given to “Assyriska: A National Team Without a Nation,” directed by award-winning directors Nuri Kino and Erik Sandberg. The third episode in a five-part documentary chronicles an Assyrian soccer team from a small Swedish town as it achieves international stardom while also pushing Swedish and Turkish governments to recognize the “forgotten” Assyrian Genocide of WWI.

Best Foreign Film went to “Verso La Luna Con Fellini” (“Towards the Moon with Fellini”), directed by Eugenio Cappuccio. The comical documentary features the late Italian director Federico Fellini shooting his last film, “La Voce della Luna.” After 14 years of gathering dust in the archives, “Verso” was brought to light for a World Premiere by co-producer and star Christina Engelhardt. The film is produced by Fellini and Vittorio Checchi-Gori, and stars Fellini, Roberto Benigni and Engelhardt.
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BH Film Fest director Ninous Simon flanked by Golden Palm winner Assyrian director Nuri Kino (Left) for
Assyriska: A National Team without a Nation and Best Actor winner Patrick Warburton for his role in
The Civilization of Maxwell Bright, which also won the Audience Choice Award for Best Feature Film.
Photo by: Annette Ovanessian
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Best Actor went to Patrick Warburton for his role in “The Civilization of Maxwell Bright,” directed by David Beaird.

Best Actress went to Dita Von Teese for her role in “The Death of Salvador Dali” from writer and director Delaney Bishop.

Best Director went to Harold Cronk for “War Prayer,” an intense atmospheric short film inspired by a Mark Twain story.

Best Producer went to director H. Thomas Jones for “The Real Deal,” a documentary about Los Angeles’ John Malpede and his two decade commitment to a performance theater for the homeless on Skid Rowe.

Best Director of Photography went to Denis Maloney for “The Locrian Mode,” a short urban operatic opus, written and directed by Eric O. Lodal, and starring Dominique Swain (“Alpha Dog,” “Lolita”), Schuyler Fisk (“American Gun,” “Orange County”) and Stephane Rousseau (“The Barbarian Invasions”).

Best Animation went to “Rattus Pistofficus,” from the Australian team of co-directors Sam Reed and Josh Reed and producer/writer Nigel Christensen.

Best Screenplay went to director and writer Sam Friedlander for “Lucid,” the story of two men who share one consciousness.

Best Editing went to Hayley Lake for “Brother.”

SPECIAL JURY AWARDS

Best Feature Film went to “Achados e Perdidos” (“Lost and Found”), a dramatic feature about a mysterious murder in the underbelly of Rio de Janeiro from award-winning Brazilian director Jose Joffily, starring the award-winning Antonio Fagundes.

Best Documentary went to “Rwanda Alive: Those Who Listen,” a documentary from Christopher Plutte and Brian Reeder, filmed on a surviving girl’s healing process at the 10-year commemoration of the Rwandan genocide. Plutte founded Global Nomads Group (GNG), an organization dedicated to international understanding amongst the world’s youth.

Best Short Film went to the psychological thriller “Brother,” written, directed and produced by Galvin Scott Davis.

AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARDS

Best Feature Film went to “The Civilization of Maxwell Bright,” an award-winning narrative feature about one man’s redemption and the woman who helps him find it, from producer Steven Wolfe and director David Beaird, starring Patrick Warburton, Marie Matiko, Eric Roberts, Jennifer Tilly, Carol Kane and Simon Callow.

Best Documentary went to “Orquesta Tipica: Tango or Death,” a documentary from director Nicolas Entel featuring an orchestra of twelve young men from Buenos Aires that play politically committed tango music.

Best Short went to “Escape,” a look inside the mind of a disturbed British film star, directed and written by Josh Waller.

GOLDEN PALM SCREENPLAY COMPETITION

The Golden Palm Screenplay Competition Award went to Kim Sky and Dariusz Uczkowski for “A Broken Child.” First runner-up went to Diane Uniman for “Pyramid Scheme” and second runner up went to Ken Mora for “Magnum Farce.”

THE JURY
Jury members include Mark Amin, Lions Gate Films, chairman; Laura Lucio, Emmy Award-winning journalist; John Daly, producer (“The Last Emperor,” “Platoon”) and director (BHFF Golden Palm winner of 2005, “The Aryan Couple”); Arlene Donnelly Nelson, director (HBO’s “Naked States”) and cinematographer (“A Mighty Wind”), Lawrence Kubik, film producer; and Steven Paul, Crystal Sky, CEO and president.

About BHFF
The annual International Beverly Hills Film Festival was founded in 2001 by award-winning independent filmmaker Ninous Simon. The event is dedicated to showcasing and promoting non-studio films to the entertainment industry. Designed to bridge the world of premiere independent cinema with the renowned community of Beverly Hills, the festival hosts world-class screenings, networking events and industry seminars. Sponsors include LA Confidential magazine, Lancel, Roberto Cavalli Vodka, Frida Kahlo Tequila, The Mosaic Hotel, The Crescent Hotel, SAGindie and the American Society of Cinematographers.

Screenings were held from April 5 – 9th at the state-of-the-art Clarity Theater (100 North Crescent Drive) in Beverly Hills, California.

For more information, please visit www.beverlyhillsfilmfestival.com or call the BHFF office at 310.779.1206.