57th Festival 2010

This year 157 films from 47 countries were screened. Featured in the Official Competition were films by renowned directors Michael Winterbottom, Todd Solondz and Brillante Mendoza along with Iranian artist Shirin Neshat; three films direct from Cannes (Heartbeats, The Tree and Palme d’Or winner Uncle Boonme Who Can Recall His Past Lives) and the World Premiere of an Australian film, Ben C. Lucas’ debut feature Wasted on the Young. The prize was taken by Canadian wunderkind Xavier Dolan for his second feature, Heartbeats.

Out-of-competition screenings included international festival winners Lebanon, Cairo Time, Winter’s Bone and Academy Award Nominees Ajami, The Messenger and The Most Dangerous Man in America.

A program entitled Sounds on Screen’ took place at the Sydney Opera House, featuring music documentaries followed by live performances. The Richard Kuipers-programmed Immortal Seduction, a series of vampire films, included Guy Maddin’s Dracula: Pages from a Virgin’s Diary, Park Chan-Wook’s Thirst and cinematic classic Nosferatu.

The winner of the Yoram Gross Animation Award, Shaun Tan’s and Andrew Ruhemann’s The Lost Thing, would go on to win an Academy Award.

Opening Night Film: South Solitary (directed by Shirley Barrett)

Closing Night Film: The Kids Are All Right (directed by Lisa Cholodenko)

Sydney Film Prize:

Heartbeats, directed Xavier Dolan

FOXTEL Australian Documentary Prize:

The Snowman, directed by Juliet Lamont

Dendy Award for Australian Short Films (Fiction):

The Kiss, directed by Ashlee Page

Yoram Gross Animation Award:

The Lost Thing, directed by Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann

Rouben Mamoulian Award

Ariel Kleiman, director of Deeper than Yesterday