Somers Town wins Edinburgh Film Festival top prize
Story by Jack Foley
BRITISH director Shane Meadows has taken the top prize at the Edinburgh Film Festival for his latest film, Somers Town.
The movie, which follows the story of a Polish teenager’s adventures after arriving in London, took home the Michael Powell Award for Best British Feature Film, continuing a memorable year for the filmmaker.
Meadows was previously honoured with the outstanding contribution to British film award at this year’s Baftas and is still riding high from the acclaim surrounding his previous feature, This Is England.
The Michael Powell award is worth £20,000 and regularly attracts a strong field of contenders. But the jury described Somers Town “as the freshest, most imaginative, maverick work”.
There were also prizes for Scottish star Robert Carlyle, who was named best actor for his performance in Summer, a drama about a man fixated on his own past, which the jury described as “flawless”.
The Standard Life Audience Award went to Man on Wire, a documentary about the true story of a daring tightrope walk between the twin towers of the World Trade Centre, while Encounters at the End of the World was named best documentary.
Marianna Palka picked up the best new director accolade for Good Dick and Christmas With Dad won the best Scottish short documentary award.
The 62nd Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) closed on Saturday night having shown 142 features from 29 countries during its 12-day run. This year’s event marked the first time it had been run outside the main festival period of August.
Films included The Edge of Love, which opened proceedings with a star-studded gala attended by Keira Knightley and Sienna Miller, Pixar’s latest hit Wall-E and Sir Ben Kingsley’s latest, The Happening, which has previously charmed film-goers at the Sundance Film Festival.