Will Anderson and Ainslie Hamilton, both Scottish filmmakers, won the Powell And Pressburger Award, the new main competition award, at the Edinburgh Film Festival. This was their first feature film. Dom the Cat.
Anderson and Henderson both star in and co-direct the indie flick, which follows how Anderson deals with the grief of his mother’s cancer. They work together on animations and deal with the difficulties of making the documentary. Will is left alone and turns to DOM, an animated cat who lives on his laptop screen.
The jury consisted of the president Gaylene Guld, Rosie Crerar (producer) and Sarah Winman (author). “special collaboration” between the legendary British filmmakers Powell and Pressburger which they said “was grounded in deeply human stories and the belief that life can be magic”Hand the award to Dom the Cat.
Anderson and Henderson accepted the honor. “To screen our first feature at EIFF was an honor… but to take away the first Powell & Pressburger Award is just so special. A Cat Called Dom is a film about embracing failure… after EIFF it now feels much more like a success.”
In other main competition awards, Edinburgh’s Audience Award, voted by the viewing public, was won by Hassan Nazer’s film Winners.
Produced Nadira Murray, and Paul Welsh WinnersIt is located in a poor area of an Iranian small town, where children must work to support their families. Yahya, a nine-year-old boy, is one of these children. His little hands are busy scouring huge piles of junk for hidden treasures. Yahya discovers an Oscar statue that has not been claimed. This leads to an adventure filled journey for the boy, and also serves as a loving tribute to Iranian cinema’s history.
“Winning the audience award at EIFF means everything to me. I have been working towards this since I decided to become a filmmaker,”Nazer stated.
“I make films for the audience and will continue to do so. It’s a great thing to be part of an ethnic minority living in Scotland where your vision is a mix of your background and new home. My aim is to always tie my cultures together and celebrate diversity through cinema. I’m very thankful our work has been recognized by Screen Scotland and EIFF.”
The Norman McLaren British Short Animation Awards went to StayYu Sun and Karla Crome won the British Short Film award. Canvas 5.
This was the 75th Edinburgh Film Festival and the first edition under the new Creative Director Kristy Matson. There were 91 new films screened at the festival, including 42 films by women, agender directors, or codirectors in the EIFF2022 program.
Next year, the festival will shift dates and run from Friday 18th August – Saturday 26th August 2023.