Curtain comes down on Gold Coast International Film Festival

Joe Nikic

The curtains closed on the 5th annual Gold Coast International Film Festival on Sunday evening following a week of movie screenings, after parties and special guest Q&A’s.

Festival Director Caroline Sorokoff said the Gold Coast Arts Center and others associated with the festival were pleased with this year’s festival.

“We were just really happy with the level and number of filmmakers that came out, which included multiple academy award nominees,” she said. “We had great films that appealed to a wide range of people. It was a huge success and continues to get bigger every year.”

The film festival began on Nov. 9 with a Q&A with Morgan Spurlock, the producer and director of the Oscar-nominated documentary “Super Size Me,” and screened 43 movies at nine different venues during the six-day period until Nov. 15.

A “Closing Night Awards Party” for filmmakers, sponsors, special guests, and all-access passholders to celebrate the festival’s conclusion and present filmmakers with various awards ended the festival.

The arts center gave out “Best Narrative” and “Best Documentary” awards, voted for by audiences at the movie screenings, as well as “Best Short” awards for short films voted for by a jury and by the audience.

“Mustang,” a Turkish film about the experiences of five sisters living in a Turkish village, won the “Best Narrative” award.

“Mind/Game: The Unquiet Journey of Chamique Holdsclaw,” a documentary about the former WNBA player’s struggles with depression, and “We Are Twisted Sister,” a documentary showcasing the band’s years prior to international fame, both won the “Best Documentary” award after tying in votes.

“Subway Love,” a poetry film told through a love story on the New York City subway, and “Tender Stories No. 1,” a film about fashion, tied to win the jury award for “Best Short.”

“The Present,” an animated film about a boy who prefers to play inside, won the jury award for “Best Student Short.”

“Grounded,” a French film about a woman attempting to fly to her mother’s burial, won the audience award for “Best Short.”

Sorokoff said the filmmakers who attended got more than expected from the film festival.

“The filmmakers who came were very, very happy and impressed that our festival that is so young is so organized and well received,” she said.

Sorokoff added that when the festival organizers looked at the audience ballots, people “almost universally loved all of the movies.”

She also said her favorite part of the festival was the launching of the “Young Filmmakers Program,” a program for kids from Kindergarten to 12th grade to submit short films to the arts center.

Now that the film festival is over, the Gold Coast Arts Center is putting together it’s year-round screening series that begins in December, Sorokoff said.

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