By Skip Sheffield
BOCA RATON — “We will be back for a 17th year,” promised PBIFF chair Yvonne Boice at the Silver Screen Splash Awards March 25. “Palm Beach International Film Festival is grateful for your support.”
Instead of a black-tie gala, PBIFF had a more relaxed and informal gathering of filmmakers, stars and fans by the pool at Boca Raton Resort & Club. Honored with PBIFF’s Lifetime Achievement Award was Richard Jenkins, whose latest film, “Norman,” was screened at the festival.
The 16th annual Palm Beach International Film Festival ends Thursday, March 31 with a “Best of the Fest” screening at the Living Room Theaters at Florida Atlantic University. Winners of this year’s awards were announced at a press conference Monday at the Marriott of Delray Beach.
Best Feature Film went to the British film “The First Grader,” the true story of an 84-year-old Kenyan ex-Mau Mau fighter who went to school for the first time at his advanced age.
Best Documentary went to “The Rescuers,” which is the saga of Holocaust survivors in 15 countries. Director Michael King and producer Joyce Mandell were on hand to accept the award and they also attended the Silver Screen Splash.
Best Short Film was “Bedfellows,” a modern-day children’s fable set in New York City. Director Pierre Stefanos accepted the award.
Scene from “First Grader.”
Perhaps the most important award is the one voted on by filmgoers themselves. This year’s Audience Choice for Best Feature went to the smart and sexy “Fully Loaded.” This is one of the few films I actually got to see, and I’m so glad I did. It was written and directed by Shira Piven and stars Paula Killen and Lisa Orkin, who also starred in an earlier stage version of the show in Los Angeles.
Killen and Orkin play divorcees out on the town, encountering various male types, including a seductive young man played by rock musician Dweezil Zappa. Watching the film was very much like eavesdropping on an intimate, brutally honest but quite funny conversation between two female best friends.
Audience Choice Award for Best Short film went to “Hard to Come By,” which had its world premiere at PBIFF. The film is about a man who has just lost his wife of 32 years and is sliding into depression, yet meets someone who offers him new hope.
Announced at last Friday’s Student Showcase awards at Lynn University were Burt Reynolds scholarship winners Tyler Rabinowitz and Arman Uplekar, both from Dreyfoos School of the Arts. Reynolds presented his $5,000 award in person at a packed house at the Wold Center for the Arts.
Attendance was up for this year, and many of the screenings actually sold-out, according to publicist Carol Marshall of Los Angeles. Congratulations to all of you involved with Palm Beach International Film Festival, especially Executive Director Randi Emerman. You have done Palm Beach County proud.