The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins has won an editing award at the Sundance Film Festival.

The World Cinema Documentary Editing Award was won by Irena Dol at the Festival's closing Awards Ceremony in Utah. The film follows contemporary artist Vanessa Beecroft, whose depictions of nude models have stirred controversy among critics, as she risks her marriage and career to adopt Sudanese twins.

Director Pietra Brettkelly accepted the award on behalf of Irena Dol, telling the audience that Irena was living eight hours by boat from the nearest island in Fiji.The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins has won an editing award at the Sundance Film Festival.

The World Cinema Documentary Editing Award was won by Irena Dol at the Festival's closing Awards Ceremony in Utah. The film follows contemporary artist Vanessa Beecroft, whose depictions of nude models have stirred controversy among critics, as she risks her marriage and career to adopt Sudanese twins.

Director Pietra Brettkelly accepted the award on behalf of Irena Dol, telling the audience that Irena was living eight hours by boat from the nearest island in Fiji."I can't even phone her, I don't know how I'm going to get in contact with her, but she will be thrilled, thank you."

You can see a video of Brettkelly accepting the award at the Sundance Festival website. (3.55-4.10).

It is the first time a New Zealand-made documentary has won a place at the Sundance Film Festival. The World Cinema - Documentary section, where two years ago Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth had its world release, is reserved for 16 films of the nearly 4000 films entered into the various sections at Sundance.

The World Cinema Directing Award: Documentary was presented to Nino Kirtadze, director of DURAKOVO: VILLAGE OF FOOLS (DURAKOVO: LE VILLAGE DES FOUS)/ France . The film portrays life in a castle outside Moscow, where Mikhail Morozov rules autonomously over young initiates, laying the groundwork for a rapidly growing right-wing movement.

The World Cinema Jury Prize: Documentary was presented to MAN ON WIRE/United Kingdom, directed by James Marsh. The film chronicles French artist Philippe Petit's daring dance on a wire suspended between New York's Twin Towers and his subsequent arrest for what would become known as "the artistic crime of the century."

The other grand jury prizes were:

The Grand Jury Prize Documentary: TROUBLE THE WATER, directed by Tia Lessin and Carl Deal. An aspiring rap artist and her streetwise husband, armed with a video camera, show what survival means when they are trapped in New Orleans by deadly floodwaters, and seize a chance for a new beginning.

The Grand Jury Prize Dramatic: FROZEN RIVER, directed by Courtney Hunt, about a desperate trailer mom and a Mohawk Indian girl who team up to smuggle illegal immigrants into the United States from Canada.

The World Cinema Jury Prize Dramatic: KING OF PING PONG (PING PONGKINGEN)/ Sweden , directed by Jens Jonsson. An ostracized and bullied teenager who excels only in ping pong descends into an acrimonious struggle with his younger, more popular brother when the truth about their family history and their father surfaces over the course of their spring break.

For the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, 125 feature-length films were selected including 87 world premieres, 14 North American premieres, and 11 US premieres representing 34 countries with 53 first-time feature filmmakers, including 32 in competition. These films were selected from 3,624 feature film submissions.

Find out more

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