Meadows’ Somers Town tops Edinburgh

It was originally set up as a short film, but it quickly became a feature length film and wowed audiences at Berlin, that got noticed at Tribeca and as of today, raised eyebrows at Edinburgh International Film Festival. Awarded with the top prize (a cash award of 20,000 pounds), Shane Meadows shot on 16 mm in black and white, the 26-page script by Paul Fraser, this follows Turgoose’s character as a young runaway who befriends a young Polish boy in the north London area of Somers Town.

Meadows received wide acclaim for another film featuring a minor. Set in 1983, This Is England centers around 12 year old Shaun is a lonely boy growing up in a grim coastal town in northern England, whose father died fighting in the Falklands War. (Read our interview with the filmmaker here).

A jury statement described Meadows’ film as “the freshest, most imaginative, maverick work” in the race for this year’s award. After shifting dates, the festival, now being described as an European Sundance, actually handed a pair of prizes to two features/directors (Marianna Palka for Good Dick and James Marsh’s Man on Wire) that were presented in Park City, Utah back in January.

For a complete listing of the festival’s winners, see the full list of award winners below including the Best Video Award.

Michael Powell Award for Best New British Feature Film sponsored by the UK Film Council
Somers Town (dir. Shane Meadows)

PPG Award for Best Performance in a British Feature Film
Robert Carlyle for Summer

Standard Life Audience Award
Man on Wire (dir. James Marsh)

Best Documentary Award
Encounters at the End of the World (dir. Werner Herzog)

Skillset New Directors Award
Marianna Palka for Good Dick

UK Film Council Award for Best British Short Film
Son (dir. Daniel Mulloy)

European Film Academy Short Film 2008 – Prix UIP
2 Birds (dir. Rúnar Rúnarsson)

Scottish Short Documentary Award supported by Baillie Gifford
Christmas with Dad (dir. Conor McCormack)

McLaren Award for New British Animation in partnership with BBC Film Network
Space Travel According to John (dir. Jamie Stone & Anders Jedenfors)

Mirrorball Best British Music Video Award
Happiness by Goldfrapp (dir. Dougal Wilson)