The 2022 Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Top Films

Prayers for the Stolen captured the Best International Film of the Year by the Palm Springs International Film Festival.
PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY PALM SPRINGS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

Despite its cancellation due to the rise of Omicron Covid cases, the Palm Springs International Film Festival has announced this year’s juried award winners led by Mexico’s Prayers for the Stolen, which was named Best International Feature Film of the Year and also winner of the Ibero-American Award for the Best Film from Latin America, Spain or Portugal.

The festival had planned to screen 127 films from 70 countries.

The films were juried by Alka Sadat (Afghan filmmaker and activist), Jan Cvitkovič (Slovenian filmmaker), Hassan Gholizadeh (Iranian director of cinematography and filmmaker), Keely Badger (social activist and executive director MOZAIK Philanthropy, Bridging the Borders Award Sponsor), Susan Morgan Cooper (American documentary filmmaker and social activist), Marcy Garriott (American filmmaker and activist), Bambadjan Bamba (award-winning actor, filmmaker and activist), and Bijan Tehrani (Iranian/American filmmaker and editor in chief of Cinema Without Borders, head of the jury).

The jury award categories included the FIPRESCI Prize for films in the International Feature Film Oscar submissions program; Best Documentary Award for compelling non-fiction filmmaking; New Voices New Visions Award for unique viewpoints from first- and second-time directors; Ibero-American Award for the best film from Latin America, Spain or Portugal; Local Jury Award for the film which promoted understanding and acceptance between people; and finally, the MOZAIK Bridging the Borders Award, presented by MOZAIK Philanthropy, which celebrates courageous independent cinema.

Judges were impressed by this animation film, Flee, which won Best Documentary.

The complete list of award winners are:

FIPRESCI Prize for Best International Feature Film of the Year

Prayers For the Stolen (Mexico), drected by Tatiana Huezo.

FIPRESCI Prize for the Best Actor in an International Feature Film

Amir Jadidi from A Hero (Iran).

FIPRESCI Prize for Best Actress in an International Feature Film

Agathe Rousselle from Titane (France/Belgium).

FIPRESCI Prize for International Screenplay:

A Hero (Iran), screenwriter Asghar Farhadi.

Best Documentary Award

Flee (Denmark), Directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen. Special Mention: The Caviar Connection (France), directed by Benoît Bringer

Happening, a film depicting both the physical horror of unsanctioned abortions as well as the social terrors, earned the New Voices/New Vision Award.

New Voices/New Visions Award

Happening (France), directed by Audrey Diwan. Special Mention: Wildhood (Canada/Germany), directed by Bretten Hannam.

Ibero-American Award

Prayers For the Stolen (Mexico), directed by Tatiana Huezo. Special Mention: Medusa (Brazil/USA), directed by Anita Rocha da Silveira and 7 Lives, 7 Lakes (Spain), directed by Víctor Escribano.

Local Jury Award

Escape from Mogadishu (South Korea), directed by Ryoo Seung-wan. Special Mention: Mission: Joy – Finding Happiness in Troubled Times (USA), directed by Louie Psihoyos, Peggy Callahan.

Young Cineastes Award

Yuni (Indonesia), directed by Kamila Andini. Special Mention: Any Day Now (Finland), directed by Hamy Ramezan.

MOZAIK Bridging the Borders Award

A Hero (Iran), director Asghar Farhadi.. Special Mentions: Fear (Bulgaria), directed by Ivaylo Hristov and Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America (USA), directed by Emily Kunstler and Sarah Kunstler

At this time Palm Springs ShortFest is scheduled to return June 21-27, 2022. The Palm Springs International Film Festival and Film Awards will return to an in-person event in January 2023.