45 Years wins big at Edinburgh International Film Festival

The BFI-backed drama wins the Michael Powell award for Best British Feature Film while the film’s Charlotte Rampling shares the top acting prize.

26 June 2015

45 Years (2015)

Andrew Haigh’s 45 years has won the top prize at Edinburgh International Film Festival. The film, made with support from the BFI Film Fund, is about an ageing couple whose marriage is tested ahead of their 45th anniversary and also bagged an acting award, with Charlotte Rampling sharing the prize for Best Performance in a British Feature Film with James Cosmo for his performance in The Pyramid Texts.

Andrew Haigh said:

“This is a real honour and made even more special when you consider the list of British films that have won before. All you can hope for when you make a film is that it resonates with people and that is why receiving an award such as this feels so fantastic.”

Charlotte Rampling said:

“It is an extraordinary moment when you are singled out when the craft that you have been perfecting throughout your life is appreciated and rewarded. It is thrilling and humbling and I thank you so much for giving me the chance to feel so proud. I thank Andrew Haigh for seeing what he sees, Tom Courtenay for moving me to tears, and Tristan Goligher for believing that this could be made.”

Special Mentions were given to Kyle Patrick Alvarez’s The Stanford Prison Experiment and J. Davis’ Manson Family Vacation.

Marielle Heller’s The Diary of a Teenage Girl picked up the award for Best International Feature Film while Best Documentary Feature Film was awarded to Crystal Moselle’s The Wolfpack.

In the short film category, Mike Hoolboom’s Scrapbook won Best Short Film with special mentions going to Juliana Bao’s performance in Maruani Landa’s Cipriana and Ahmet Simsek’s performance in Jannis Lenz’s Shadowboxer.

The Student Critics Jury Award to Black Mountain Poets directed by Jamie Adams.

The awards ceremony took place today ahead of Sunday’s Closing Gala screening, the world premiere of Scott Graham’s Iona, which is backed by the BFI Film Fund. The EIFF Audience Award, voted for by the public, is also set to be announced.

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