Editor

The 11th Philadelphia Festival of World Cinema secured its standing as one
of the largest, and certainly one of the fastest-growing, film festivals in
the United States when officials announced a record attendance figure of close
to 45,000 filmgoers.

Since its opening on April 4 with the Mummers documentary Strut!, the
festival presented 272 screenings, of which 46 were complete sellouts. Of the
156 feature films and 19 documentaries, four were world premieres, 11 were North
American premieres, 11 were US premieres and 19 were East Coast premieres.

The festival's two best-attended films were the police drama Emmett's Mark
and the hip-hop drama Snipes, with three sellout performances each. Both
were made in Philadelphia and were also among the audience's highest-rated films.
Films with double sellouts were US' Bikini Bandits: The Movie , Devil's
Playground, My Voyage to Italy , Strut!, Indian Everybody
Says I'm Fine, Argentina's Inheritance, French Murderous Maids,
Japanese Suicide Club and Trouble Every Day, a joint production
by France, Germany and Japan.

At the Closing Night Party on April 17, festival officials announced its jury,
programming and audience awards. Nineteen films were selected for the competition.
The three jury members were Andrew Repasky McElhinney, producer/director of
the upcoming film Flowers of Evil; John Toner, executive director of
the County Theater in Doylestown, PA and Carolyn Schlecker, managing director
of the Philadelphia Fringe Festival.

The winners were: Best Feature Film - Very Opposite Sexes, by French
director Eric Assous, a North American premiere; Best Director - Yugoslavian
Darko Bajic, for War Live; Best First Film - Shrapnel in Peace,
by Iranian director Ali Shah-Hatami; and the Special Jury Award went to US'
Emmett's Mark, by Keith Snyder, a world premiere.

Fourteen documentaries were in the jury competition, decided by radio journalist
Barbara Bogae, award-winning animator Paul Fierlinger and Lisa McWilliams, executive
director of the Mobile Film School. The prize was awarded to Great Britain's
Runaway, directed by Ziba Mir-Hosseini and Kim Longinotto.

Strut!, by director Max L. Raab won the Grand Prize Award, a new award
presented this year by the festival's programming staff.

Audience awards were given out for Best Feature Film and Best Documentary.
The results were based on tens of thousands of ballots filled out by audience
members after every screening. The winners were: Best Feature Film - Atanarjuat,
The Fast Runner, won by Canada's Zacharias Kunuk and Paul Apak Angilirq.
Best Documentary - Blue Vinyl, by American Daniel B. Gold and Judith
Helfand.

Other awards were announced earlier in the festival. On Sunday, April 14, the
Philadelphia CityPaper Festival of Independents, a showcase for independent
Philadelphia filmmakers, announced its award winners. The Best Documentary Short
went to Heaven's Crossroads, by Kimi Takesue, Best Animation to In
the Future, produced by Karl Staven, Best Narrative Short to Mean People
Suck, by Matthew Cole Weiss, and Best Experimental Short to In the Shadow
of the Shortest Saint, by Mike O'Reilly.

The Best Feature Award went to US premiere Snipes, by US director Rich
Murray,who was also rewarded the NFL Films Technical Achievement Award. As part
of its award, NFL Films will offer Mr. Murray $2,000 in technical services and
support for his next project.

On Saturday, April 6, the Set in Philadelphia Screenwriting Competition (SIP)
awarded the Grand and Regional prizes to one screenwriter, Hal Borden, for his
screenplay I'd Rather Be in Philadelphia. The competition was presented
by Greater Philadelphia Filmmakers, and the award was announced by Kim Delaney,
star of the television series Philly and NYPD Blue and a Grand
Prize Judge.

Ms. Delaney was one of more than 100 filmmakers and industry leaders who attended
the Philadelphia Festival of World Cinema. Leading the list were the festival's
award recipients. American actress Jill Clayburgh came to accept the Artistic
Achievement Award in Acting and to introduce her new film Never Again
with its director Eric Schaeffer; she was accompanied by Joe Amodei, President
of Universal Films Home Entertainment.

British actor Alan Bates took his one day of the week off from the Broadway
run of "Fortune's Fool" to accept the Artistic Achievement Award in
Directing for John Schlesinger, who was unable to attend.

British director Ken Russell came to receive the TLA Phantasmorgia Award and
introduce the North American premiere of his new film, The Fall Of The Louse
Of Usher; he also participated in Mr. Schlesinger's award ceremony.

American director John Sayles received the American Independents Award; one
of the highlights of the festival was the hour-long, sold-out Conversation with
John Sayles at the Prince Music Theater.

Other headlining guests were actor Michael Imperioli, who introduced his new
film Love in the Time of Money with its director Peter Mattei; and actor
Steve Guttenberg, who made a surprise appearance to introduce the world premiere
of Emmett's Mark with its director Keith Snyder.

Among the international guests were Fabian Bielinsky (Nine Queens) from
Argentina; Eric Assous (Very Opposite Sexes), Gahité Fofana (Temporary
Registration) and Yves Pasquier (Taking Sides) from France; Rahul
Bose (Everybody Says I'm Fine) and Digvijay Singh (Maya) from
India; Kazuhiko Nakamura (Bastoni-The Stick Handlers - a world premiere)
from Japan; Dae-Seung Kim (Bungee Jumping of Their Own) and Bang-Nam
Kim (Ray-Bang) from South Korea; and Mykola Mazyar (Second Class Citizens),
the Director of the Department of Film for the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine.