The 2005 Tribeca Film Festival Awards Ceremony took place Saturday, April 30, at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center at BMCC. Awards were given for both narrative and documentary films, feature-length and shorts.
And the winners are…

BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE
Stolen Life (Sheng Si Jie) (China)
Director: Li Shaohong

NARRATIVE FEATURE SPECIAL MENTION
My Brother’s Summer (L’estate di mio Fratello) (Italy)
Director: Pietro Reggiani

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
El Perro Negro: Stories from the Spanish Civil War (Netherlands/Hungary)
Director: Peter Forgacs

EMERGING NARRATIVE FILMMAKER AWARD
Alicia Scherson, Play (Chile/Argentina)

EMERGING DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER AWARD
Jeff Zimbalist, Matt Mochary, Favela Rising (Brazil/USA)

BEST ACTRESS IN A NARRATIVE FEATURE
Felicity Huffman, Transamerica (Director: Duncan Tucker; USA)

BEST ACTOR IN A NARRATIVE FEATURE
Cees Geel, Simon (Director: Eddy Terstall; Netherlands)

MADE IN NEW YORK
BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE
Red Doors (USA)
Director: Georgia Lee

MADE IN NEW YORK NARRATIVE FEATURE SPECIAL MENTION
Bittersweet Place (USA)
Director: Alexandra Brodsky

NEW YORK LOVES FILM
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Rikers High (USA/France)
Director: Victor Buhler

NEW YORK LOVES FILM DOCUMENTARY FEATURE SPECIAL MENTION
The American Ruling Class (USA)
Director: John Kirby

AUDIENCE AWARD
Street Fight (USA)
Director: Marshall Curry

KIDS PICK FAMILY SHORT
Spandex: A Father's Tale (USA)
Director: Matthew Manson

BEST NARRATIVE SHORT
Cashback (UK)
Director: Sean Ellis

NARRATIVE SHORT SPECIAL MENTION
Jihad (USA)
Director: Michael Shapiro

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
The Life of Kevin Carter (USA)
Director: Dan Krauss

BEST STUDENT VISIONARY SHORT
Dance Mania Fantastic (USA)
Director: Sasie Sealy

About the winner: Stolen Life from Li Shaohong ( China, 2005, 90 min)

Yan'ni's prospects as a teenager in China look bleak. Even her peasant family believes she is not going to amount to much, but when she is accepted to a nearby university she believes she has found a way out of. She sets off for college full of hope for her future, and it quickly seems as if that future is materializing. On her first day at school she literally runs into the very attractive Muyu, who immediately begins to court her. Soon they are very much involved, and the world looks bright to Yan'ni. She is getting a good education, and is living with the man she loves, who wants to marry her. Little does she know that Muyu is staging an intricate and lengthy deception, one that he has pulled off before. Midway through the film, our tale becomes very dark, but director Li Shaohong deftly handles sentimentalizing Yan'ni's plight, giving her grit and determination. Struggling to survive after having left college because of her relationship, Yan'ni is forced into menial jobs to make a living. And she soon realizes that Muyu has engaged in a new deception with another woman, similar to the events that happened to her, and tries to help the new woman in Muyu's life. As Yan'ni plots revenge against her ex-lover, she must decide whether revenge really does taste sweet.