The Polish film "My Nikifor" (Moj Nikifor) won the Gold Hugo, the top prize of the Chicago International Film Festival's international competition, at an awards ceremony Saturday.
A story of faith and devotion during Communist rule in the 1960s, the film was directed by Krzysztof Krauze and stars Roman Gancarczyk as a failed artist who matures into a real artist and brave human being. Gancarczyk won the festival's Silver Hugo for best actor.
In the documentary category, a U.S. entry, "The Boys of Baraka," won the Gold Hugo. Directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, the film is a coming-of-age story about 20 boys from Baltimore's ghetto who attend an experimental boarding school in Kenya. "Baraka" also garnered the Aquafina Pure Vision Award and a $5,000 cash prize.
Romania's "The Death of Mr. Lazarescu" won a Silver Hugo as a Special Jury Prize in the international competition. The grimly surreal ordeal of an elderly man who seeks hospital admission and endures the painful ordeals of the bureaucratic process, "Mr. Lazarescu" was directed by Cristi Puiu.
In the best actress category, Inka Friedrich and Nadja Uhl of "Summer in Berlin" were presented Silver Hugo Awards for delicate portrayals of two single women whose friendship helps them survive at the edges of society.
France's "La Mustache," a dark comedy of manners about a successful man whose life is thrown off track when he shaves his mustache, won the 2005 FIPRESCI Prize, which recognizes first- and second-time filmmakers. "La Mustache" was directed by Emmanuel Carrere.
"The Devil's Miner" (U.S./Germany), distilling the harsh world of the Bolivian silver mines, won a Silver Hugo for best documentary feature. The docu, which focused on two young brothers who support their mother by toiling in the underground hell holes, was directed by Kief Davidson and Richard Ladkani.
Filmmaker Manoel de Oliveira received a lifetime achievement honor from the festival.
The festival kicked off October 6 with a gala screening of Cameron Crowe's "Elizabethtown" and the presentation of the festival's Career Achievement Award to Susan Sarandon. The festival also paid tribute to filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles. Running through Thursday (October 20), the festival will screen 100 feature films and 42 shorts from 34 countries.
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