NaFF 2010 Wraps; 'The Concert,' 'For Once in My Life' and 'The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls' Grab Audience Awards
April 23, 2010

41st edition of longest-running film festival in the south sees increased ticket sales and steady overall attendance

Two documentary films already awarded prizes at the 2010 Nashville Film Festival (NaFF) tied for The Documentary Channel Audience Award for Best Documentary when the awards were announced last night at the Festival's closing night party at the Cannery Ballroom. "For Once in My Life," director Jim Bigham's documentary profile of Miami's Spirit of Goodwill Band, and "The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls," director Leanne Pooley's hysterical profile of the world's only comedic, singing, dancing, lesbian, twin-sister country music duo, were both rated too high and too close to pick a clear winner. "For Once in My Life" had earlier won the Gibson Impact of Music Award for best music film; "The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls" was the Best GLBT film.

The Southwest Airlines Audience Award for Best Narrative feature went to the North American premiere of director Radu Mihaileanu's "The Concert." The film tells the story of Andrei Simoniovich Filipov, the renowned conductor of the Bolshoi orchestra, fired 30 years earlier for hiring Jewish musicians, as he decides to gather together his former musicians -- and a young virtuoso played by Melanie Laurent -- to perform in Paris in the place of the current Bolshoi orchestra.  Mihaileanuhad previously won the audience award at NaFF 2006 for "Live and Become."

"We're thrilled to report that overall attendance for the festival stayed steady at just under 22,000," said Sallie Mayne, NaFF executive director. "We had fewer events than last year, but sold more tickets to films, panels and workshops this year. To maintain our attendance in our 41st year, after the anniversary blow-out we hosted last year, is a testament to the quality of our film programming and the strong support of this festival by the community."

The 41st Nashville Film Festival opened on April 15 at the Regal Green Hills Theatres with two sold-out houses and a near-capacity third for the teenage John Lennon biopic "Nowhere Boy." It ended last night, Thursday, April 22, with a two-theatre sellout of the Adrian Grenier-directed documentary "Teenage Paparazzo" and performances at the Cannery by The Good Listeners ("Don't Quit Your Daydream") and Sam & Ruby. Overall, 16 screenings sold out at the Festival, which included a dozen World Premieres and appearances on the Oreck Red Carpet by Beth Grant, Sheryl Crow, Jane Seymour, Mario Van Peebles, Michael Clarke Duncan, Brad Paisley, Kimberly Williams-Paisley and more.

A complete list of previously announced jury prizes is available here.

About Nashville Film Festival
The longest-running film festival in the South, NaFF also ranks among the most prestigious, continually garnering accolades and notice from a wide range of entertainment and trade publications, including the Associated Press, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal online, MovieMaker Magazine, Film Festival Today, IndieWire, Variety, Billboard, New York and Script Magazine. Between 2003 and 2009, NaFF' attendance numbers doubled, capped off with a staggering 26% increase in festival goers between 2006 and 2007. In 2009, nearly 23,000 film lovers, entertainment professionals and industry insiders from all over the world made the trek to NaFF, enjoying 258 films from 48 countries, incisive industry panels, music showcases and spirited party mixers. Among the diverse group of celebrities who have attended NaFF in the past either as film presenters, award recipients or film fans are William Shatner, Hal Holbrook, Vincent D'Onofrio, Sheryl Crow, William H. Macy, Patricia Neal, Rob Thomas, Giancarlo Esposito, Ray McKinnon, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Walton Goggins, Craig Brewer, Harmony Korine, Al Gore, Nicole Kidman, Kiefer Sutherland, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Peter Falk, Paul Reiser, Patrick Swayze, Rick Schroder, John Waters, Matthew McConaughey, Robert Redford, Harry Belafonte, Oprah Winfrey, Michael Moore, Kevin Smith, Barbara Kopple, and D.A. Pennebaker.

Nashville Film Festival is a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation and receives funding from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, William N. Rollins Fund for the Arts of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, The Memorial Foundation, Nashville Metro Arts Commission, National Endowment for the Arts, Tennessee Arts Commission, and its generous patrons and sponsors.