SFF 2016: ‘Mustang’, ‘Zach’s Ceremony’ win Sydney Film Festival Audience Award

Mustang

Following the announcement of the Official Competition awards on Sunday, the 2016 Sydney Film Festival, the folks at SFF have announced the winners of the Foxtel Movies Audience Awards.

Winner for best narrative feature went to MUSTANG directed by Deniz Gamze Ergüven; and winner for best documentary went to ZACH’S CEREMONY directed by Goldstone star Aaron Petersen.

MUSTANG was also the winner of a Cannes Directors’ Fortnight prize, four Césars and an Oscar nomination, and this Turkish film is described by the festival as “a powerful portrait of sisterhood.” ZACH’S CEREMONY was shot over six years, and is a portrait of a young man struggling with identity and his father’s expectations, as he heads towards adulthood.

“Cinemas were full again this year with an average of 73% capacity across all sessions and more sell-outs than ever before. Final attendance figures will exceed last year and reach almost 180,000. We were particularly proud to present even more filmmaker and curator hosted screenings; and to see the introduction of the Lexus Short Film Fellowships.”

MUSTANG is released in Australia on 23 June 2016 from Madman Films in limited release.