BECAUSE WE WERE BORN Wins Harrell Award for Best Documentary
PHILOSOPHER KINGS Wins CIFF Award for Best Newcomer to Nonfiction

Camden, Maine, October 6, 2009 # The Camden International Film Festival announced its award winning films at the Closing Night Ceremony on Sunday, October 4 at the Camden Opera House in Camden. The Closing Reception ended 2009 festival activities that included screening 45 films representing numerous countries, the inaugural edition of the POINTS NORTH Documentary Film Forum, live musical performances, and video installation exhibits. Winning filmmakers received $1,000 cash prizes and the CIFF Award Winner receives a scholarship to attend courses at the Maine Media Workshops in Rockport, Maine through a sponsorship from Maine Media Workshops.

This year's Harrell Award for Best Documentary goes to BECAUSE WE WERE BORN directed by Jean Pierre Duret and Andrea Santana which documents two young teenage boys who hang out at a service station in Pernambouc in the poor northeast of Brazil, watching trucks and travelers and hearing stories about a wider world they can only dream of.

The Harrell Award Jury noted: "The jury gives Jean-Pierre Duret and Andrea Santana's Because We Were Born the Harrell Award for Best Documentary Feature for its excellence in cinematic craft and for its rigorously pure vérité aesthetic. The filmmakers have created a work that challenges the viewer on many levels. Told with a quiet intensity and deep love and respect for their subjects, in our opinion, this piece represents the best of what nonfiction cinema has to offer."

This year's CIFF Award for Best Newcomer to Nonfiction goes to Patrick Shen's THE PHILOSOPHER KINGS, which documents the search of wisdom in unlikely places. The Philosopher Kings takes us on a journey through the halls of the most prestigious colleges and universities in America to learn from the staff members who see it all and have been through it all: the custodians.

The CIFF Award Jury noted: "The jury is thrilled to present the CIFF Award to Patrick 'Die Hard' Shen for his remarkable achievement, PHILOSOPHER KINGS. The film took a sensitive and humanistic approach to its material, allowing its unconventional yet universal subjects to speak for themselves. Though they all had experiences that bordered on the extreme - from losing an arm in an accident to being traumatized by war - the subjects were individuals with wisdom and emotion before being victims of any tragedy. Shen, through his subjects, managed to touch on larger social issues through the eyes of several disparate, and remarkable, characters. In short, we wanted to marry every single character on screen, or at least, hang out with them in the stairwells or bathrooms of Princeton, Duke, Cornish College of Art, and other higher learning institutions. So, for an amazing combination of casting, crafting, editing, and thinking outside the box about what makes a compelling film, we are proud to honor Patrick Shen and PHILOSOPHER KINGS."

Benjamin Fowlie, Festival Director said, "We are honored to have had the opportunity to share such a wonderful nonfiction program with our audiences, and congratulate all of this year's winners. We would also like to thank our jury members for their dedication and commitment to this very challenging role. Congratulations to BECAUSE WE WERE BORN and PHILOSOPHER KINGS. We are honored to be a part of both films' successful festival runs."

The Camden International Film Festival award winners were chosen by a distinguished jury including:

Harrell Award Jury: Pamela Cohn (PFunk Productions), Ryan Harrington (Gucci Tribeca Fund) and Dana Rae Warren (Moody Mountain Media).

CIFF Award Jury: Sara Archambault (LEF Foundation), Ian Cheney (King Corn, The Greening of Southie), Danielle DiGiacomo (IFP).

For Festival and Award photos go to the CIFF website at: www.camdenfilmfest.org.

2009 Sponsors. Premier Sponsors: Camden National Bank, Downeast Magazine, University of Maine, MovieMaker Magazine, Maine Arts Commission; Major Sponsors: MPBN, Paolina's Way and Unity College.

About CIFF
Committed to supporting and generating interest in independent documentary films, the annual festival presents a snapshot of the cultural landscape through the year's best non-fiction storytelling. The weekend also consists of a number of intimate Q&A sessions, panels, installation exhibits, musical performances and parties.

The 5th Annual Camden International Film Festival took place October 1-4, 2009, screening nearly fifty films in venues throughout Midcoast Maine. For more information on the festival visit www.camdenfilmfest.org.

Small towns, big films.