Hide and Seek the partner-swapping film wins
Edinburgh film festival’s Michael Powell award for best British film goes to Hide and Seek a drama about four friends setting up a commune
The Edinburgh film festival has given its Michael Powell award for best British feature to Hide and Seek, directed by Joanna Coates, at its awards ceremony on Friday.
The jury, headed by Israeli director Amos Gitai, described Hide and Seek as “very innovative” and that “all those involved … we believe to be very talented”. The film, which stars Josh O’Connor and Hannah Arterton, is about a group of friends who set up a utopianist commune in an isolated rural environment and, according to the film-makers, are “seeking to challenge social conventions and their own tolerances by engaging in scheduled partner-swapping”.
Coates said: “I am ecstatic and deeply grateful … We’re so very moved that it has connected with the festival and with audiences in ways that we barely dared to wish for.”
The award for best performance in a British feature film went to Eddie Marsan for Still Life. Directed by Uberto Pasolini, producer of The Full Monty, Still Life is the story of a council worker whose job it is to track down next of kin and best documentary award was handed to Swiss production My Name Is Salt, directed by Farida Pacha, about salt harvesting in the Gujarat region of India.
The ceremony took place at Edinburgh’s Filmhouse cinema ahead of the festival’s closing film on Sunday.
