The jury was made up of French/Tunisian filmmaker Karim Dridi; Ethiopian director, Solomon BekeleWeya; South African producer, Letebele Masemola-Jones; African Screens editor, Don Dewale Omope and Ioana-Frederique Westhoff from the ACP Films Programme.
Praising Restless City for dealing with "a rarely-touched-upon subject" in "the struggles of African migration to the USA," the jury said, "Told with care and attention to detail, the winning film shows a very high level of originality, high artistic merit, an innovative approach to storytelling and profound cinematographic flair."
Speaking about the festival as a whole, the jury said, "The choice of films for the inaugural Colours of The Nile International Film Festival 2012, has been a compelling and visually inspiring cinematic feast from every corner of the African continent."
Ambassador, Xavier Marchal, the head of the European Union delegation to Ethiopia, spoke at the awards night, where he presented the Best African Short Film Award to Hisab by Ethiopia's Ezra Wube. In his speech, the ambassador said, "The Colours of the Nile International Film Festival is making a new landscape in African cinema."
While the films dealt with diverse subject matter, the jury was struck by a common thread - that of the displacement involved in migrant and immigrant lifestyles.
"This is perhaps not surprising, as it is very much a sign of the times throughout the world in which we live today," said the jury.
"Migration from one country to the other is something we can all relate to. It happens for a variety of reasons that ultimately lead to people seeking a better life forthemselves and their families. It is an issue that is top of the socio, economic and political agenda of most countries of the world."
Other awards went to:
Best Short Film: Hisab by Ezra Wube (Ethiopia)
Best Documentary Film: Voyage of Hope by Michel K. Zongo (Burkina Faso)
Best Screenplay: The Repentant by Merzak Allouachi (Algeria)
Best Sound: 1Ž2 Revolution by Karim El Hakim and Omar Shargawi (Egypt)
Best Soundtrack: Otelo Burning by Sara Blecher (South Africa)
Best Actor: Kenneth Nkosi in Otelo Burning (South Africa)
Best Actress: Elizabeth Melaku in Scent of a Lemon (Ethiopia)
Special mentions went to Abraham Gezahagne's film Scent of a Lemon (Ethiopia); Theresa Traore-Dahlberg's short film Taxi Sister (Senegal and Sweden); and Eric Miyeni's documentary
For more, go to www.coloursofthenile.net
