(May 2009)

Calling it a "seamless piece of ensemble filmmaking," jurors at the Tribeca Film Festival presented Iranian director-writer Asghar Farhadi's About Elly with The Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature at its Thursday-night awards ceremony in New York.

"The universality of the characters and themes and the director's riveting grasp of this story make About Elly a film that collapses barriers and deepens our understanding of the world we share," the jury said.

Racing Dreams, American Marshall Curry's look at the sport of go-karting, took top honors as the festival's best documentary feature, with the jury calling it "a completely compelling, entertaining film of incredible quality."

Norwegian Rune Denstad Langlo, formerly a documentary filmmaker, won the nod for Best New Narrative Filmmaker for his comedy North.

"[Langlo's] consummate vision, strong grasp of story and command of the language of cinema make him a standout amidst a strong pool of candidates," the jury said.

In the performance categories, Ciaran Hinds was named best actor for Irish writer-director Conor McPherson's The Eclipse, while Zoe Kazan went home with top actress kudos for her work in the U.S. entry The Exploding Girl from writer-director Bradley Rust Gray.

Other Tribeca winners included:

Best New Documentary Filmmaker - Ian Olds, Fixer: The Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi (U.S.)

Best New York Narrative - Here and There (Serbia, U.S., Germany)

Best New York Documentary - Partly Private (Canada)

Best Narrative Short - The North Road (France)

Best Documentary Short - home (U.S.)

Student Visionary Award - Small Change (Australia)
-Howard Burns