How to
Kill Your
Neighbor's Dog
 
AVIGNON
FRANCE
  
June 2001
Le Prix Tournage
Best American Film

The Prix Tournage Awards for 2001, presented in Avignon, are given to a French, a European and an American director.

An international jury of film professionels choose the winners. The prizes include the Roger statuette, film from Eastman Kodak, promo-tion on French television by CineCinemas, Panavision equipment, Final Draft software and subtitling services supplied by Video Laser Titles. The three winning films are also projected in Paris at the French Cineclub, the Palate of Chaillot, on July 2, 2001.

AVIGNON A PARIS
As the American winner of the Prix Tournage, Neighbor's Dog was screened in Paris France on July 2 at the French Cinematheque.

Previous U.S. winners have included Shadow of the Vampire, Judy Berlin and Reservoir Dogs.
 
July 2, 2001


'Neighbor' tapped top dog at Avignon
By LISA NESSELSON

AVIGNON, France --
"How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog," written and directed by Michael Kalesniko, won the Avignon Film Festival's competition devoted to American films June 27. Award was one of the Prix Tournage (best picture) winners announced in three geographical categories.

In the all-French lineup, "Stand-By," Roch Stephanik's tale of a woman who takes up residence at the airport when her husband dumps her before a flight, emerged the winner.

The European Prix Tournage went to "El Bola" (Pellet), by Achero Manas of Spain.

A crossroads for indie-minded cultural exchange, the 18th

event, previously known as the French-American Film Workshop, ran June 22-27. It's the counterpart of the Avignon/New York fest that unspools each April in Manhattan.

Fest offers prize packages worth a total of $80,000. Rounding out the awards bouquet, the SACD screenwriting prize went to Denis Dercourt for "Lise and Andre" (France) and to Denis Villeneuve for "Maelstrom" (Canada). The Kodak Vision award went to the respective lensers of "Lise and Andre" and "The Last Dream."

"Dream" also nabbed the Panavision Prize, as did German writer-director Boris Hars-Tschachotin's eerie "Lurch."

July 4, 2001

U.S. film tops at Avignon

"How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog," a comedy starring Kenneth Branagh, took top honors for an American film at the 18th annual Avignon Film Festival in France. Written and directed by first-timer Michael Kalesniko, the picture centers on a playwright (Branagh) who breaks through his writer's block when he befriends an 8-year-old girl (Suzi Hofrichter) who has cerebral palsy. Both share an annoyance of a neighbor's dog and its constant barking. The other two winners were "Stand-By," a story of a woman who lives at the airport where her husband ditched her, for France and "El Bola" of Spain for the European category.

©2001 by the Chicago Tribune
 
July 5, 2001
J A V A
BY PAT SEREMET

Branagh Barking Up The Right Tree
"How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog," a comedy starring Kenneth Branagh, took top honors for an American film at the 18th annual Avignon Film Festival in France.

Written and directed by first-timer Michael Kalesniko, the picture centers on a playwright (Branagh) who breaks through his writer's block when he befriends an 8-year-old girl (Suzi Hofrichter) who has cerebral palsy. Both share an annoyance of a neighbor's dog and its constant barking.

On June 27, winners of the Prix Tournage (best picture) were named for three geographical locations.
The other two winners were "Stand-By," a story of a woman who lives at the airport 		where her husband ditched her, for France and "El Bola" of Spain for the European category.

Focusing on independent films, the French- American Film Workshop leg of Avignon ran June 22 to 27. There's also a New York version that happens every April in Manhattan.

"How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog" co-stars Robin Wright-Penn and Lynn Redgrave and has also won top prizes at the Newport International Film Festival and the Philadelphia Festival of World Cinema. It had its world premiere at last year's Toronto Film Festival, but is still seeking domestic distribution.