12 Months in 1 Day was named best international feature at the 2015 Aruba International Film Festival, it was announced Oct. 10.
The film, directed by Margot Schaap, centers on three friends who drift away from a New Year’s Eve party and begin to walk, as each of them deals with the loss of a husband, friend and brother — all thinking their walk is a 24-hour experience, when in fact it lasts a whole year.
The Dutch picture was one of some 60 features and shorts that played during the fifth edition of the Caribbean festival, which this year hosted such actors as Tyrese Gibson and Virginia Madsen, along with filmmakers including producers Cassian Elwes (The Butler) and Steve Stabler (Dumb and Dumber).
Related Stories
Among other awards, the Iraq War-themed War of Lies was named best feature documentary; Spain’s Cuerdas (Strings) was named best international short; and another documentary, Deal With It, was named best Caribbean spotlight series film. The best Aruba flavor film was Alto Vista. Madsen (Sideways) presented the awards at the Hilton Aruba Caribbean Resort & Casino.
Highlights of this year’s festival included the international premiere of Shame, starring Gibson and produced by Denzel Washington; Zachary Sluser’s The Driftless Area (starring Zooey Deschanel, Anton Yelchin and John Hawkes); Eli Roth’s Knock Knock (starring Keanu Reeves); and Paz Fabrega’s Viaje.
