Award for Best Short Film (Animated):
In the Best Animated Short Film Category Vitor Lopes' "Timor Loro-Sae" and Sergio Nogueira's "Light Me Up" were strong contenders, while Rani Day Burra's "Little Varju" was also much appreciated. But eventually the jury decided that the Ciepie for Best Animated Short Film should go to a film that examined with humour the tragic farce of a man whose job it is to destroy the things he loves. For its poignance and attention to intricate details in it's claymation, the award goes to Neil Jack's "The Tree Officer."

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'Hum' Emerging Filmmaker Awards:
Hum Television to provide production facilities to make a short film / documentary of the recipients' choosing.

(International): The Hum Emerging Filmmaker Award for an international talent goes to a filmmaker who showed how creativity, skill and dedication can go a long way even in the absence of great resources. His film "Samovar" also dealt with the extremely pertinent issue of the lack of choices for the youth in Pakistan in general and Peshawar in particular. In the words of the jurors, his was a "complete short film", "well shot and well acted" and which "touched upon the pulse of contemporary Pakistani society." The award goes to UK-based Hammad Khan.

'Hum' Emerging Filmmaker Awards:
Hum Television to provide production facilities to make a short film / documentary of the recipients' choosing.

(National): The Hum Emerging Filmmaker Award for a Pakistani talent goes to a filmmaker whose short film made a strong impact on the jurors for its bold take on a horrific topic that touched most people in Pakistan. Part documentary and part dramatization, the very short "Lust" on Javed Iqbal who murdered 100 children in Lahore has marked its young filmmaker Syed Ali Nasir out for a Hum Emerging Filmmaker Award.

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Award for Best Documentary:
After much deliberation, the jury agreed that for its powerful story and main character, lyrical cinematography and editing, stirring music score, for its meticulous research and excellent archive footage, as well as the humanity and subtlety with which the story was told, for its tremendous political and universal relevance in today's polarized world where 'terrorism' has become a convenient tool to suppress political dissent, and for the filmmaker's courage in going against ingrained prejudices, the Best Documentary Award should go to Andrei Nekrasov's "Disbelief."

Special Recognition in Documentary Filmmaking:
The jury also agreed to present a Special Recognition award to Rakesh Sharma's "Final Solution", for its humanity, depth and courage, for going beyond the obvious to patiently uncover and reveal the factors that lie behind violence ostensibly based on religion, for its boldness, courage, sensitivity, and for its powerful story and interviews, technical and structural excellence, and for its tremendous social and political relevance.

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Award for Best Male Actor in a Leading Role:
There were a few memorable performances in this year's films, notably Om Puri as a bereaved and wronged father in "Dhoop", Barry John as a stage actor in "In Othello" and Irrfan Khan as an insomniac detective obsessed with a murdered woman in "Rog." Rahul Bose's performance in "White Noise" also drew commendation. However, for his brilliantly restrained performance as a simple, straight-thinking TV viewer, the award goes to Vijay Raaz in "Raghu Romeo."

Award for Best Female Actor in a Leading Role:
Anna Geislerova in "Zelary" any other year could have been a winner. However, for her powerful and sensual performance as an artists' muse, the award for Best Female Actor in a Leading Role goes, by a long margin, to Scarlett Johanssen in "Girl With a Pearl Earring". The jury felt it was the most erotic performance they had ever seen from someone fully clothed!

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Award for Best Male Actor in a Supporting Role:
Khandkar Adil Hussain as a rural Muslim playing the lead actor on the urban Indian stage in "In Othello" was a strong possibility for this award, as well as Gyorgy Cserhalmi in "Zelary". However, for his memorable and humourous performance as a filmmaker, the award for Best Male Actor in a Supporting Role goes to Florian Lukas in the German box-office record maker, "Goodbye,Lenin!"

Award for Best Female Actor in a Supporting Role:
Elahe Hiptoola gave an endearing performance as a marriage bureau owner in "Hyderabad Blues 2: Re-arranged Marriage." However, the award for Best Female Actor in a Supporting Role goes to sweet-on-Raghu bar girl Sweetie whose affections are not reciprocated, played by Saadiya Siddiqui in "Raghu Romeo."

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Award for Best Cinematography:
The decision was unanimous. For spectacular cinematography in a film about the painter Vermeer that the jury likened to a painting itself, the award for Best Cinematography goes to Eduardo Serra for "Girl With A Pearl Earring."

Award for Best Editing:
"Raghu Romeo" was a close contender as a well-paced, crisply edited film. However, for its flawless editing of moving camera shots that convincingly created airport terminal space and kept the audience involved in spite of the length of the film, the award goes to Michael Kahn for his work in the Steven Spielberg directed "The Terminal."

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Award for Best Musical Score:
The jury felt there was not much competition in this category. The award for Best Musical Score goes to Petr Ostrouchov for his evocative score in the Oscar nominated Czech film "Zelary."

Award for Best Original Screenplay:
The jury felt that both "Hyderabad Blues 2" and "Javaid Shampoo" were scripts with great dialogue. However, for turning what could have been either a flimsy premise or tedious history lesson, the award for Best Original Screenplay goes to Wolfgang Becker and Bernd Lichtenberg for their screenplay for "Goodbye, Lenin!" They successfully created a film that could resonate with international audiences, cleverly highlighting the conflict between socialist values against rising global capitalism, as well as the ridiculous nature of artificial borders.

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Award for Best Adapted Screenplay:
Though there were other well-adapted films, notably "In Othello" and "Hum", the award goes to Olivia Hetreed for skillfully adapting a novel into a visual experience with minimal dialogue in "Girl With A Pearl Earring."

Award for Best Direction:
Both Steven Spielberg's "The Terminal" and Wolfgang Becker's "Goodbye, Lenin!" were close contenders in this category. However the award for Best Direction for fresh and surprising treatment of an unusual situation goes to Rajat Kapoor for "Raghu Romeo."

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Award for Best Feature Film:
There were three films in very close competition for this award - "Goodbye, Lenin!", "Raghu Romeo" and "Girl With A Pearl Earring." One juror also felt the film "Pani" deserved special mention for successfully highlighting an important third world problem. However, the award for Best Film goes to "Girl With A Pearl Earring" for standing heads above the rest as an exquisitely shot, delicate, subtle and erotic film. The jury unanimously agreed that it was a 'filmmaker's film' and a visual treat.

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