| 1999 - Kimberly Pierce for Boys Dont Cry |
 The Satyajit Ray Foundation's Annual Award to a debut feature film showcased in the London
Film Festival has been won this year, in the teeth of unusually strong competition, by
American director Kimberly Peirce's
groundbreaking real-life drama, BOYS DON'T CRY. This is
the Foundation's fourth such award, which goes to an outstanding first feature reflecting
the humanity, compassion and artistry of Satyajit Ray's own films. Based on the true case of Teena Brandon, this vivid and shattering account of the life and violent death of a young woman with a gender and identity crisis, who disguises herself as a man, has already been shown to huge acclaim in the United States, where it has garnered several critics' awards and is tipped for multi-Oscar nomination. A powerfully poignant tale for our times, BOYS DON'T CRY explores the complex angst of the troubled Brandon (as she calls herself in male guise) as she takes up with a thieving, Manson-like white trash family and falls fatally in love with one of them. Peirce's astonishingly assured direction and multi-layered script (co-writer Andy Bienen) are fully complemented by two extraordinary performances by Hilary Swank as the sexual misfit and Chloe Sevigny as her sensitive girlfriend. The film has been compared favourably to Bonnie and Clyde, Badlands, In Cold Blood, and even Rebel Without a Cause, yet has a contemporary impact and truthfulness all its own.
Visit or telephone the NFT box-office (0171 928 3232) for more details.
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The Ray Award offers a chance for British filmgoers to see BOYS DON'T CRY ahead of its release by Twentieth Century Fox, with
an unmissable gala screening at the National Film Theatre, South Bank, London SE1, on
Saturday 8th January at 3.30pm, when the film's director will also receive her award from
John Woodward, newly-appointed Director of the Film Council.
