Richard Linklater’s Boyhood to receive FIPRESCI Grand Prix 2014 – Best Film of the Year

Richard Linklater’s 12-year project Boyhood was chosen the best film of the past year by the members of the International Federation of Film Critics, FIPRESCI.

The poll for the FIPRESCI Grand Prix 2014 – Best Film of the Year gathered votes from 553 members throughout the world. In a first phase, participants nominated any feature-length films that had had their world premiere no earlier than July 1, 2013. This led to a final round between the four finalists: Boyhood, by Richard Linklater, Ida, by Pawel Pawlikowski, The Grand Budapest Hotel, by Wes Anderson, and Kis Uykusu (Winter Sleep) by Nuri Bilge Ceylan. Boyhood arrived in a comfortable first place.

This is the first time a film by Richard Linklater receives FIPRESCI’s Grand Prix, which has already gone to Michael Haneke, Paul Thomas Anderson, Jafar Panahi, Pedro Almodóvar, Jean-Luc Godard, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, among others, since its establishment in 1999. Boyhood will have a special screening at the San Sebastián Film Festival on Friday, September 19th, where the FIPRESCI Grand Prix has been presented from the start.

Boyhood follows the life of Mason (Ellar Coltrane) from ages 6 to 18, accompanying his personal and family conflicts and everyday questions as he grows up. With a faithful cast and crew, the film was shot over a period of twelve years, thus allowing the characters and also the actors, especially young lead Coltrane, to evolve before the spectator’s gaze during 165 minutes. Mason’s family is interpreted by a deeply touching Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke and newcomer Lorelei Linklater as the annoying older sister.

FIPRESCI – International Federation of Film Critics
info@fipresci.org, www.fipresci.org