From national submissions to the Academy Award for the Best Foreign Language Film, a jury of FIPRESCI selected — at the Palm Springs International Film Festival (USA, January 6-19, 2009) — its first special award of the year, the Best Foreign Language Film of 2008: Revanche by Götz Spielmann (Austria, 2008) (photo), "the suspenseful story of a heist whose unexpected repurcussions radiate out with satisfying moral complexity", writes jury member Lisa Nesselson. The jury decided also prizes for best actor/actress. Best actor: Natar Ungalaaq in The Necessities of Life (Ce qu'il faut pour vivre, directed by Benoit Pilon, Canada 2008). "Though not a trained actor, Natar Ungalaaq brings rare warmth and icy clarity to his role as an Inuit hunter culturally and emotionally marooned in at TB hospital in 1940's Quebec", remarks juror Roger Clarke. Best actress: Martina Gusman in Lion's Den (Leonera, directed by Pablo Trapero, Argentina/South Korea/Brazil, 2008). Jury member Peter Keough comments: "Martina Gusman masters every scene of Lion's Den, expressing extreme emotions with restrained intensity and subtly conveying her character's transformation from passivity to power over the course of her ordeal." Print source: The Match Factory, Sudermannplatz 2, D-50670 Köln, T +49 (221) 973 32 11, F +49 (221) 97 33 29, info@matchfactory.de. The festival's website: www.psfilmfest.org.