Netflix’s ‘Calibre’ Wins Best British Film at Edinburgh International Film Festival

By Stewart Clarke

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Netflix may have been shut out of Cannes, but one of its original films, Matt Palmer’s “Calibre,” has won the Michael Powell Award for Best British Feature Film at the 72nd edition of the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

Palmer’s debut feature follows a pair of friends on a hunting trip in the Scottish Highlands and the consequences of a tragic accident. It had its world premiere at the EIFF. The Edinburgh jury said the film “unanimously made the biggest impact on us,” adding: “Beautifully shot, technically accomplished, with a fantastic ensemble performance, director and screenwriter Matt Palmer pitches the tension and emotional journey flawlessly.”

Palmer said: “We’ve been completely thrilled by the amazing response from Edinburgh International Film Festival audiences and had a fantastic experience at the festival, which has been the perfect lead-up to ‘’s’ global release on today.”

The movie is produced by Wellington Films as a co-production with Pont Neuf Productions. Beta Cinema has international sales. In its review Variety said “Calibre” is “a sensationally well-executed nerve-mangler that ought to do for the majestic Scottish Highlands what ‘Deliverance’ did for Appalachia.”

The EIFF award for Best Performance in a British Feature Film went jointly to actresses Liv Hill and Sinead Matthews for their roles in “Jellyfish,” writer and director James Gardner’s debut feature about a young carer who has a talent for stand-up comedy.

“Those Who Are Fine” won in another key category, Best International Feature Film. About a woman scamming money from an older woman, Cyril Schäublin’s Swiss-set film was a “formally striking film about alienation touches on a confidence scheme in modern, unfriendly Zurich,” Variety said in its review .

Kevin Macdonald’s Lightbox-produced “Whitney,” the documentary on singer Whitney Houston that premiered in Cannes and has been strongly reviewed, scooped Best Documentary Feature Film.

The EIFF runs from June 20 to July 1.