The Mill Valley Film Festival announces the winner for the 2022 Mind The Gap Creation Prize of $10,000.00. Awarded to Ellie Foumbi. The prize — presented to a first- or second-time Mind the Gap filmmaker — recognizes exciting new voices in cinema who demonstrate creativity of vision and exceptional use of the film medium.

OUR FATHER, THE DEVIL, Ellie Foumbi’s daring directorial debut, is a morally sophisticated exploration of trauma, revenge, and redemption like never seen before. From start to finish, the film subverts expectations and boldly challenges audiences to see the full humanity of a woman who faces the darkness from her past and the pain it has manifested in her.

As the jury discussed the merits of this exceptional work and its creator, they found their definition of creativity expanded. Ellie’s clear vision, graceful narrative choices, and deft aesthetic choices shone through in every frame and revealed a filmmaker who is in total command of her craft. Her willingness to explore such challenging subject matter with dignity makes her a vital new voice in contemporary cinema.  The Festival is honored to give Ellie the 2022 Mind the Gap Creation Prize, and excited to see what she does next.

A jury of industry professionals selected the 2022 Creation Prize recipient. The 2022 jury includes Zoë Elton, MVFF & MTG Director of Programming; Osinachi Ibe, MTG Production Manager; KD Davis, MVFF Senior Programmer–World Cinema; Celeste Wong, MVFF US Indies Programmer; Christine A. Schantz, MTG Executive Advisor and Creation Prize Underwriter, and Pratibha Parmar, filmmaker, and past Mind the Gap Award recipient. All first- or second-time Mind The Gap filmmakers screening their narrative or documentary feature-length film at the 2022 Mill Valley Film Festival were eligible. This year’s Prize was selected from 11 eligible films. The recipient receives a $10,000 prize to use at their discretion.