Local filmmaker Glendyn Ivin’s debut feature LAST RIDE has just won the Black Pearl award for “Best New Narrative Director” at the Middle East International Film Festival (MEIFF) in Abu Dhabi. The Award, including a cash prize of USD$50,000, was presented to Ivin by Iranian filmmaker, Jury President Abbas Kiarostami. Previous Black Pearl winners included Australia’s Steve Jacobs for DISGRACE.

Ivin said from Abu Dhabi, "It is a huge honour to receive this award from this festival and this jury."

LAST RIDE is about a desperate father, played by Hugo Weaving, who takes his ten year old son, Chook (Tom Russell), on the run after committing a violent crime. As the two journey into the desert and an unknown future, their troubled relationship and the need to survive, see them battling the elements and each other. Chook eventually takes control and the choices he is forced to make have a devastating effect on both of their lives. LAST RIDE is a love story between a father and a son.

LAST RIDE was released in cinemas nationally on July 2 and will be available on  DVD from November 4.