Arts & Entertainment
SXSW Film Awards Winners Named At Austin Film Festival [UPDATED]
Over nine days, 130 features, consisting of 84 world premieres, 14 North American premieres, and 5 U.S. premieres screened at SXSW.
AUSTIN, TX — The South by Southwest Conference and Festivals on Tuesday announced the 2017 Jury and Special Award winners of the SXSW Film Awards at the Paramount Theater.
The awards were presented by FilmStruck, and hosted by Saturday Night Live cast member Sasheer Zamata. Feature Films receiving Jury Awards were selected from the Narrative Feature and Documentary Feature Competition categories. Films in Competition categories, as well as all feature categories (except Special Events) and the Title Design Competition entrants are also eligible for the 2017 SXSW Film Festival Audience Awards.
All Audience Awards will be announced separately this Saturday, March 18, along with the VR/AR Virtual Cinema award winners, officials said.
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SXSW also announced the Jury Award winners in Shorts Filmmaking and winners of the SXSW Film Design Awards, as well as Special Awards including the Louis Black “Lone Star” Award and Karen Schmeer Film Editing Fellowship, plus new categories with the SXSW Adam Yauch Hörnblowér Award alongside the SXSW LUNA® Gamechanger Award - Narrative and SXSW LUNA® Chicken & Egg Award - Documentary, organizers said. The latter includes a $15,000 artist award and mentoring to help support female filmmakers hone their craft in the fiction and documentary categories, seek new and exciting opportunities, and navigate the changing media landscape, officials noted.
SXSW continues showing films through Saturday, March 18. Details can be found at sxsw.com/film.
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The 2017 SXSW Film Festival Juries consisted of:
- Narrative Feature Competition: Seth Lyon Abramovitch, Scott Mantz, Dana Stevens.
- Documentary Feature Competition: Eugene Hernandez, Ann Hornaday, Eric Hynes.
- Narrative Shorts Program: Camille Bertrand, David Ninh, Valentina Valentini.
- Documentary Shorts: Opal H. Bennett, Sam Morrill, Meg Smaker.
- Animated Shorts: Don Hertzfeldt, Kirsten Lepore, Wiley Wiggins.
- Midnight Shorts: Kristen Bell, Peter Kuplowsky, Landon Zakheim.
- Music Videos: V. Marc Fort, Daniel Kwan, PJ Raval.
- Texas Shorts: Lindsey Ashley, Andrew Lee, Lars Nilsen.
- Texas High School Shorts: Emily Hagins, Bob Ray, Bart Weiss.
- Virtual Reality: Gary Hustwit, Alex Schwartz, Kim Voynar.
- Louis Black “Lone Star”: Meredith Borders, Justin Chang, Victor Diaz.
- Excellence in Title Design: Dan Brown, Kimberley Cooper, Marc Ferrino.
- Excellence in Poster Design: Becky Cloonan, Tim League, Kevin Tong.
Over the course of nine days, the 2017 SXSW Film Festival will screen 130 features, consisting of 84 World Premieres, 14 North American Premieres, and 5 US Premieres, with 54 first-time filmmakers. 128 shorts will screen as part of 12 curated shorts programs. The 256 films were selected from 7,651 overall submissions, consisting of approximately 2,432 features and 4,975 shorts.
The 2017 SXSW Film Festival Awards:
Feature Film Grand Jury Awards
NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION
Winner: Most Beautiful Island
Director: Ana Asensio
Special Jury Recognition for Best Ensemble: A Bad Idea Gone Wrong
Cast: Matt Jones, Eleanore Pienta, Will Rogers, Jonny Mars, Sam Eidson, Jennymarie Jemison
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION
Winner: The Work
Special Jury Recognition for Excellence in Observational Cinema: Maineland
Director: Miao Wang
Special Jury Recognition for Excellence in Documentary Storytelling: I Am Another You
Director: Nanfu Wang
Short Film Grand Jury Awards
Presented by OneFifty, early investors in original content from Time Warner Inc., home to HBO, Turner and Warner Bros.
NARRATIVE SHORTS
Winner: Forever Now
Director: Kristian Håskjold
Actor: Tarra Riggs
Special Jury Recognition: Laps
Director: Charlotte Wells
Director: Wes Hurley & Nathan M. Miller
MIDNIGHT SHORTS
Director: Todd Rohal
ANIMATED SHORTS
Directors: Nicolas Menard
Special Jury Recognition: Pussy
Director: Renata Gasiorowska
MUSIC VIDEOS
Winner: Leon Bridges - 'RIVER'
Director: Miles Jay
Special Jury Recognition: Tame Impala - 'The Less I Know The Better'
Director: CANADA
TEXAS SHORTS
Director: Patrick Bresnan
TEXAS HIGH SCHOOL SHORTS
Director: Atheena Frizzell
Special Jury Recognition: Darcy’s Quinceañera
Director: Sam Cooper
SXSW Film Design Awards
EXCELLENCE IN POSTER DESIGN
Designer: Caspar Newbolt
Special Jury Recognition: Like Me
Designer: Jeremy Enecio
EXCELLENCE IN TITLE DESIGN
Directors: Chris R. Moberg and Jared Young
SXSW Special Awards
SXSW LUNA® Gamechanger Award - Narrative
SXSW LUNA® Chicken & Egg Award - Documentary
LUNA, creators of the first nutrition bar for women, has championed female filmmakers for more than 16 years. In collaboration with Gamechanger Films and Chicken & Egg Pictures, LUNA is honored to offer two $15,000 artist awards and mentoring to help support female filmmakers hone their craft in the fiction and documentary categories, seek new and exciting opportunities, and navigate the changing media landscape. (Opt-in Award)
SXSW LUNA® Gamechanger Award - Narrative
Winner: INFLAME
Director: Ceylan Ozgun Ozcelik
SXSW LUNA® Chicken & Egg Award - Documentary
Director: Nanfu Wang
SXSW Louis Black “Lone Star” Award
To honor SXSW co-founder/director Louis Black, a jury prize was created in 2011 called the Louis Black “Lone Star” Award, to be awarded to a Texas film in content, filmmaker residency, or primary shooting location. (Opt-in Award)
Louis Black “Lone Star” Award
Winner: Mr. Roosevelt
Director: Noël Wells
SXSW Adam Yauch Hörnblowér Award
In honor of a filmmaker whose work strives to be wholly its own, without regard for norms or desire to conform. The Adam Yauch Hörnblowér Award is presented to a filmmaker from our Visions screening category.
SXSW Adam Yauch Hörnblowér Award
Presented to: Assholes directed by Peter Vack
The Karen Schmeer Film Editing Fellowship is a year-long experience that encourages and champions the talent of an emerging documentary editor. Awarded annually, the fellowship was created to honor the memory of gifted editor Karen Schmeer.
Karen Schmeer Film Editing Fellowship
Presented to: Leigh Johnson
The SXSW Film Awards are presented by FilmStruck, a new streaming service for serious film fans, offering a comprehensive library including indie, contemporary and classic art house, foreign and cult films. It is the exclusive streaming home of The Criterion Collection.
"SXSW dedicates itself to helping creative people achieve their goals," festival organizers said. "Founded in 1987 in Austin, Texas, SXSW is best known for its conference and festivals that celebrate the convergence of the interactive, film and music industries. The event, an essential destination for global professionals, features sessions, showcases, screenings, exhibitions, and a variety of networking opportunities. SXSW proves that the most unexpected discoveries happen when diverse topics and people come together."
SXSW officials said they were proud to be an official qualifying festival for the Academy Awards® Short Film Competition. The Best Narrative Short, Best Documentary Short and Best Animated Short winners become eligible for the Academy Awards.
SXSW 2017 is sponsored by Esurance, Mazda, Monster Energy, Bud Light, Capital One, McDonald’s, and The Austin Chronicle.
>>> Logo courtesy SXSW
Editor's note: The list of winners was revised to include a Special Jury Recognition for "Laps" in the Narrative Shorts category, directed by Charlotte Wells.
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