Source: SXSW
Austin, Texas, March 13, 2018 –The South by Southwest® (SXSW®) Conference and Festivals announced the 2018 Jury and Special Award winners of the SXSW Film Festival Awards Presented by FilmStruck at the historic Paramount Theatre. The awards were hosted by actor and comedian Jim Gaffigan. 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 (with the exception of Special Events) and the Title Design Competition entrants, are also eligible for the 2018 SXSW Film Festival Audience Awards. All Audience Awards will be announced separately on Saturday, March 17, except for Headliners, which will be announced on Monday, March 19.
SXSW also announced the Jury Award winners in the Shorts Program and winners of the SXSW Film Design Awards. Special Awards included the Louis Black “Lone Star” Award, the Karen Schmeer Film Editing Fellowship, and the SXSW Adam Yauch Hörnblowér Award. The SXSW LUNA® Gamechanger Award – Narrative and SXSW LUNA® Chicken & Egg Award – Documentary were also presented, including a $10,000 artist award and mentoring to help female filmmakers hone their craft in the fiction and documentary categories, seek new and exciting opportunities, and navigate the changing media landscape.
SXSW continues showing films through Saturday, March 17. Details can be found at sxsw.com/festivals/film.
The 2018 SXSW Film Festival Juries consisted of:
Narrative Feature Competition: Justin Chang, Col Needham, Emily Yoshida
Documentary Feature Competition: K. Austin Collins, Violet Lucca, April Wolfe
Narrative Shorts Program: Dilcia Barrera, Nick Borenstein, Brandon Harris
Documentary Shorts: David Matthews, Erica Deiparine-Sugars, Pam Torno
Animated Shorts: Aki Isoyama, Kirsten Lepore, Eric Power
Midnight Shorts: Sara Cushman, Missy Laney, Pip Ngo
Music Videos: Dan Deacon, John T. Kunz, Daniel Scheinert
Texas Shorts: James Faust, Rebecca Morelo Jackson, Ali Nichols
Texas High School Shorts: Barak Epstein, Bob Ray, Bart Weiss
Independent Episodics: Rebecca Agbe-Davies, Christine Dávila, Randi Kleiner
Louis Black “Lone Star”: Victor Diaz, Steve Dollar, Dana Harris
Excellence in Title Design: Dan Brown, Jonathan Lacocque, Mara Smalley
Excellence in Poster Design: Sean Carnegie, Michelle Schwartz, Kevin Tong
Over the course of nine days, the 2018 SXSW Film Festival will screen 136 features, consisting of 89 World Premieres, 13 North American Premieres, and 6 US Premieres, with 49 first-time filmmakers. 98 shorts and 20 music videos will screen as part of 12 curated shorts programs. The 256 films were selected from 8,183 overall submissions, consisting of approximately 2,476 features and 4,433 shorts.
The 2018 SXSW Film Festival Awards:
Feature Film Grand Jury Awards
NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION
Winner: Thunder Road
Director: Jim Cummings
Special Jury Recognition For First Feature: The New Romantic
Director: Carly Stone
Special Jury Recognition for Writing: Jinn
Director/Screenwriter: Niljla Mu’min
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION
Winner: People’s Republic of Desire
Directors: Hao Wu
Special Jury Recognition for Best Cast: This One’s For The Ladies
Director: Gene Graham
Special Jury Recognition for Best Feminist Reconsideration of a Male Artist:
Garry Winogrand: All Things are Photographable
Director: Sasha Waters Freyer
Short Film Grand Jury Awards
Presented by Vimeo. Vimeo empowers video creators of all kinds to tell exceptional stories and connect with their audiences and communities.
NARRATIVE SHORTS
Winner: Emergency
Director: Carey Williams
Special Jury Recognition for Acting:
Actor: Shirley Chen from Krista
DOCUMENTARY SHORTS
Winner: My Dead Dad’s Porno Tapes
Director: Charlie Tyrell
MIDNIGHT SHORTS
Winner: Milk
Director: Santiago Menghini
ANIMATED SHORTS
Winner: Agua Viva
Directors: Alexa Lim Haas
Special Jury Recognition: JEOMv Director: Kangmin Kim
MUSIC VIDEOS
Winner: “Second Hand Lovers” – Oren Laviev Director: Oren Lavie
Special Jury Recognition for Acting: “Territory” – The Blaze
Director: The Blaze
TEXAS SHORTS
Winner: An Uncertain Future
Director: Iliana Sosa & Chelsea Hernandez
TEXAS HIGH SCHOOL SHORTS
Winner: The Night I Lost My Favorite Jacket
Director: Jenna Krumerman
Special Jury Recognition: CCISD Strong
Director: Sofia Rasmussen
INDEPENDENT EPISODICS
Winner: Beast
Director: Ben Strang
Special Jury Recognition: She’s the Ticket
Director: Nadia Hallgren
SXSW Film Design Awards
EXCELLENCE IN POSTER DESIGN
Winner: The Gospel of Eureka
Designer: Matt Taylor
Special Jury Recognition: A Little Wisdom
Designer: Adam Zhu
EXCELLENCE IN TITLE DESIGN
Winner: Counterpart
Director: Karin Fong
Special Jury Recognition: Godless
Director: John Likens
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 17 years. In collaboration with Gamechanger Films and Chicken & Egg Pictures, LUNA is honored to offer two $10,000 artist awards and mentoring to help 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: First Match
Director: Olivia Newman
Special Jury Recognition: Unlovable
Director: Suzi Yoonessi
SXSW LUNA® Chicken & Egg Award – Documentary
Winner: On Her Shoulders
Director: Alexandria Bombach
Special Jury Recognition: ¡Las Sandinistas!
Director: Jenny Murray
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: Daughters of the Sexual Revolution: The Untold Story of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders
Director: Dana Adam Shapiro
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: Prospect directed by Zeek Earl & Chris Caldwell
Vimeo Staff Picks Award
In celebration of the 10-year anniversary of the Staff Picks channel, Vimeo Staff Pick Award here at SXSW. Films featured in the Narrative, Documentary, Animation, and Texas Shorts competitions are eligible for this award, which includes a $5,000 cash prize and, of course, a Vimeo Staff Pick. The Winning film will be released on Vimeo on Wednesday, March 14.
Vimeo Staff Picks Award
Presented to: Krista directed by Danny Madden
SXSW Karen Schmeer Film Editing Fellowship Presentation
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: Kristin Bye for X
The SXSW Film Awards are presented by FilmStruck. FilmStruck is 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.
About SXSW Film Festival
Now in its 25th year, SXSW Film Festival brings together creatives of all stripes over nine days to experience a diverse lineup and access to thousands of SXSW Conference sessions with visionaries from all corners of the entertainment, media, and technology industries. Check out the 25 Years of SXSW Film Festival Alumni memories at https://www.sxsw.com/tag/sxsw-film-25/
About SXSW
SXSW dedicates itself to helping creative people achieve their goals. Founded in 1987 in Austin, TX, 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 conference programming, 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 2018 will take place March 9-18, 2018.
SXSW 2018 is sponsored by Capital One, Mercedes-Benz, Bud Light, and The Austin Chronicle.