LA Film Fest 2012: ALL IS WELL, DROUGHT Take Top Jury Awards
LA Film Fest has wrapped up for another year and while we've got a few more reviews and interviews trickling in over the next couple days, we've also got the announcement of all the awards handed out yesterday. BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD and SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN continued their successful post-Sundance festival runs by bringing home hardware in the form of Audience prizes for Best Narrative Feature and Best International, while the Best Documentary Feature Audience prize went to BIRTH STORY: INA MAY GASKIN AND THE FARM MIDWIVES. Check out the full list of Audience and Jury prizes, followed by the press release below.
Jury Award Winners -
Feature Films
★ Narrative Award: All is Well,
directed by Pocas Pascoal. This award recognizes the finest narrative film in
competition at the Festival.
★ Honorable Mention: Thursday Till
Sunday directed by Dominga Sotomayor.
★ Documentary Award: Drought,
directed by Everardo González. This award recognizes the finest documentary
film in competition at the Festival.
★ Best Performance in the
Narrative Competition: Wendell Pierce, Emory Cohen, E.J. Bonilla and
Aja Naomi King for their performances in the World Premiere of Joshua
Sanchez'sFour. Given to an actor or actors from an official selection in
the Narrative Competition.
Jury Award Winners - Short
Films
(each
awarded an unrestricted cash prize of $5,000)
★ Best Narrative Short Film: The Chair,
directed by Grainger David.
★ Best Documentary Short
Film: Kudzu
Vine, directed by Josh Gibson.
★ Best Animated or
Experimental Short Film: The Pub, directed by Joseph Pierce.
Audience Award Winners
★ Audience Award for Best
Narrative Feature winner: Beasts of the Southern Wild, directed by
Benh Zeitlin.
★ Audience Award for Best
Documentary Feature winner: Birth Story: Ina May Gaskin and The Farm
Midwives, directed by Sara Lamm and Mary Wigmore.
★ Audience Award for Best
International Feature winner: Searching for Sugar Man,
directed by Malik Bendjelloul.
★ Audience Award for Best
Short Film: Asad,
directed by Bryan Buckley
★ Audience Award for Best
Music Video: Piranhas
Club, directed by Lex Halaby.
LOS
ANGELES (June 24, 2012) - Film Independent, the non-profit arts
organization that produces the Los Angeles Film Festival and the Spirit Awards,
announced the jury and audience award winners for the 2012 Festival at the
Awards Brunch, hosted by CHAYA Downtown for the third year. Actors Jon Heder
and Ari Graynor were on hand to present the awards. The LA Film Fest, presented
by Film Independent and Host Venue Regal Cinemas L.A. LIVE Stadium 14 and
presenting media sponsor Los Angeles Times, ran from Thursday, June
14 to Sunday, June 24 in downtown Los Angeles.
"Every
single filmmaker in this year's Festival deserves kudos for their artistry and
compelling stories. Our juries had such gems to choose from in each competition
and the winners truly represent what we hold dear--diversity and uniqueness of
vision," said Festival Director Stephanie Allain.
The
two top juried awards of the Los Angeles Film Festival are the Narrative Award
and Documentary Award, each carrying an unrestricted $15,000 cash prize, funded
by Film Independent, for the winning film's director. The awards were
established by the Festival to encourage independent filmmakers to pursue their
artistic ambitions.
"In
an extremely competitive year, our juries had hard choices to make. The winning
films are wonderful examples of what the Festival celebrates: bold, fresh,
personal visions that expand the horizons of independent cinema," said Artistic
Director David Ansen.
The
Narrative Award recognizes the finest narrative film in competition at the
Festival and went to Pocas Pascoal for the North American Premiere of All
is Well, with an Honorable Mention going to Dominga Sotomayor's Thursday
Till Sunday. The Documentary Award recognizes the finest documentary film
in competition at the Festival and went to Everardo González for the US
Premiere of Drought.
The
award for Best Performance in the Narrative Competition went to Wendell Pierce,
Emory Cohen, E.J. Bonilla and Aja Naomi King for their performances in the
World Premiere of Joshua Sanchez's Four. Given to an actor or actors
from an official selection in the Narrative Competition, this is the ninth year
the award has been given at the Festival.
The
LA Film Fest also awarded an unrestricted $5,000 cash prize to each short film
category. The award for Best Narrative Short Film went to The Chair,
directed by Grainger David. The award for Best Documentary Short Film went to
Josh Gibson for Kudzu Vine. Joseph Pierce's The Pub won
for Best Animated or Experimental Short Film.
The
Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature went to Beasts of the
Southern Wild, directed by Benh Zeitlin and the Audience Award for Best
Documentary Feature went to Birth Story: Ina May Gaskin and The Farm
Midwives, directed by Sara Lamm and Mary Wigmore. Searching for
Sugar Man, directed by Malik Bendjelloul won the Audience Award for Best
International Feature.
The
Audience Award for Best Short Film went to Asad, directed by Bryan
Buckley. Piranhas Club, directed by Lex Halaby won the Audience
Award for Best Music Video.
The
Narrative Feature Competition jury was comprised of actress Rachael Harris (Natural
Selection, Diary of a Wimpy Kid movies),
actor/writer/producer/director Robert Townsend (Hollywood Shuffle, The Five
Heartbeats) and film critic Sheri Linden (LAFCA, The Hollywood
Reporter, The Los Angeles Times). The Documentary Feature Competition jury
was comprised of producer Heather Rae (Frozen River, The Dry Land),
producer Karin Chien (Circumstance, The Exploding Girl) and director
Mark Landsman (Thunder Soul). The Shorts Competition Jury was comprised
of film critic and author Ernest Hardy (Blood Beats Vols. 1 and 2),
cinematographer Nancy Schreiber (Your Friends and Neighbors, The Celluloid
Closet) and writer/director/editor Javier Fuentes León (Contracorriente).
Now
in its eighteenth year, the Los Angeles Film Festival is recognized as a
world-class event, showcasing the best in new American and international cinema
and providing the movie-loving public with access to critically acclaimed
filmmakers, film industry professionals, and emerging talent from around the
world. The 2012 Festival screened nearly 200 feature films, shorts and music
videos, representing more than 30 countries.
The
LA Film Fest kicked off on Thursday, June 14 with the North American Premiere
of Woody Allen's To Rome With Love, sponsored by Virgin America,
and will close tonight with the World Premiere of Steven Soderbergh's Magic
Mike, sponsored by Volkswagen of America. Gala Screenings included the
World Premieres of Alex Kurtzman's People Like Us, Lorene
Scafaria's Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, LA premieres
of Benh Zeitlin's Beasts of the Southern Wild and Ava
DuVernay's Middle of Nowhere. The 2012 Guest Director was William
Friedkin and Artists in Residence were composer Danny Elfman, sponsored by
Regal Entertainment Group and IRIS from Cirque du Soleil®, musician Raphael
Saadiq and chef Michael Voltaggio.
Located
in the heart of downtown Los Angeles, the newest CHAYA combines urban chic and
European sensibility with Japanese hospitality. CHAYA Downtown features a
lively bar, lounge and sushi bar that sit off the main dining room and look out
into the large garden patio. CHAYA Downtown is proud to return as sponsor and
host of the Los Angeles Film Festival Awards Brunch for a third year and offer
its delectable cuisine to filmmakers and VIPs.
Awards were given out in
the following categories:
Narrative Award (for Best
Narrative Feature)
Winner:
All is Well directed by Pocas Pascoal
Producer: Luis Correia
Cast: Ciomara Morais, Cheila Lima, William Brandao, Vera Cruz
Film
Description: (Portugal) Strangers in a strange land, two beautiful Angolan
sisters fleeing a civil war in their homeland struggle to survive in Lisbon.
Pocas Pascoal's deeply personal saga shows us the face of exile with quietly
stunning power.
The
Narrative Award carries an unrestricted cash prize of $15,000 funded by Film
Independent, offering the financial means to help filmmakers transfer their
vision to the screen. The award recognizes the finest narrative film in
competition, and is given to the director. A special jury selects the winner,
and all narrative feature-length films screening in the Narrative Competition section
were eligible.
In
bestowing Pocas Pascoal with the Narrative Award, the Jury stated:
"All
is Well, a Lisbon-set exploration of the immigrant experience and,
especially, of the bond between siblings, is a work of striking visual
eloquence and emotional honesty. As sisters navigating a new country, together
and separately, Cheila Lima and Ciomara Morais deliver performances of searing
intimacy. Filmmaker Pocas Pascoal has transformed her personal story of exile
from Angola into a deeply affecting drama, whose cinematic power if
particularly impressive in the work of a first-time feature director."
Honorable Mention (for Best
Narrative Feature)
Film
Title: Thursday till Sunday directed by Dominga Sotomayor
Producers: Gregorio González, Benjamin Domenech
Cast: Santi Ahumada, Emiliano Freifeld, Francisco Pérez-Bannen, Paola Giannini
Film
Description: (Chile) With uncommon beauty and style, this Chilean road movie
finds a family at a crossroads, as the daughter slowly realizes the divide
between the adults in the front seat and the kids in back.
In
bestowing Dominga Sotomayor with an Honorable Mention, the Jury stated:
"Thursday
Till Sunday masterfully uses landscape to convey interpersonal
dynamics with keen sensitivity and insight. Unease and awakening are indelibly
entwined in the film's deceptively simple family road trip, creating a nuanced
and elegiac coming-of-age story. The debut feature of Chilean writer-director
Dominga Sotomayor is evidence of an exciting new talent."
Documentary Award (for Best
Documentary Feature)
Winner: Drought directed
by Everardo González
Producer: Martha Orozco
Film
Description: (Mexico) Contrasting the lives of a cattle-ranching community with
the arid northeastern Mexican landscape that surrounds them, this cinéma vérité
documentary paints a poetic portrait of a community on the verge of
distinction.
The
Documentary Award carries an unrestricted cash prize of $15,000 funded by Film
Independent, offering the financial means to help filmmakers transfer their
vision to the screen. The award recognizes the finest documentary film in
competition, and is given to the director. A special jury selects the winner,
and all documentary feature-length films screening in the Documentary
Competition section were eligible.
In
bestowing Everardo González with the Documentary Award, the Jury stated:
"The
jury found Drought to be a film of extraordinary caliber--epic
in scope, keen and intimate in its observational perspective, beautifully
filmed and edited with a sparse and affecting soundscape. Through this powerful
film, the story of a remote Mexican community grappling with a growing drought
becomes a universal parable and an alarming harbinger."
Best Performance in the
Narrative Competition
Winner:
Wendell Pierce, Emory Cohen, E.J. Bonilla and Aja Naomi King in Joshua
Sanchez's Four.
Film
Description: Over the course of a steamy 4th of July night, a father and
daughter, each trapped in loneliness, reach out for sexual connection -- he with
a self-hating teenage boy, she with a smooth-talking wannabe homeboy -- in this
psychologically complex, beautifully acted drama.
In
bestowing the actors with the Best Performance, the Jury stated:
"Commanding
and utterly unforced, the ensemble cast of Joshua Sanchez's Four inhabit
their characters with compelling specificity. At the same time, their
pitch-perfect collaborative energy honors and deepens the tone of the material.
As lonely individuals in various states of crisis, Wendell Pierce, Emory Cohen,
E.J. Bonilla and Aja Naomi King are fearless in the vulnerability they bring to
their roles."
Audience Award for Best
Narrative Feature
Winner: Beasts
of the Southern Wild, directed by Benh Zeitlin
Producers: Michael Gottwald, Dan Janvey, Josh Penn
Cast: Quvenzhané Wallis, Dwight Henry
Film
Description: This stunningly imaginative, boldly original film follows
six-year-old Hushpuppy as she fights to protect her father and their unique way
of life in a remote, dreamlike area of the Delta threatened by apocalyptic
floods.
This
award is given to the narrative feature audiences liked most as voted by a
tabulated rating system. Select narrative feature-length films screening in the
following sections were eligible for the Audience Award for Best Narrative
Feature: Narrative Competition, International Showcase, Summer Showcase,
Community Screenings and The Beyond.
Audience Award for Best
Documentary Feature
Winner: Birth
Story: Ina May Gaskin and The Farm Midwives, directed by Sara Lamm and Mary
Wigmore
Producers: Sara Lamm, Mary Wigmore, Kate Roughan, Zachary Mortensen
Featuring: Ina May Gaskin, Stephen Gaskin, Pamela Hunt, Farm Midwives past and
present, Kristina Kennedy Davis
Film
Description: Ina May Gaskin and the courageous midwives of the Farm commune
inspired the modern midwifery movement. This beguiling documentary tells their
empowering story with depth, intelligence and wit.
This
award is given to the documentary feature audiences liked most as voted by a
tabulated rating system. Select documentary feature-length films screening in
the following sections were eligible for the Audience Award for Best
Documentary Feature: Documentary Competition, International Showcase, Summer
Showcase and Community Screenings.
Audience Award for Best
International Feature
Winner: Searching
for Sugar Man directed by Malik Bendjelloul
Producers: Simon Chinn, Malik Bendjelloul
Featuring: Rodriguez
Film
Description: Years after facing into obscurity at home, the music of '70s U.S.
singer/songwriter Rodriguez became an underground sensation in South Africa.
Decades after his disappearance, two fans uncover the startling truth behind
the legend.
This
award is given to the international feature audiences liked most as voted by a
tabulated rating system. Select international feature-length films, both
narrative and documentary, screening in the following sections were eligible
for the Audience Award for Best International Feature: Narrative Competition,
Documentary Competition, International Showcase, Summer Showcase and The Beyond.
Best Narrative Short Film
Winner: The
Chair directed by Grainger David
Producers: Spencer Kiernan, Caroline Oliveira
Cast: Khari Lucas, King Hoey, Martha F. Brown
Description:
A young boy questions the origins of a mysterious mold outbreak that threatens
to destroy his town.
In
bestowing Grainger David with the Best Narrative Short Film Award, the Jury
stated:
"Grainger
David's narrative short, The Chair, is a lyrical, gorgeous
meditation on death, grief and resilience as filtered through a young boy's
fluid memory. Set in the humid American south, and filmed on landscapes that
are familiar, on one hand, and rendered as poetic dreamscapes, on the other, the
short film is ultimately a moving coming-of-age film in which a family tragedy
nudges its young protagonist to muse on matters that have concerned great minds
throughout the ages -- religion, family, morality, and the ways in which we are
all connected."
Best Documentary Short Film
Winner: Kudzu
Vine directed & produced by Josh Gibson
Description:
This ode to the kudzu vine poetically highlights its ties to the history and
the people of the South.
In
bestowing Josh Gibson with the Best Documentary Short Film Award, the Jury
stated:
"Quite
often, documentary filmmakers take a literal, visually straightforward approach
to their subject matter, sidestepping experimentation with the language of
cinema. Director Josh Gibson's Kudzu Vine was not only filled
with information on the sturdy kudzu vine --it's history; the many and
unexpected uses for it -- but employed a visual style perched somewhere between
gothic and otherworldly. Hugely educational and wonderfully stylistic, Kudzu
Vine is this year's winner for Best Documentary Short."
Best Animated/Experimental
Short Film
Winner: The
Pub directed by Joseph Pierce
Producer: Mark Grimmer
Description:
(England) Life isn't easy behind the counter of a North London pub.
In
bestowing Mark Grimmer with the Best Animated or Experimental Short Film Award,
the Jury stated:
"The
jury prize for best animated/experimental short goes to Joseph Pierce's The
Pub, a haunting portrayal of everyday life in a bar in North London, seen
through the eyes of a lonely bartender. At times, striking beautiful and at
times, terrifyingly grotesque, the imaginative and exquisite use of animation
gives the film its depth and opens up a door into the humanity of the regular characters
of this joint -- loners, drunks, old-timers -- letting us peak for an instant
into their souls and the demons that hover around them.
Audience Award for Best
Short Film
Winner: Asad directed
by Bryan Buckley
Producers: Bryan Buckley, Mino Jarjoura, Rafiq Samsodien, Matt Lefebvre, Kevin
Byrne, Hank Perlman
Cast: Harun Mohammed, Ibrahim Moalim Hussein, Ali Mohammed, Abdiwale Mohmed
Mohamed, Mariya Abdulle, Najah Abdi Abdullahi, Mustafa Olad Dirie, Mohamed
Abdullahi Abdikher, Abdi, Sidow Farah, Sahied Nuur Mahamed, Ahmed Dhadane
Jimale, Hussein Abdi Mohamed, Isa, Mohamed Abdul, Ikram Hassan, Yasmin Abdi
Mohamed, Maymum Abdi Mohamed, Sadia Hassan, Meade Nichol
Description:
A young boy in a war-torn Somalian village faces a moral dilemma.
Awarded
to the short film audiences liked most as voted on by a tabulated rating system.
Short films screening in the Shorts Programs or before Narrative Competition,
Documentary Competition, or International Showcase feature-length screenings
were eligible for the Audience Award for Best Short Film.
Audience Award for Best
Music Video
Winner: Piranhas
Club directed by Lex Halaby
Music: Man Man
This
award is given to the music video audiences liked most as voted on by a
tabulated rating system.