It's nice to see a film that you love get embraced by a festival and take home a slew of hardware. Screamfest Horror Film Festival announced this year's award winners and Gonzalo Calzada's Nocturna: Side A - The Great Old Man's Night cleaned up. Among the feature film categories Calzada's dramatic horror film won Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor for Pepe Soriano and Best Editing.
Another favorite of mine from this year, What Josiah Saw, was the only other multi-award winner taking home wins in cinematography and special effects. Libby Ewing won the best actress award for When I Consume You. Festival opener The Retaliators won Special Effects Makeup.
The complete list of all the winners follows in the official announcement.
21ST ANNUAL SCREAMFEST HORROR FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 2021 WINNERSThe 21st annual Screamfest Horror Film Festival awarded their 2021 top movies, filmmakers, actors and screenplay during the fest’s closing night on Thursday, October 21. The festival, which ran from October 12-21, 2021, is the longest running horror film festival in the United States. This year, the festival returned to its home at the TCL Chinese Theater, welcoming audiences back to the big screen with a star-filled opening night screening of rock and roll horror thriller The Retaliators.Staying true to their mission of steadfastly supporting filmmakers and screenwriters in the horror and science fiction genres, Screamfest was home to 294 independent filmmakers during its 10-day run, including 82 short film directors, 110 short film producers, 30 feature film directors, and 72 feature film producers, including 19 female directors and 19 BIPOC filmmakers.In addition to the full festival line-up, the festival also featured an evening with Bruce Campbell, along with screenings of his iconic films EVIL DEAD 2 and ARMY OF DARKNESS, as well as a special screening of the classic 80’s vampire film LOST BOYS featuring a conversation with the film’s star Jason Patric.Film entries are accepted in the categories of Best Picture, Directing, Cinematography, Editing, Special Effects, Musical Score, and more. This year’s Best Picture and Best Director went to Gonzalo Calzada’s haunting and heartbreaking Nocturna: Side A -The Great Old Man’s Night, which also nabbed Best Actor for 92 year old Pepe Soriano.Please see awards recipients below.Screamfest 2021 WinnersBest Picture - Nocturna: Side A - The Great Old Man’s NightBest Director - Gonzalo Calzada - Nocturna: Side A - The Great Old Man’s NightBest Actor - Pepe Soriano - Nocturna: Side A - The Great Old Man’s NightBest Actress - Libby Ewing - When I Consume YouBest Cinematography - Carlos Ritter - What Josiah SawBest Editing - Alejandro Narvaez -Nocturna: Side A - The Great Old Man’s NightBest Special Effects Makeup - Shannon Mulligan & KC Mussman - The RetaliatorsBest Visual Effects - Let The Wrong One InBest Special Effects - What Josiah SawBest Musical Score - Leonardo Martinelli - The Returned (Los Que Vuelven)Best Screenplay - Hangman by JC Doler and Paul PetersenBest Short - The Light directed by Iago de SotoBest Horror Comedy Short - Good Head directed by Matt ServittoBest Student Short - The Other One directed by Lukas BaierCONGRATULATIONS 2021 AWARD WINNERS!Screamfest provides a platform for filmmakers and actors to showcase their latest work to horror film enthusiasts and general audiences. Among the numerous films that have been discovered and/or premiered at the festival include The Wretched, Tigers Are Not Afraid, We Summons the Darkness, Pledge, The Master Cleanse, Tragedy Girls, American Mary, Paranormal Activity, 30 Days of Night, Trick ‘r Treat, and The Human Centipede. A launchpad for careers, many of the festival’s filmmakers have garnered distribution and representation, including Paranormal Activity, which was discovered and premiered at the festival in 2007. Screamfest has launched the careers of many filmmakers, most notably, the director of Paranormal Activity. Filmmakers have garnered managers and agency representation with William Morris Endeavor, CAA, UTA, Paradigm etc. Numerous feature films have garnered distribution with companies such as, IFC Midnight, Lionsgate, Epic Pictures, Dimension and more. Director Thomas Aske Berg said the best thing to ever happen to his indie film (Norway’s Vidar the Vampire) was coming to Screamfest, because that's where they saw it and bought it.