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Fort Tilden, The Great Invisible Take Top Prizes at SXSW
Fort Tilden Beating back chilly, sub-normal temperatures, the season finale of True Detective and the myriad distractions of its surrounding program — referencing the new SXSports category, one independent film stalwart snarled to me, “Don’t try to tell me that sports are now creative” — SXSW Film put a capper on its 2014 edition by awarding Sarah-Violet Bliss & Charles Rogers’ Brooklyn beach comedy Fort Tilden and Margaret Brown’s Deepwater Horizon doc, The Great Invisible, its top prizes. Other awards included a “special jury award for courage in storytelling to the lead actor and screenwriter of Collin Schiffli’s Animals, David Dastmalchian. (The Chicago-set junkie drama is loosely based on Dastmalchian’s own addiction issues, but director Schiffli and lead actress Kim Shaw, whose work is both fine, deserve credit here too.) Courage of a different kind — “political courage” — was cited with a special jury award to Diana Whitten for her abortion-on-the-high-seas documentary, Vessel, which drew a standing ovation at its premiere in the reproductive rights-challenged state of Texas.
The complete awards are listed below. Filmmaker‘s SXSW coverage continues this week and can be read here.
The 2014 SXSW Film Festival Award Winners:
Feature Film Jury Awards
NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION
Grand Jury Winner: Fort Tilden
Director: Sarah-Violet Bliss & Charles RogersSpecial Jury Recognition for Courage in Storytelling: Animals
Actor & Screenwriter: David DastmalchianSpecial Jury Recognition for Best Acting Duo: 10,000KM (Long Distance)
Natalie Tena
David VerdaguerDOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION
Grand Jury Winner: The Great Invisible
Director: Margaret BrownSpecial Jury Recognition for Political Courage: Vessel
Director: Diana WhittenSpecial Jury Recognition for Editing & Storytelling: Print the Legend
Directors: Luis Lopez & Clay TweelShort Film Jury Awards
NARRATIVE SHORTS
Winner: Quelqu’un d’extraordinaire
Director: Monia ChokriSpecial Jury Recognition: Person to Person
Director: Dustin Guy DefaSpecial Jury Recognition for Cinematography: Krisha
Director: Trey Edward ShultsDOCUMENTARY SHORTS
Winner: Kehinde Wiley: An Economy of Grace
Director: Jeff DupreMIDNIGHT SHORTS
Winner: Wawd Ahp
Directors: Steve Girard & Josh ChertoffANIMATED SHORTS
Winner: Coda
Director: Alan HollySpecial Jury Recognition: Eager
Director: Allison SchulnikMUSIC VIDEOS
Winner: Joel Compass, “Back to Me”
Director: Ian and CooperTEXAS SHORTS
Winner: Some vacation.
Director: Anne S. LewisTEXAS HIGH SCHOOL SHORTS
Winner: Seawolf
Director: Caila Pickett & Max MontoyaSXSW Film Design Awards
EXCELLENCE IN POSTER DESIGN
Winner: Starry Eyes
Designer: Jay ShawEXCELLENCE IN TITLE DESIGN
Winner: True Detective
Designer: Patrick Clair for ElasticSpecial Jury Recognition: The Lego Movie
Designer: Brian Mah for Alma MatterSXSW Special Awards
SXSW GAMECHANGER EMERGENT WOMAN DIRECTOR AWARD
Winner: Jen McGowan, Kelly & CalSpecial Mention: Kat Candler. Hellion
LOUIS BLACK “LONE STAR” AWARD
Winner: Boyhood
Director: Richard LinklaterKAREN SCHMEER FILM EDITING FELLOWSHIP
Presented to: Colin Nusbaum
The 2014 SXSW festival juries are as follows:
Narrative Feature Competition: Kate Aurthur, Michael Hogan, Oliver Platt
Documentary Feature Competition: David Ehrlich, Dave Karger, Amy Nicholson
Shorts Program: Bret Berg, Dan Nuxoll, Saschka Unseld
Documentary Shorts: Heather Courtney, Daniel Dreifuss, Adam Roffman
Animated Shorts: Geoff Marslett, Carson Mell, Julia Pott
Midnight Shorts: Meredith Borders, Adam Montgomery, Jordan Vogt-Roberts
Music Videos: John T. Kunz, Tyler Pratt, Shakey Graves
Texas Shorts: Elizabeth Avellán, Eugenio del Bosque, Heather Page
Texas High School Shorts: Emily Hagins, Bob Ray, Bart Weiss
Title Sequence Design: Ian Albinson, Pamela Green, Yen Tan
Poster Design: Christian Helms, Tim League, Kurt Volk
Louis Black “Lone Star”: Peter Debruge, Victor Diaz, Harry Knowles
