The Palo Alto International Film Festival (PAIFF) wrapped up after its inagural four day run, September 29 thru October 2, 2011,  with the presentation of the Sallie Gardner awards, including the presentation of the Audience Award to Jennifer Siebel Newson’s documentary “Miss Representation.”

The inaugural awards gala featured the presentations of the following awards:

Christie Audience Award was presented to Jennifer Siebel Newsom for her documentary “Miss Representation.”

Muybridge Award for the Advancement of Art and Technology was presented to visual effects artist John Knoll.

Innovation in Film Award was presented to SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory’s X-ray Laser team and accepted by Uwe Bergmann Deputy Director of the LCLS.

Palo Alto middle school students Charlie and Henry Badger received the Local Student Short Audience Award for their film “127 Minutes.”

The PAIFF and Dolby Excellence in 3D Award was presented to Takashi Miike for “Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai.”

“Two Cars, One Night” by filmmaker Taika Waititi was the recipient of the Live Action Short Award.

The Animated Short Award was presented to “Something Left, Something Taken,” by Max Porter, Ru Kuwahata.

PAIFF/Talenthouse Short Film Contest Award.  In Spring 2011, PAIFF and Talenthouse announced an international Short Film Contest to celebrate the digital age of cinema, an age in which anyone can tell his or her story visually because of great strides made in technology. Cedric Vella’s “YouTube My Facebook,” was selected from over 170 entries.  Talenthouse Vice President of Marketing Frederik Hermann presented the award.