The 2019 Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival which ran from July 18th to July 28th, closed on Sunday night with “Before You Know It,” – a quirky Sundance favorite from director Hannah Pearl Utt, that infuses tenderness and complex emotion into the absurd misadventures of Rachel and Jackie, sisters living a dysfunctional life in New York City.
The festival announced the award winners with the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary Feature going to UNSETTLED, directed by Tom Shepard, Grand Jury Prize for Best International Narrative Film going to THE GROUND BENEATH MY FEET, directed by Marie Kreutzer, and the Grand Jury Prize for Best U.S. Narrative Feature went to JULES OF LIGHT AND DARK, directed by Daniel Laabs.
CHANGING THE GAME, directed Michael Barnett was voted winner of the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature, and TOP 3, directed Sofie Edvardsson won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature. The Audience Award for Best Narrative First Feature (presented by HBO) went to SAINT FRANCES, directed by Alex Thompson.
Outfest Los Angeles 2019 Award Winners
AUDIENCE AWARDS
Experimental Short
FRAMING AGNES, dirs. Chase Joynt & Kristen Schilt
Documentary Short
HOW TO MAKE A RAINBOW, dir. Ryan Maxey
Narrative Short
TIME & AGAIN, dir. Rachel Dax
Documentary Feature
CHANGING THE GAME, dir. Michael Barnett
Narrative Feature
TOP 3, dir. Sofie Edvardsson
Narrative First Feature (presented by HBO)
SAINT FRANCES, dir. Alex Thompson
GRAND JURY AWARDS
Documentary
Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary Short
SWEETHEART DANCERS, dir. Ben-Alex Dupris
Documentary Feature Special Mention
WHY CAN’T I BE ME? AROUND YOU, dirs. Harrod Blank, Sjoerd Djik
Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary Feature
UNSETTLED, dir. Tom Shepard
International Narrative Shorts
International Narrative Short Film Special Mention
I (dirs. Hallfridur Thora Tryggvadottir, Vala Omarsdottir) – Iceland
Grand Jury Prize for Best International Narrative Short
THRIVE (dir. Jamie Di Spirito) – United Kingdom
U.S. Narrative Shorts
U.S. Narrative Short Special Mention
SKIN, dir. Audrey Rosenberg
Grand Jury Prize, U.S. Narrative Short
BABY, dir. Jessie Levandov
International Feature Film
Special Mention for Performance
Juan Barberini, Ramon Pujol, and Mia Maestro in END OF THE CENTURY (dir. Lucio Castro) – Argentina
Special Mention for Directing
Lisa Zi Xiang for A DOG BARKING AT THE MOON – China
Grand Jury Prize for Best Performance in an International Narrative
Juan Pablo Olyslager in TEMBLORES (TREMORS) – Guatemala
Grand Jury Prize for Screenwriting, International Narrative
Santiago Loza for BRIEF STORY FROM THE GREEN PLANET — Argentina
Grand Jury Prize for Best International Narrative Film
THE GROUND BENEATH MY FEET, dir. Marie Kreutzer
U.S. Narrative Feature
Special Mention for Ensemble Performance
MOTHER’S LITTLE HELPERS, dir. Kestrin Pantera
Special Mention for Directing
Rhys Ernst, ADAM
Grand Jury Prize for Best Screenwriting
TU ME MANQUES, dir. Rodrigo Bellott
Grand Jury Prize for Best Performance
Nicole Maines in BIT
Grand Jury Prize for Best U.S. Narrative Feature
JULES OF LIGHT AND DARK, dir. Daniel Laabs
Special Programming Awards
Emerging Talent
PIER KIDS, dir. Elegance Bratton
Freedom
QUEERING THE SCRIPT, dir. Gabrielle Zilkha
Artistic Achievement
VISION PORTRAITS, dir. Rodney Evans
Corporate Awards
Vimeo Staff Picks Award
CATHERINE OPIE, B. 1961, dir. Sini Anderson
Hyundai’s Vision for Better Award
WONDER, dir. Javier Molina
HBO Award (Best Narrative First Feature Audience Award)
SAINT FRANCES