Burning Days directed by Emin Alper won the Grand Jury Prize for Narrative Feature at the 26th annual Sonoma International Film Festival which ran March 22-26, 2023. The Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature went to The Grab by Gabriela Cowperthwaite.
The SIFF Filmmaker Award, presented by Cinelease, went to Sarah T. Schwab for her poignant drama A Stage Of Twilight starring Karen Allen, who also attended the festival in support of the film, and William Sadler.
“There are so many deserving filmmakers out there,” said director Sarah T. Schwab. “I feel honored to be chosen. I greatly appreciate SIFF and Cinelease for supporting independent films. It’s incredibly difficult to get indie scripts to screen – this award will absolutely be put to good use on my upcoming project.”
The Stolman Audience Award for Best Feature, named after festival co-founder Carolyn Stolman, went to Jules by director Marc Turtletaub which world premiered at the festival; and the audience’s favorite documentary, the A3 Award, named for board member Armar A. Archbold, went to Karen Carpenter: Starving For Perfection by Randy Martin.
“The audience wholeheartedly embraced the films we selected from around the world,” said Artistic Director Carl Spence. “In our search, we found films we loved, both the awe-inspiring and sublime, as well as entertaining box office hits from other countries; including eight extraordinary films that also made their premieres in Sonoma. We also welcomed many industry veterans from the filmmaking community who served to elevate our festival profile, and film competition levels, and to provide valuable insights and interaction with our visiting filmmakers.”
“Our festival-going audience is long been known for its embrace of the festival and for providing astute film opinions on our Audience Awards,” said Executive Director Ginny Krieger. “This year’s festival exceeded our expectations in the number of pass holders and individual ticket sales, our culinary and party special events, and is a testament to our many years in the Sonoma community and their longtime support.”
Complete lis of winners of 2023 Sonoma International Film Festival.
Grand Jury Award | Best Narrative Feature:
BURNING DAYS (Emin Alper | Turkey)
The jury highlighted the performances of Sadaf Asgari and Ghazal Shojaei in the feature film UNTIL TOMORROW with a Special Jury Award.
Grand Jury Award | Best Documentary Feature:
THE GRAB (Gabriela Cowperthwaite | USA)
Grand Jury Award | Best Short Films
Best Live Action Short
The Grand Jury Prize for Live Action Short went to Jarreau Carrillo for THE VACATION.
Best Documentary Short
The Grand Jury Prize for Documentary Short went to Megan Martinez Goltz’s HISTORIAS DE CULTURA: COMIDA
Best Animated Short
The Grand Jury Prize for Animation goes to Tom Brown’s CHRISTOPHER AT SEA.
Special Jury Prize
The Jury gave a Special Jury Prize to the cast in Daniel Sinclair’s THE BREAKTHROUGH: Greta Lee, Ben Sinclair, and Kristin Slaysman.
SIFF Filmmaker Award presented by Cinelease:
The SIFF Filmmaker Award, went to Sarah T. Schwab for her poignant drama A STAGE OF TWILIGHT starring Karen Allen
SIFF Audience Awards:
Audience Award for Best Feature
The Stolman Audience Award for Best Feature went to JULES by director Marc Turtletaub.
The top 5 runner-up films include MAGNIFICAT (France), A STAGE OF TWILIGHT (USA), TWO MANY CHEFS (France), MAX, MIN & MEOWZAKI (India), and AJOOMA (Singapore).
Audience Award for Best Documentary
The A3 Audience Award for Best Documentary, the A3 Award went to KAREN CARPENTER: STARVING FOR PERFECTION (USA) by Randy Martin.
The top 5 runner-up films include THE ART OF EATING: THE LIFE OF M.F.K. FISHER (USA), JUDY BLUME FOREVER (USA), FULL CIRCLE (USA), RADICAL LANDSCAPES (Switzerland/Italy), and LITTLE RICHARD: I AM EVERYTHING (USA).
McNeely Award for Best Short Film
The McNeely Award for Best Short Film, in honor of SIFF Director Emeritus Kevin W. McNeely, went to NINA & IRENA (USA) from director Daniel Lombroso.
The Top 5 runner-up films include Free to Care (USA), The Best Chef in the World (USA), Wok Hei (Canada), Human (Ukraine), and Congratulations (USA).