The 2023 Mammoth Lakes Film Festival (MLFF) honored the year’s jury and audience award winners at the Closing Night Award Ceremony in Mammoth Lakes where Where the Road Leads directed and written by Nina Ognjanović won both the Jury and Audience awards for Best International Narrative Feature.
The other top jury awards went to Unicorn Boy, directed and written by Matt Kiel for Best Narrative Feature; A Still Small Voice, directed by Luke Lorentzen for Best Documentary Feature and To Kill A Tiger, directed by Nisha Kumari Pahuja, for Best International Documentary Feature..
The Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature went to Love Dump, directed by Jason Avezzano; Best Documentary Feature went to Name of the Game, directed by William Forbes and Douglas Skinner, and Naked Israel directed by Inés Moldavsky, won the Audience Award for Best International Documentary Feature.
The festival 9th Annual Mammoth Lakes Film Festival held from May 24-28, screened over 100 features and short films, hosted screenplay competition finalists, and presented over $45,000 in awards and cash prizes to the winners.
“This year’s festival was a testament to the importance of an event that creates community and support for personal, innovative filmmaking — we had a record-breaking number of attending filmmakers,” said Shira Dubrovner, Festival Director and Founder. “We consciously seek out the kind of bold filmmaking that deserves a showcase,” said Paul Sbrizzi, Director of Programming. “We program entertaining and culturally impactful work that represents the voices of the future.”
Complete list of Juried and Audience Awards of 2023 Mammoth Lakes Film Festival.
Jury Awards
Best Narrative Feature: “Unicorn Boy,” directed and written by Matt Kiel.
$1,000 cash award, $10,000 Panavision Camera Rental Grant, $13,500 LightIron Postproduction Package and a Slated script and financial analysis bundle.
Honorable Mention awarded to “Love Dump,” directed by Jason Avezzano, written by Leila Gorstein and Jesse Kendall.
Best International Narrative Feature: “Where the Road Leads,” directed and written by Nina Ognjanović.
$1,000 cash award
Best Documentary Feature: “A Still Small Voice,” directed by Luke Lorentzen.
$1,000 cash award
Bravery Award for Documentary Feature: “Mississippi River Styx,” directed by Tim Grant & Andy McMillan.
$1,000 cash award
Best International Documentary Feature: “To Kill A Tiger,” directed by Nisha Kumari Pahuja.
$1,000 cash award
Best Screenplay: “Field of Weeds,” by Kelly Jean Karam.
$1,000 cash award and a Slated script and financial analysis bundle.
Best Narrative Short: “Play This At My Funeral,” directed by Ray Smiling.
$500 cash award
Honorable Mention: “Filling Holes,” directed by Miriam Gabriel and Sophia de Baun.
Best International Narrative Short: “Sanaa, Seductress of Strangers,” directed by Jan Eilhardt.
$500 cash award
Honorable Mention: “Summer Rain,” directed by Shao Lin.
Best Documentary Short: “A Throwing Forth,” directed by Xiao Zhang.
$500 cash award
Honorable Mention: “Let Me Take You Home,” directed by Evelyn Hang Yin.
Best Animation Short: “Our Pain,” directed by Shunsaku Hayashi.
$500 cash award
Honorable Mention to “La Última Historia (The Last Story),” directed by Vicente Molina Pardo.
Best Music Video: “Under No Nation,” by Goat, directed by John Mark Lapham.
$500 cash award
Honorable Mention to “Funeral Solution,” by Osees, directed by Logan Feser.
Special Mention to “Rakiya Su Katamam,” by Altin Gün, directed by Sylvain Rusques and Simon Moreaux.
Audience Awards
Best Narrative Feature: “Love Dump,” directed by Jason Avezzano, written by Leila Gorstein and Jesse Kendall.
$1,000 cash award and $5,000 Panavision Camera Rental Grant
Best International Narrative Feature: “Where the Road Leads,” directed and written by Nina Ognjanović.
$1,000 cash award
Best Documentary Feature: “Name of the Game,” directed by William Forbes and Douglas Skinner.
$1,000 cash award
Best International Documentary Feature: “Naked Israel,” directed by Inés Moldavsky.
$1,000 cash award