The 10th Mammoth Lakes Film Festival (MLFF) announced the juried and audience award winners at the Closing Night Award Ceremony in Mammoth Lakes on Sunday, May 26, 2024.
Films winning the top awards from the jury included Best Narrative Feature “Atikamekw Suns,” directed and written by Chloé Leriche; and Best International Narrative Feature “The Complex Forms” directed and written by Fabio D’Orta, which also won the Audience Award for that category. “Inheritance,” directed by Matt Moyer and Amy Toensing, won the Bravery Award for Documentary. “All I’ve Got & Then Some,” written and directed by Rasheed Stevens and Tehben Dean, won the Audience Award for Narrative Feature. The feature documentary winner was “Mediha,” directed by Hasan Oswald; “Mediha” also won the Audience Award for Best Documentary.
“This year’s festival experienced a record-breaking turn out of filmmakers – a testament to the desire of filmmakers wanting and needing a venue that creates community and generates support,” said Shira Dubrovner, Festival Director and Founder. “We program films that most other festivals don’t take a chance on, films that are highly personal and innovative and deserve a platform. We seek out culturally significant stories produced by the voices of our future cinematic visionaries.”
Jury members included Academy Award winning producer Tim Moore of Malpaso Productions, Academy Award Nominated screenwriter Alex Mechanik, Emmy Award winning producer Allison Amon and more.
The festival, held from May 22-26, screened over 100 features and short films, included a screenplay competition, and presented over $45,000 in awards and cash prizes to the winners.
The full list of Juried and Audience Awards is below:
Jury Awards
Best Narrative Feature: “Atikamekw Suns,” directed and written by Chloé Leriche.
Honorable Mention awarded to “All I’ve Got & Then Some,” directed by Rasheed Stevens and Tehben Dean.
Best International Narrative Feature: “The Complex Forms,” directed and written by Fabio D’Orta.
Best Documentary Feature: “Mediha,” directed by Hasan Oswald.
Bravery Award for Documentary Feature: “Inheritance,” directed by Matt Moyer and Amy Toensing.
Best Screenplay: “Love in the Time of Recycling” by Micah Vassau.
Best Narrative Short: “Night Milk,” directed by Tiger Hornby.
Honorable Mention: “Deepfake Apology Video,” directed by Brooke Bundy and Jerzy Rose.
Best International Narrative Short: “Ciela,” directed by Mauricio Sierra; written by Walker Kalan.
Honorable Mention: “Tidy House,” directed by Douglas Dezzani.
Best Documentary Short: “#Way_Aurelio,” directed by Alan Rexroth.
Honorable Mention: “Voices” directed by Irina Savon.
Best Animation Short: “Acid Green,” directed by EXYL.
Honorable Mention to “Nohomo,” directed by J. Santos.
Best Music Video: “Hounds” by Puma Blue, directed by Jak Payne.
Audience Awards
Best Narrative Feature: “All I’ve Got & Then Some,” directed by Rasheed Stevens and Tehben Dean.
Best International Narrative Feature: “The Complex Forms,” directed and written by Fabio D’Orta.
Best Documentary Feature: “Mediha,” directed by Hasan Oswald.
The 2024 Jury Members: Allison Amon (Producer), Tim Moore (Producer), Alex Mechanik (May-December), Kimberley Browning (Touchstone Television), Oded Reuveny-Horowitz (Panorama Films), Jacques Thelemaque (Filmmakers Alliance), Kevin Ondarza (WEG Film Collective), Ronald Baez (WEG Film Collective), Scenery Samundra (Music Supervisor), Sarah Diamond (Slamdance), David Massey (Producer), Shaun Hill (Indican Pictures), Corrinne James (Animator), Brian Morataya (Projectionist), Sean Barnes (Projectionist).