Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz’s Cuba-set early ‘90s coming of age tale Los Frikis won the Narrative Feature Audience Award at the 29th annual Nantucket Film Festival® (NFF). Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev’s Porcelain War, focused on Ukrainians using their art to resist during war, was the recipient of the Documentary Feature Audience Award. Puppy Love, directed by Daniel Rashid and written by Rashid and Elizabeth Valenti, about a woman who has to decide if her connection with a new man is a deep one or if she just likes his dog, received the Narrative Short Film Audience Award. Tom Dey’s Jumpman, profiling the photographer behind the iconic Michael Jordan mid-air shot, took home the Documentary Short Film Audience Award.
Widow Clicquot, written by Erin Dignam and directed by Thomas Napper, and Maya and the Wave, directed by Stephanie Johnes; as well as short film Lost in Nevers Land, directed by Penny Dey; were named NFF’s Best of Fest selections.
In the prestigious Tony Cox Screenplay Competition, Missy Hernandez received the top prize as the winner of the Feature Screenplay Competition for I Don’t Dream in Spanish Anymore. The Episodic 60 Minute Screenplay Competition nod went to Daniel Hernandez-Zapata for The Soloist, the 30 Minute Episodic Screenplay Competition was won by Phillip Roquemore for Illicit Bids for Dying Kids, and the Short Screenplay Competition winner was Who Raised You? by Daniel Gonzalez.
Missy Hernandez’s I Don’t Dream in Spanish Anymore is a dark fairytale set in modern-day Chicago and rural Puerto Rico in which a wary scientist, seeking to escape the horrors of an ancestral curse that threatens to kill her in childbirth, must return to her roots and discover the truth of why her grandmother fled her homeland. Hernandez receives an all-inclusive month-long writer’s retreat on Nantucket with longtime NFF partner Almanack Screenwriters in October, a $2,500 cash prize, VIP access to this year’s Festival, a custom bound copy of her script.
Daniel Hernandez-Zapata’s The Soloist follows unknown violinist Paco Rosario, who, after winning a prestigious fellowship at Boston Symphony Orchestra, must learn to navigate the callous and shady world of classical music, where the only way to the top is to trust no one. Hernandez-Zapata receives a $1,000 cash prize, VlP access to this year’s Festival, and a custom bound copy of his script.
In Phillip Roquemore’s Illicit Bids for Dying Kids, an overzealous Make-A-Wish Foundation employee is fired for taking things too far, leading him to join forces with a dark-web black market mogul to fulfill the dreams of dying kids whose last wishes are illegal or just kind of effed up. Roquemore receives a $1000 cash prize, a custom bound copy of his script, and VIP access to this year’s Festival.
In Daniel Gonzalez’s Who Raised You?, an unyielding attachment to the partner he lost in the AIDS crisis of 1980s New York propels a lonely gay man to connect with his estranged family. Gonzalez receives a $500 cash prize, a custom bound copy of his script, and VIP access to this year’s Festival.
The Adrienne Shelly Foundation Excellence in Filmmaking Award, a $5,000 grant recognizing the achievement of a female filmmaker, and named in honor of the late actor and director went to Every Little Thing, directed by Sally Aitken and screening as part of NFF’s documentary feature lineup. Aitken also received a second award: this year’s Maria Mitchell Visionary Award, presented to a female filmmaker who demonstrates vision and innovation. Sponsored by the Maria Mitchell Association, the awardee receives a $5,000 grant in the name of Maria Mitchell, the first female inducted into the Academy of Arts and Sciences and a Nantucket native.
The Children’s Resilience in Screenwriting Award presented by Shine Global is a new prize given to a film with outstanding storytelling that effectively portrays the resilience and strength of children. Los Frikis, written and directed by Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz, received the inaugural award, which included a prize of $2,500 and an invitation to participate in Shine Global’s upcoming 2024 Resilience Awards events.
The Teen View Jury Award, selected by a group of Nantucket seventh and eighth-graders as the most inspiring out of all of NFF’s short films, went to writer and director Chris Cole for Terminally Ill, with a special mention for The Ugandan Quidditch Movement, directed by Ben Garfield.
“It is a privilege to honor this cohort of both established and emerging screenwriters and storytellers, who represent the heart of our industry, at the 2024 edition of the festival,” said Mystelle Brabbée, Executive Director of the Nantucket Film Festival, and Anita Raswant, Lead Programmer of the Nantucket Film Festival. “Thank you to all of our attending filmmakers and writers for sharing their powerful stories with us and our passionate audiences who continue to turn out to the theaters and support our mission. We would like to take a moment to recognize our jurors, sponsors, staff, and volunteers, all of whom worked to make another incredibly successful festival possible.”
Emmy and Golden Globe Award-nominated writer and producer Kerry Ehrin (The Morning Show, Bates Motel, Parenthood, Friday Night Lights) was honored with the Excellence in Television Writing Award, presented by The Morning Show actor June Diane Raphael.
Emmy Award-winning writer and producer Meredith Scardino (GIRLS5EVA, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, The Colbert Report) received the New Voices in Television Writing Award, presented by GIRLS5EVA cast members: Emmy Award-winning writer Paula Pell and Tony Award-winning performer Renée Elise Goldsberry.
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