'Mediha' Wins Grand Prize Award at 29th Stony Brook Film Festival

Stony Brook Film Festival 2024 Winners — (Flickr | Staller Center for the Arts)

Mediha bested 36 films from 19 countries to take home the Grand Prize Award at 29th Stony Brook Film Festival. Directed by Hasan Oswald, this documentary chronicles the journey of a young Yazidi girl returning from ISIS captivity. Using her camera to process her trauma, she documents her experience while rescuers continue to search for her missing family members. The film vividly illustrates the extraordinary endurance of the human spirit and the critical need to amplify the voices of those who have been unheard for too long.

Oswald wrote to the jury about receiving the Grand Prize, saying “Thank you to my partner in crime, Mediha, for making this film with me … I also want to thank the jury for their support as well as this superb audience for giving us our largest crowd yet. In closing, I want to thank all of you once again for giving this film and this cause the platform it so badly needs. Next week marks the ten-year anniversary of the Yazidi genocide, and while bringing awareness back to what happened to the Yazidis is paramount, I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge that Mediha and her brothers also embody the human cost of conflict, worldwide. Your support tonight and this past week helps ensure their voices are heard and we as a society are unable to use naiveté as an excuse for inaction. Thank you”.

The Grand Prize is given to films that have ‘wowed’ both the audience and the jury beyond what could be contained in the simple phrase ‘best film’ in this or that category. Mediha is the 11th film in the festival’s 29-year history that has received a Grand Prize and only the second time awarded to a Documentary Film. Former winners include Anchorage, Chuskit, and Academy Award-winning West Bank Story.

Running on Sand captivated the audience and took home the Audience Choice Award for Best Feature. Adar Shafran directed this heartfelt crowd-pleaser about a refugee from Israel who, facing imminent deportation, is mistakenly identified as a Nigerian soccer star at the airport. The film highlights the precariousness of refugees’ lives, the power of second chances, and the complex intersections of identity and survival.

Daughter of the Sun secured the honor of this year’s Spirit of Independent Filmmaking Award. This vintage-feeling, breathtaking fantasy tells the story of a man with Tourette’s Syndrome and supernatural powers and his 12-year-old daughter navigating life on the run.

Producer Mackenzie Leigh and Director/Actor Ryan Ward accepted the award at the festival ceremony, and Mackenzie announced from the stage, “I think being an artist and being a filmmaker, you have ideas that are just in your head, and you mobilize people and resources to build a big house of cards to make something happen in reality. And I think that’s what happens with this festival every year too. We are so thankful to be able to come here and take part in your dream. You have something so special here; for all of you who donate and come and participate, it means so much to filmmakers worldwide. You are making a big difference for artists from all over the world. Thank you.”

The Spirit of Independent Filmmaking Award is for filmmakers who use a distinct indie perspective to bring their stories to life vividly. It is reserved for filmmakers who have created a standout film with very few resources, financial or otherwise. “When it looks and sounds great, plays great, creates its own world, and you would never suspect how hard the filmmakers worked to bring it to life on screen, then you’re watching the kind of film we give these awards to,” says Festival Programmer, Kent Marks.

Other awards include the Jury Award for Directing given to Mastergame and the Jury Award for Best Feature for The Strangers’ Case.

Mastergame director Barnabás Toth attended the Awards Ceremony and said, “Being here as a filmmaker is special … coming here is like a therapy, a cure for any kind of artist because people who create are appreciated here. So please continue to keep it that way. Thank you for this award.”

Director Brandt Andersen sent a note upon learning of The Strangers’ Case winning the Jury Award for Best Feature. “Thank you to the Stony Brook jury for this honor, and a special thank you to the audience at Stony Brook. There are moments in life when the amount of time spent together is not equal to the connection felt. This was how we felt at Stony Brook. I hope you experienced this while watching our film.”

The festival also honored Audrey’s Children with the 2024 Dr. Gabriel Sara Humanitarian Award, Audrey’s Children tells the story of Dr. Audrey Evans, who brought new treatments to pediatric cancer patients in the US and went on to co-found The Ronald McDonald House.

The prize is given in honor of Dr. Gabriel Sara, who worked wonders in cancer at Sloan Kettering in NY by treating patients with dignity through song, dance, and teaming up with some of the most caring individuals in healthcare. He went on to play a role not unlike himself in the film opposite Catherine Deneuve. This year, the festival hosted a sneak preview of a film that’s having its official premiere in the fall, but Stony Brook Film Festival was able to host it as a non-competing sneak preview of the film.

“When I reached out to Gabriel Sara in Lebanon to tell him we were bestowing this award to Audrey’s Children, he was overjoyed, saying that Audrey Evans is a legend in cancer research and treatment and he so wished he could be here to present the first Gabriel Sara Humanitarian Award since creating it in his name to Audrey’s Children,” announced Festival Director Alan Inkles from the Awards stage. Audrey’s Children was directed by Ami Canaan Mann, written by Julia Farbman, and produced by Bradley Gallo and Michael Helfant. Gallo was in attendance to accept the award on behalf of his team.

The Festival’s Opening and Closing Night Feature and Short films were also recognized, including Director Aexandre Arcady of The Blond Boy From the Casbah (Opening Night Feature), Christopher Doll, Director/ Producer and Karoline Herfurth, Actress of One Million Minutes (Closing Night Feature), Daniel Rashid, Director of Chauncey (Opening Night Short), and Tathagata Gosh, Director of IF (Closing Night Short). All 13 awards are listed below.