THE ROCKET

AFI FEST 2013 announced the features and short films receiving this year’s Audience and Jury Awards.  THE ROCKET, an Australian film; THE SELFISH GIANT, made in the UK; WE GOTTA GET OUT OF THIS PLACE, an American independent film directed by Zeke Hawkins (AFI Class of 2009) and Simon Hawkins; and B FOR BOY, a Nigerian film, received Audience Awards.  Grand Jury Awards were presented to BUTTER LAMP, in the Live Action Short category, and THE PLACES WHERE WE LIVED, in the Animated Short category.  Special Jury Award winners were BALCONY and SYNDROMEDA.

COMPLETE LIST OF AWARD WINNERS

NEW AUTEURS CRITIC’S AWARD

NOTHING BAD CAN HAPPEN

New Auteurs Critic’s Award:  NOTHING BAD CAN HAPPEN. “The true story of a homeless Christian teenager adopted by an abusive family who tests his ability to turn the other cheek.  Many, many bad things happen.  But the blessing is discovering first-time filmmaker Katrin Gebbe and her incredible ensemble who have braved their own tests – boos and walkouts, nothing too bloody – in order to bring us this powerful movie and faith and sacrifice.”

New Auteur Special Award for Personal Storytelling: IN BLOOM.  The jury wanted to give a Special Award for Personal Storytelling for IN BLOOM.  This film, in its intimate exploration of the lives of two teenage girls in the former Soviet state of Georgia just after the fall of the USSR, is an exemplar of personal history as political history, or fiction filmmaking infused with and bolstered by the truth.

SELFISH GIANT

New Auteur Special Award for Direction:  SELFISH GIANT.  The jury has also selected a Special Award for Direction to Clio Barnard, whose film THE SELFISH GIANT underscores the promise of the New Auteurs category.  Drawing stunning performances from her two young leads, Barnard brings the specificity of a Bradford housing estate to a devastating and universally relatable fable. 

GRAND JURY AWARDS, LIVE ACTION AND ANIMATED SHORT

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognizes AFI FEST Grand Jury Award winners in the Live Action and Animated Shorts categories as qualifiers for the annual Academy Awards Short Film category.  The Shorts jury featured Alejandro De Leon (producer), Kitao Sakurai (filmmaker), Jordan Vogt-Roberts (filmmaker) and Heidi Zwicker (shorts programmer).

Grand Jury Award, Live Action Short:  BUTTER LAMP.  DIR Hu Wei.  France, Tibet.

Grand Jury Award, Animated Short:  THE PLACES WHERE WE LIVED.  DIR Bernardo Britto.  USA.

Special Jury Award:  BALCONY.  DIR Lendita Zeqiraj.  Kosov.

Special Jury Award for Outstanding Achievement in Direction:SYNDROMEDA.  DIR Patrik Eklund.  Sweden.

Special Jury Mention for Best Datamosh: DATAMOSH.  DIR Yung Jake.  USA.

AUDIENCE AWARDS

Audience Awards, World Cinema: THE ROCKET.    DIR Kim Mordaunt.  Australia.

Audience Award, New Auteurs: THE SELFISH GIANT.  DIR Clio Barnard.  UK.

WE GOTTA GET OUTTA THIS PLACE

Audience Award, American Independents: WE GOTTA GET OUTTA THIS PLACE.  DIR Zeke Hawkins, Simon Hawkins.  USA. 

B FOR BOY.

Audience Award, Breakthrough: B FOR BOY.  DIR Chika Anadu.  Nigeria.