The
Nashville Film Festival (NaFF) 2015 announced the 46th Annual Competition Award winners, including Grand Jury Prizes to Monument to Michael Jackson (pictured above), Orion: The Man Who Would Be King and other notable films. Best Original Song went to Brian Wilson for “One Kind of Love” fromLove & Mercy.
According to the jury, its palpable portrayal of a child torn between two worlds earned Daytimer the Live Action Short Grand Jury Prize. Bear Storyset itself a very high bar both stylistically and narratively and delivered across the board, which garnered it the Grand Jury Prize for Animated Short. La Vie en rose comme dans les films provided a humble glimpse into the complicated world of memory; the short received the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary Short. Each of these three shorts will be automatically qualified for Academy Award® consideration.
Bridgestone Narrative Competition
Grand Jury Prize – Monument to Michael Jackson, directed by Darko Lungolov
Honorable Mention – WildLike, directed by Frank Hall Green
The Bridgestone Narrative Competition Grand Jury Prize went to Monument to Michael Jackson. The film was, “at times a political farce, a relationship drama and an inspiring tale of tenacity in the face of adversity.”The jury also awarded Geraldine Chaplin from Sand Dollars the Best Actress award, while Boris Milivojevic from Monument to Michael Jackson received the Best Actor award. Best Screenplay went to Shonali Bose for Margarita, with a Straw, and the Film Musicians Secondary Market Fund Award for Best Music in a Feature Film went to Ramon Cordero, Benjamin De Menil and Edilio Paredes for Sand Dollars. The Special Jury Prize for Cinematography was awarded to Tony Mirza for Eadweard.
Gibson Music Films/Music City Competition
Grand Jury Prize – Orion: The Man Who Would Be King, directed by Jeanie Finlay
Honorable Mention – Sweet Micky for President, directed by Ben Patterson
The jury said Orion, “hits every note… and then some. It was a completely unpredictable yet always entertaining and moving documentary.”The jury awarded the Special Jury Prize for Best Import to Tomi Fujiyama in Made in Japan.
Documentary Competition
Grand Jury Prize – Frame by Frame, directed by Mo Scarpelli and Alexandra Bombach
Honorable Mention – Welcome to Leith, directed by Michael Beach and Christopher K. Walker
“Frame by Frame is a fascinating look into life in Afghanistan that celebrates its growing photography culture, with unprecedented access and interviews,” the jury said. “The film is beautifully crafted and we’re so honored to present these first time filmmakers with the Documentary Grand Jury Prize, and hope that they will continue to make inspiring films.”The Special Jury Prize for Direction went to Jimmy Chin and E. Chai Vasahelyi forMeru.
New Directors Competition
Grand Jury Prize – Songs She Wrote About People She Knows, directed by Kris Elgstrand
Honorable Mention – Naz & Maalik, directed by Jay Dockendorf
Songs She Wrote About People She Knows received the Grand Jury Prize, “for its quirky plot, high production values, and unique yet relatable characters, the New Directors Jury awarded its Grand Jury Prize to Songs She Wrote About People She Knows. Lead actress Arabella Bushnell delivers a particularly strong performance as an aspiring pop singer, complete with highly original and hilarious songs. Writer/director Kris Elgstrand is a strong new voice in independent cinema and we are excited to see what he comes up with next. “
The jury awarded Krisha Fairchild with Best Actress for Krisha and Daniel Cerqueira with Best Actor for Radiator. The Special Jury Prize for Direction went to Sarah Adina Smith for The Midnight Swim.
Best Original Song
Winner – “One Kind of Love,” from Love & Mercy, written and performed by Brian Wilson
Honorable Mention – “Found You,” from In My Father’s House, written and performed by Rhymefest
Graveyard Shift Competition
Grand Jury Prize (tie) – Alléluia, directed by Fabrice du Welz
Grand Jury Prize (tie) — They Look Like People, directed by Perry Blackshear
“The jury found itself unable to determine a hierarchy between exquisite works of passion, madness, human bonds and inhuman horror.”The jury awarded for Best Actress to Amy Everson in Felt and Best Actor to MacLeod Andrews in They Look Like People. The Special Jury Prize for Outstanding Use of Music went to Rain the Color of Blue with a Little Red in It.
Ground Zero Tennessee First Competition
Grand Jury Prize – The Keepers, directed by Joann Self Selvidge and Sara Kaye Larson
Southwest Airlines Audience Award Overall Winner
In My Father’s House, Ricki Stern & Annie Sundberg, scored 4.99 out of 5
Southwest Airlines Audience Award Winners
Narrative Competition – Eadweard, Kyle Rideout, director
Documentary Competition – In My Father’s House, Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg, directors
Special Presentations – Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, director
Spectrum – The Waiting Country Woman, Li Yangiu, director
Music Films/Music City – Revival: The Sam Bush Story, Kris Wheeler and Wayne Franklin
Tennessee First – Mind/Game: The Unquiet Journey of Chamique Holdsclaw, Rick Goldsmith, director
New Directors Competition – The Challenger, Kent Moran, director
Graveyard Shift – They Look Like People, Perry Blackshear, director
Southwest Airlines Audience Awards – Documentaries – Top Five
- In My Father’s House, Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg, directors
- Mind/Game: The Unquiet Journey of Chamique Holdsclaw, Rick Goldsmith, director
- The Barkley Marathons: The Race That Eats Its Young, Annika Iltis and Timothy Kane, directors
- Revival: The Sam Bush Story, Kris Wheeler and Wayne Franklin, directors
- Imba Means Sing, Danielle Bernstein, director
Southwest Airlines Audience Awards – Narratives – Top Five
- Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, director
- The Challenger, Kent Moran, director
- Love & Mercy, Bill Pohlad, director
- Ain’t It Nowhere, Scott Murphy, director
- I’ll See You in My Dreams, Brett Haley, director
Tennessee Horizon Audience Award for Best Shorts
Presented by TN Film, Music & Entertainment Commission and Native Magazine
Winner (tie) – Daddy’s Little Girl, directed by Chad McClarnon
Winner (tie) – Usetocould, directed by Drew Maynard
Sponsored Awards
NPT Human Spirit Award – My Voice, My Life, directed by Ruby Yang
Women in Film & Television Award – Yosemite, directed by Gabrielle Demeestere
Outstanding LGBT Film – Naz & Maalik, directed by Jay Dockendorf
Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Award – Alfonso Gomez-Rejon for Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Lipscomb University Prize of the Ecumenical Jury – Rosenwald, directed by Aviva Kempner.
Complete List of Short Film Award Winners
Live Action Short – Grand Jury Prize: Daytimer, directed by Riz Ahmed (United Kingdom)
Live Action Short – Honorable Mention: Tzniut, directed by David Formentin (USA)
Live Action Short – Honorable Mention: Saturday, directed by Mike Forshaw (United Kingdom)
Special Jury Prize for Visual Storytelling: The Aftermath of the Inauguration of the Public Toilet at Kilometer 375, directed by Omar El Zohairy (Egypt)
Animated Short – Grand Jury Prize: Bear Story, directed by Gabriel Osorio (Chile)
Animated Short – Honorable Mention: Man on the Chair, directed by Dahee Jeong (France)
Special Jury Prize for Achievement in Animation: Pineapple Calamari, directed by Kasia Nalewajka (United Kingdom)
Documentary Short – Grand Jury Prize: La Vie en rose comme dans les films, directed by Christophe M. Saber (Switzerland)
Documentary Short – Honorable Mention: Autofocus, directed by Boris Poljak (Croatia)
Special Jury Prize for Bridging the Gap Between Experimental and Documentary Filmmaking: Object, directed by Paulina Skibinska (Poland)
Experimental Short – Grand Jury Prize: (null), directed by Michael Lange, David Gesslbauer (Germany)
Experimental Short – Honorable Mention: Play Within a Play, directed by Yasmijn Karhof (Netherlands)
Student Short – Grand Jury Prize: Wire Cutters, directed by Jack Anderson (USA)
Student Short – Honorable Mention: The Aftermath of the Inauguration of the Public Toilet at Kilometer 375, directed by Omar El Zohairy (Egypt)
Watkins Young Filmmaker Award: Poet Against Prejudice, directed by Faiza Almontaser (USA)
Web Series Grand Jury Prize: 24 Hour Records, directed by Brad Cash (USA)
Web Series Honorable Mention: HelLA, directed by Rory Uphold (USA)
Graveyard Shift Grand Jury Prize for Short Film: Alone, directed by Didier Philippe (France)
Graveyard Shift Honorable Mention for Short Film: Primrose Lane, directed by Nick Phillips (USA)
Ground Zero Tennessee First Shorts Documentary Award: Muddy Pond, directed by Tyler Jones
Ground Zero Tennessee First Short Narrative Award: Trying Not to Explode, directed by Dave Dorsey
Tennessee Horizon Audience Award for Best Shorts presented by TN Film, Music & Entertainment Commission and Native Magazine (Nominees – winner announced Thursday, April 23)
Contrary to Likeness, directed by Motke Dapp
Daddy’s Little Girl, directed by Chad McClarnon
Futureman, directed by Patrick Sheehan
How I Got Made, directed by Tracy S. Facelli
Nashville in Harmony: Ten Years of Using Music to Build Community, directed by Steven C. Knapp
Usetocould, directed by Drew Maynard
Steven Goldmann Visionary Award: World of Tomorrow, directed by Don Hertzfeldt (USA)
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The 1995 book Jihad vs. McWorld by American political theorist Benjamin Barber forms the starting point for the special program Benjamin Barber: Jihad vs. McWorld 2015 at the upcoming 2015 IDFA International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam. This year a new 20th anniversary edition of the book will be published with the subtitle ‘ISIS on the Internet’.
At IDFA, Benjamin Barber, an internationally renowned political theorist and the author of eighteen books, will present his own selection of documentaries from the IDFA program that engage with many contemporary themes, including global capitalism, terrorism, the politics of fear, refugees, populism and economic inequality.
3 ½ Minutes, Ten Bullets (USA) by Marc Silver
A Syrian Love Story (UK) by Sean McAllister
Among the Believers (Pakistan/USA/India) by Mohammed Ali Naqvi & Hemal Trivedi
At Home in the World (Denmark) by Andreas Koefoed
Cartel Land (USA/Mexico) by Matthew Heineman
Checks and Balances (France/Algeria) by Malek Bensmaïl
The Chinese Mayor (China) by Hao Zhou
The Dybbuk: A Tale of Wandering Souls (Poland/Ukraine/Sweden) by Krzysztof Kopczynski
For Kibera! (Finland) by Kati Juurus
Land Grabbing (Austria) by Kurt Langbein
Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine (USA) by Alex Gibney
This Is Exile: Diaries of Child Refugees (England) by Mani Y. Benchelah (pictured above)
Ukrainian Sheriffs (Ukraine/Latvia/Germany) by Roman Bondarchuk
We Are Not Alone (Spain) by Pere Joan Ventura
Welcome to Leith (USA) by Christopher K. Walker & Michael Nichols
One hundred twenty-four features have been submitted for consideration in the Documentary Feature category for the 88th Academy Awards®.
The submitted features, listed in alphabetical order, are:
“Above and Beyond”
“All Things Must Pass”
“Amy”
“The Armor of Light”
“Ballet 422”
“Batkid Begins”
“Becoming Bulletproof”
“Being Evel”
“Beltracchi – The Art of Forgery”
“Best of Enemies”
“The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution”
“Bolshoi Babylon”
“Brand: A Second Coming”
“A Brave Heart: The Lizzie Velasquez Story”
“Call Me Lucky”
“Cartel Land”
“Censored Voices”
“Champs”
“CodeGirl”
“Coming Home”
“Dark Horse”
“Deli Man”
“Dior and I”
“The Diplomat”
“(Dis)Honesty – The Truth about Lies”
“Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll”
“Dreamcatcher”
“dream/killer”
“Drunk, Stoned, Brilliant, Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon”
“Eating Happiness”
“Every Last Child”
“Evidence of Harm”
“Farewell to Hollywood”
“Finders Keepers”
“The Forecaster”
“Frame by Frame”
“Gardeners of Eden”
“A Gay Girl in Damascus: The Amina Profile”
“Godspeed: The Story of Page Jones”
“Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief”
“He Named Me Malala”
“Heart of a Dog”
“Hitchcock/Truffaut”
“How to Change the World”
“Human”
“The Hunting Ground”
“I Am Chris Farley”
“In Jackson Heights”
“In My Father’s House”
“India’s Daughter”
“Ingrid Bergman – In Her Own Words”
“Iraqi Odyssey”
“Iris”
“Janis: Little Girl Blue”
“Karski & the Lords of Humanity”
“Killing Them Safely”
“Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck”
“Lambert & Stamp”
“A Lego Brickumentary”
“Listen to Me Marlon”
“Live from New York!”
“The Look of Silence”
“Meet the Patels”
“Meru”
“The Mind of Mark DeFriest”
“Misery Loves Comedy”
“Monkey Kingdom”
“A Murder in the Park”
“My Italian Secret”
“My Voice, My Life”
“1971”
“Of Men and War”
“One Cut, One Life”
“Only the Dead See the End of War”
“The Outrageous Sophie Tucker”
“Peace Officer”
“The Pearl Button”
“Pink & Blue: Colors of Hereditary Cancer”
“Poached”
“Polyfaces”
“The Prime Ministers: Soldiers and Peacemakers”
“Prophet’s Prey”
“Racing Extinction”
“The Resurrection of Jake the Snake”
“Ride the Thunder – A Vietnam War Story of Victory & Betrayal”
“Rosenwald”
“The Russian Woodpecker”
“Searching for Home: Coming Back from War”
“Seeds of Time”
“Sembene!”
“The Seven Five”
“Seymour: An Introduction”
“Sherpa”
“A Sinner in Mecca”
“Something Better to Come”
“Song from the Forest”
“Song of Lahore”
“Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine”
“Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans”
“Stray Dog”
“Sunshine Superman”
“Sweet Micky for President”
“Tab Hunter Confidential”
“The Tainted Veil”
“Tap World”
“(T)error”
“Thao’s Library”
“Those Who Feel the Fire Burning”
“3 1/2 Minutes, Ten Bullets”
“The Touch of an Angel”
“TransFatty Lives”
“The True Cost”
“Twinsters”
“Very Semi-Serious: A Partially Thorough Portrait of New Yorker Cartoonists”
“The Wanted 18”
“We Are Many”
“We Come as Friends”
“We Were Not Just…Bicycle Thieves. Neorealism”
“Welcome to Leith”
“What Happened, Miss Simone?”
“What Our Fathers Did: A Nazi Legacy”
“Where to Invade Next”
“Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom” (pictured above)
“The Wolfpack”
Several of the films have not yet had their required Los Angeles and New York qualifying releases. Submitted features must fulfill the theatrical release requirements and comply with all of the category’s other qualifying rules in order to advance in the voting process. A shortlist of 15 films will be announced in December.
Films submitted in the Documentary Feature category may also qualify for Academy Awards in other categories, including Best Picture, provided they meet the requirements for those categories.
The 88th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 14, 2016, at 5:30 a.m. PT at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.
The 88th Oscars® will be held on Sunday, February 28, 2016, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.
