Janis Nords’
Mother, I Love You and Ryan McGarry’s Code Black
Win Jury Awards
Destin Daniel Cretton’s
Short Term 12, Grace Lee’s American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs and
Haifaa Al Mansour’s
Wadjda Win Audience Awards
Best Performance, Short Film and Music Video Award Winners
Also Revealed
Sloan Fast Track Grant and Millennium Entertainment Fellowship Given out in Part of Film Independent’s Fast Track Program
LOS ANGELES (June 23, 2013) –
Film Independent, the
non-profit arts organization that produces the Los Angeles Film
Festival and the Spirit Awards, announced the jury and audience award
winners for the 2013 Festival
at the Awards Brunch, hosted by CHAYA Downtown for the fourth year. Actor
Mary Elizabeth Winstead was on hand to present the awards. The LA Film Fest,
presented by Film Independent, in conjunction with Presenting Media
Sponsor Los Angeles Times, Host Partner L.A. LIVE and Premier Sponsors
DIRECTV and American Airlines, ran from Thursday, June 13 to Sunday,
June 23 in downtown Los Angeles.
“Every
single film in the
Festival rocks and I love that an international film and a local film
received kudos today. They represent the breadth of our programming and
our commitment to supporting unique voices around the world,”
said Festival Director Stephanie Allain.
The
two top juried awards of the Los Angeles Film Festival are the DIRECTV
Narrative Award and DIRECTV Documentary Award,
each carrying an unrestricted $10,000 cash prize, funded by DIRECTV,
for the winning film’s director. The awards were established by the
Festival to encourage independent filmmakers to pursue their artistic
ambitions.
“Our
jurors had hard choices to make this year and their discussions were at
an incredibly high level. I thank
them for their thoughtful work and salute the winners. I think we had a
banner crop of competition films at the festival. All our filmmakers
are winners in my book,” said Artistic Director David Ansen.
The
DIRECTV Narrative Award recognizes the finest narrative film in competition at the Festival and went
to Janis Nords for Mother, I Love You,
which made its United States premiere at the Festival.
The DIRECTV Documentary Award recognizes the finest documentary film in competition at the Festival and went to
Ryan McGarry for Code Black, which made its world premiere at the Festival.
The award for
Best Performance in the Narrative Competition went to Geetanjali Thapa
for her performance in Kamal K.M’s I.D, which made its North American premiere at the Festival. Given to an actor or actors from an official selection in the Narrative Competition, this is the tenth
year the award has been given at the Festival.
The LA Film Fest also awarded an unrestricted $1,500 cash prize to each short film category. The recipient for the
Honolulu Film Office Award for Best Narrative Short Film went to Walker, directed by
Tsai Ming-Liang. The recipient for the Honolulu Film Office Award for
Best Documentary Short Film went to Kevin Jerome Everson for Stone.
Emma De Sweaf and Marc James Roels’ Oh Willy… won the Honolulu Film Office Award for Best Animated or Experimental Short Film.
The
Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature went to Short Term 12
directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature went to
American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs, directed by
Grace Lee. Sony Pictures Classics’ Wadjda, directed by Haifaa Al Mansour
won the Audience Award for Best International Feature.
The
Audience Award for Best Short Film went to Grandpa and Me and a Helicopter to Heaven, directed by
Åsa Blanck and Johan Palmgren.
Katachi, directed by
Kijek/Adamski with music by Shugo Tokumaru won the Audience Award for Best Music Video.
The DIRECTV Narrative Feature Competition jury was comprised of Film Independent Spirit Award-winning producer Gina Kwon (Me
and You and Everyone We Know, Chuck & Buck), Spirit Award-nominated director Sean Baker (Starlet,
Take Out, Prince of Broadway) and actor-producer Harry Lennix (Man of Steel,
Titus, the upcoming NBC series The Blacklist.). The DIRECTV Documentary Feature Competition jury was comprised of the 2010
LA Film Fest Grand Jury award-winning director Clay Tweel (Make Believe),
award-winning producer Lesley Chilcott (Waiting For Superman, An Inconvenient Truth), and
New York Times contributing culture writer and former film and television critic Carina Chocano.
The Honolulu Film
Office Award Shorts Competition Jury was comprised of Los Angeles Film
Critics Association Vice President Tim Grierson, author Sandi Tan (The Black Isle) and
Independent Spirit-nominated writer and director David Fenster (Trona, Pincus).
Also
announced at the festival were the Fast Track grants winners which Film
Independent selects and Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
and Millennium Entertainment sponsor. The Fast Track program is an
intensive, three-day film-financing market that connects participants
with established financiers, production companies, agents, managers and
other film industry professionals who can move
their current projects forward. Writer/director/producer Christopher
Munch’s film
Frank’s World: And Tales of the Fearless Brothers O won the Sloan
Fast Track Grant, a $15,000 production grant. The $10,000 Millennium
Entertainment Fellowship grant was awarded to Vincent Harris and Amy
Hobby for their film
Third Girl from the Left.
Now
in its nineteenth year, the Los Angeles Film Festival, supported by
L.A. LIVE and the Los Angeles Times, showcases
the best in new American and international cinema and provides the
movie-loving public with access to some of the most critically acclaimed
filmmakers, film industry professionals, and emerging talent from
around the world.
The 2013 Festival screened nearly 200 feature films, shorts and music videos, representing more than 30 countries.
The LA Film Fest kicked off on Thursday, June 13 with the North American premiere of Pedro Almodovar’s
I’m So Excited, sponsored by American Airlines, and will close tonight with the world
premiere of
Oscar® winners
Nat Faxon and Jim Faxon’s
The Way, Way Back, sponsored by DIRECTV. Gala Screenings included the world premiere of Doug Pray’s
Levitated Mass: The Story of Michael Heizer’s Monolithic Sculpture, the North American premiere of Nicolas Winding Refn’s
Only God Forgives and the Los Angeles premiere of Ryan Coogler’s
Fruitvale Station. 2013 Guest Director
and recipient of this year’s Spirit of Independence Award was David O.
Russell and Artists in Residences were actress Maya Rudolph and composer
Gustavo Santaolalla.
DIRECTV is proud to be a first-year partner with the LA Film Festival as sponsor of the Festival's Closing Night, Narrative
and Documentary Competitions and Jury Prizes, reflecting its commitment to supporting established
and
emerging filmmakers. DIRECTV Cinema's premium pay-per-view movie
service for DIRECTV customers offers
access to exclusive new releases before they premiere in theaters, a
library with thousands of movies to watch instantly with DIRECTV On
Demand, and the most movies available in 1080p HD. DIRECTV the world's
leading providers of digital television entertainment
services delivering an unparalleled video experience through
state-of-the-art technology and unmatched programming to more than 35
million customers in the U.S. and Latin America.
Stunning
locations, great crews and generous tax credits are why Honolulu and
Oahu are known as 'Production Center of the
Tropics.' Host to countless feature films, television series and new
media projects including Jurassic Park, The Descendants, LOST and Hawaii
Five-0, 2013 marks 100 years of film production in Hawaii. To
celebrate, the Honolulu Film Office has enhanced their
tax credits. (www.filmhonolulu.com/)
CHAYA
restaurants have remained one of the city’s most beloved and iconic
dining destinations for 30 years. Lead by Corporate
Executive Chef Shigefumi Tachibe—the creator of the original tuna
tartare, CHAYA restaurants are renowned for their modern Euro-Asian
cuisine and influence on the Los Angeles dining scene. Chef Tachibe
creates an inspired menu by infusing exotic ingredients
and honored culinary traditions from his native Japanese roots. All
CHAYA restaurants, including three locations in Los Angeles and one in
San Francisco, highlight their menu with local and sustainable
ingredients fresh from the farmers’ market with seasonal
menus.” (www.thechaya.com)
****
Awards were given out in the following categories:
DIRECTV Narrative Award (for Best Narrative Feature)
Winner:
Mother, I Love You directed by Janis Nords
Producer: Alise Gelze
Cast: Kristofers Konovalovs, Matiss Livcans, Vita Varpina, Indra Brike, Haralds Barzdins
Film Description:
Like a lot of
children, 12-year-old Raimonds has his quiet side, his talented side (he
plays saxophone at a music school), a mischievous streak and a
resourcefulness born
of desperation. Often on his own while his single mom works, and
routinely at odds with her when they do spend time together, Raimonds
finds thrilling companionship in Peteris, a boy who steals money from
one of the apartments his mother cleans. Raimond's
increasingly dangerous decisions will have thorny repercussions for him
and those close to him.
Latvia
The
Narrative Award carries an unrestricted cash prize of $10,000 funded by
DIRECTV, offering the financial means
to help filmmakers transfer their vision to the screen. The award
recognizes the finest narrative film in competition and is given to the
director. A special jury selects the winner, and all narrative
feature-length films screening in the Narrative Competition
section were eligible.
In bestowing Janis Nords with the DIRECTV Narrative Award, the Jury stated:
“As
filmmakers ourselves we are finely attuned to the processes of making a
film and sometimes find it difficult
not to analyze a film on a purely technical or esoteric level. In the
case of our selected film, we found ourselves absorbed so completely in
its world that we removed our critical eye. Its story is simple, deftly
executed, and features a prodigious central performance.
The careful escalation of dramatic tension, the truthful portrayal of a
strained mother-son relationship, the stunning night time photography
of an urban landscape and the confidant direction - never sacrificing
substance for style - thoroughly won us over.
It is with a deep appreciation for its delicacy, emotional resonance
and assured control of craft that we award the Grand Prize to
Mother, I Love You.”
****
DIRECTV Documentary Award (for Best Documentary Feature)
Winner:
Code Black directed by Ryan McGarry
Producer: Linda Goldstein Knowlton
Film Description:
Continually
understaffed, under-budgeted and overrun with patients, public hospital
ER waiting rooms are by definition seas of misery. The ER of the old
L.A. County Hospital+USC
Medical Center, which was the first academic Department of Emergency
Medicine in the US was, by all accounts, a war zone.
Code Black
follows a team of
young, idealistic and energetic ER doctors during the transition from
the old to the new L.A. County as they try to avoid burnout and improve
patient care. Why
do they persist, despite being under siege by rules, regulations and
paperwork? As one doctor simply states, “More people have died on that
square footage than any other location in the United States. On a
brighter note, more people have been saved than in
any other square footage in the United States.”
The
Documentary Award carries an unrestricted cash prize of $10,000 funded
by DIRECTV, offering the financial means to help
filmmakers transfer their vision to the screen. The award recognizes
the finest documentary film in competition, and is given to the
director. A special jury selects the winner, and all documentary
feature-length films screening in the Documentary Competition
section were eligible.
In bestowing Ryan McGarry with the DIRECTV Documentary Award, the Jury stated:
“It’s
unusual for a first-time filmmaker to integrate complex, multifaceted
ideas so seamlessly into a visceral, action-packed
and character-driven story that they end up creeping up on you, as if
you’d thought of them all by yourself. With a strong point-of-view
rooted in personal experience, and without judgment, this year's winning
film deftly disarms a hot-button political issue
by reframing it as a human issue and shows us, instead of telling us,
why we should care. Instead of rehashing familiar arguments, it drills
down to find the universal in the specific. It's heart warming, and also
heart stopping. The winner of the 2013 Los
Angeles Film Festival Documentary Competition Grand Jury Prize is Code
Black directed by Ryan McGarry.”
****
Best Performance in the Narrative Competition
Winner: Geetanjali Thapa in Kamar K.M’s
I.D.
Film Description:
The feature directorial debut from Indian filmmaker Kamal K.M. may be called
I.D., but this drama has less to do with individual identity than
it does our shared personal connection. A carefree young woman living
in Mumbai named Charu is visited by a painter who's been hired to do a
touch-up to one of her apartment walls. But
when the man falls unconscious, Charu discovers that she alone must
attend to this stranger, first getting him to the hospital and then
trying to discover who he is.
India
In bestowing
Geetanjali Thapa
with the Best Performance Award, the Jury stated:
“The Narrative Competition Jury gives an award for Best Actor to the very talented Geetanjali Thapa for her portrayal
of Chara in Kamal K.M.'s I.D. Thapa's performance is recognized
in part for her ability to win over the audience's empathy for a
character that initially lacks, indeed even resists, empathy. Rarely
conversational, her ability to speak volumes with gesture
and silence is a revelation to the audience. With an onscreen presence
that commands attention, we see her rising star as something that
excites us as filmmakers, and we are privileged to bear witness to the
start of Thapa’s very promising career.”
****
Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature
Winner:
Short Term 12, directed by Destin Daniel Cretton
Producers: Maren Olson, Asher Goldstein, Joshua Astrachan, Ron Najor
Cast: Brie Larson, John Gallagher Jr., Kaitlyn Dever, Keith Stanfield,
Rami Malek
Film Description:
Working with
at-risk youth in a foster care facility, Grace never knows when things
might suddenly go sideways. Likewise, Destin Daniel Cretton's film keeps
viewers off-balance
starting with its brilliantly staged opening scene, rarely allowing a
moment's peace before another crisis erupts. Having reached a critical
juncture in her relationship with her boyfriend Grace is pushed to her
breaking point by the arrival of Jayden, a girl
whose troubled home life parallels the one she endured.
This
award is given to the narrative feature audiences liked most as voted
by a tabulated rating system. Select
narrative feature-length films screening in the following sections were
eligible for the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature: Narrative
Competition, International Showcase, Summer Showcase, Community
Screenings and The Beyond.
****
Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature
Winner:
American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs,
directed by Grace Lee
Producers: Grace Lee, Caroline Libresco, Austin Wilkin
Featuring:
Grace Lee Boggs
Film Description:
Intimate and
inspiring, Grace Lee Boggs' story is one of a lifelong work for social
justice and equality. Born into a middle class Chinese immigrant family
and educated
at Barnard in the 1930s, the young Grace soon noticed the inequities in
American society and spent the next eight decades working to change the
status quo, becoming an icon of the African American movement. Using
her advanced education and intelligence not
to accrue vast wealth but to work towards the betterment of all people,
Boggs became a true American hero.
At 97 she continues to work tirelessly to educate and activate
Americans, young and old, to work for the changes in which they believe.
Director
Lee (no relation) gives us a writer, activist and philosopher as she
works her way through decades of social and political upheaval,
inspiring all the way.
This
award is given to the documentary feature audiences liked most as voted
by a tabulated rating system. Select
documentary feature-length films screening in the following sections
were eligible for the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature:
Documentary Competition, International Showcase, Summer Showcase and
Community Screenings.
****
Audience Award for Best International Feature
Winner:
Sony Pictures Classics’
Wadjda,
directed by Haifaa Al Mansour
Producers: Gerhard Meixner, Roman Paul
Featuring: Reem Abdullah, Waad Mohammed, Abdullrahman Al Gohani,
Ahd,
Sultan Al Assaf
Film Description:
This rousing,
pioneering gem--not only the first Saudi Arabian feature shot within the
Kingdom, but the first ever directed by a woman--focuses on a
remarkable 10-year-old
girl named Wadjda, who sets her sights on buying a beautiful green
bicycle so she can race her friend Abdullah through the suburban streets
of Riyadh. But in this conservative society, virtuous girls don't ride
bikes, and her mother forbids it. The rebellious
Wadjda decides to raise the money herself - by entering a Koran
recitation competition at her school. The troublemaker must pose as a
pious, model student to achieve her goal.
Germany/Saudi Arabia/United Arab Emirates
This award is given to the international feature audiences liked most
as voted by a tabulated rating system. Select international
feature-length films, both narrative and documentary, screening in the
following sections were eligible for the Audience Award for Best
International Feature: Narrative Competition, Documentary Competition,
International Showcase, Summer Showcase and The Beyond.
****
HONOLULU FILM OFFICE AWARD for Best Narrative Short Film
Winner:
Walker directed by Tsai Ming-Liang
Producer: Chen Kuan-Ying
Cast: Lee Kang-Sheng
Description:
In this stunning meditative piece, the walking pace of a monk measures up against the bustling streets of Hong Kong.
China
In bestowing Tsai Ming-Liang with the Honolulu Film Office Award for Best Narrative Short Film Award, the Jury stated:
“Great
storytelling comes in many different forms, and like an ancient koan,
our winner is deceptively simple
and surprisingly playful. It features the epic odyssey of one man,
seemingly poised against the forces of modernity as he advances -
silently, deliberately -from day to night, from tiny alleys to towering
skyscraper avenues, across the frenetic city of Hong
Kong. At journey's end, we, too, are transformed by the sweet moment
when denial morphs into glee:
Walker from Tsai Ming-Liang.”
****
HONOLULU FILM OFFICE AWARD for Best Documentary Short Film
Winner:
Stone directed by Kevin Jerome Everson
Producers: Madeleine Molyneaux, Kevin Jerome Everson
Description:
A real-time documentary of a street hustler running a betting game of finding the ball under one of the three caps.
In bestowing Kevin Jerome Everson with the Honolulu Film Office Award for Best Documentary Short Film Award, the Jury stated:
“Documentaries
can expose us to the
world's harsh realities, but they can also reveal the beauty and
mystery of the everyday. The latter is very true in the case of our
winner for Best Documentary Short, which is only seven minutes long but
is filled with character detail and suspense. Consisting
of only one shot, this short introduces us to an unnamed street hustler
as he bets onlookers that they can't find the ball hidden underneath
one of three caps, our winner is filmmaker Kevin Jerome Everson's
Stone.”
****
HONOLULU FILM OFFICE AWARD for Best Animated/Experimental Short Film
Winner:
Oh Willy… directed by Emma De Sweaf, Marc James Roels
Producers: Ben Tesseur, Nidia Santiago
Description:
Fleeing a nudist colony where he witnessed his mother’s passing, Willy has an unexpected encounter.
Belgium/The Netherlands/ France
In bestowing Emma De Sweaf and Marc James Roels with the Honolulu Film Office Award for Best Animated or Experimental Short
Film Award, the Jury stated:
“Several
of the animated shorts at this year's festival were inventive and
startling, but our winner was a truly
exceptional piece of work. This humorous, moving and ultimately sublime
short tells a story of life, death and rebirth with wobbly thighs,
vomit, breastfeeding, space travel and bunny rabbits - all against the
backdrop of a nudist colony. The winner of Best
Animated or Experimental Short is Oh Willy...”
****
Audience Award for Best Short Film
Winner:
Grandpa and Me and a Helicopter to Heaven
directed by
Åsa Blanck and Johan Palmgren
Producers:
Åsa Blanck
Description:
An unsentimental young boy goes on a final excursion with his grandfather to collect chanterelle mushrooms.
Sweden
Awarded to the short film audiences liked most as voted on by a tabulated rating system. Short films screening
in the Shorts
Programs or before Narrative Competition, Documentary Competition, or
International Showcase feature-length screenings were eligible for the
Audience Award
for Best Short Film.
****
Audience Award for Best Music Video
Winner:
Katachi
directed by
Kijek/Adamski
Music:
Shugo Tokumaru
This award is given to the music video audiences liked most as voted on by a tabulated rating system.
To download images and clips from the winning films, please visit
www.lafilmfest.com and click on Press, then Press Materials.
ABOUT THE LOS ANGELES FILM FESTIVAL
Now
in its nineteenth year, the Los Angeles Film Festival, supported by
L.A. LIVE and the Los Angeles Times, showcases
the best in new American and international cinema and provides the
movie-loving public with access to some of the most critically acclaimed
filmmakers, film industry professionals, and emerging talent from
around the world.
The
Festival features unique signature programs including the Filmmaker
Retreat, Music in Film Nights at the GRAMMY
Museum, Poolside Chats, Master Classes and more. Additionally, the
Festival screens short films created by high school students and has a
special section devoted to music videos.
Over 200 features, shorts and music videos, representing more than 30 countries, make up the main body of the
Festival.
The
DIRECTV Narrative and DIRECTV Documentary awards are cash awards for
best narrative and documentary features
selected by an esteemed panel of jurors each year. The Honolulu Film
Festival awards cash prizes for best narrative, documentary and animated
short films. The Festival also hosts a jury awards as well as a jury
award for best performance in the narrative
competition. Audience awards are also presented to best documentary,
narrative and international feature, short film and music video.
The
Los Angeles Film Festival is presented in conjunction with Presenting
Media Sponsor the Los Angeles Times,
Premier and Closing Night Sponsor DIRECTV, Premier and Opening Night
Sponsor American Airlines, Principal and Family Day sponsor Hasbro
Studios and Platinum sponsors Stella Artois, Regal Cinemas L.A. LIVE
Stadium 14, EFILM, HBO, Volkswagen of America, Canon
U.S.A., Inc. and Dolby Laboratories, Inc. Special support is provided
by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The Official Screening Venue is Regal
Cinemas L.A. LIVE Stadium 14. Stella Artois is the official
beer. Renwood Winery is the official wine provider. Shellback
Caribbean Rum is the official spirit. Los Angeles Athletic Club is the
Official Host Hotel. WireImage is the Official Photography Agency and PR
Newswire is the Official Breaking News Service of Film Independent.
More information can be found at
LAFilmFest.com
ABOUT FILM INDEPENDENT
Film
Independent is a nonprofit arts organization that champions independent
film and supports a community of
artists who embody diversity, innovation, and uniqueness of vision.
Film Independent helps filmmakers make their movies, builds an audience
for their projects, and works to diversify the film industry. Film
Independent’s Board of Directors, filmmakers, staff,
and constituents, is comprised of an inclusive community of individuals
across ability, age, ethnicity, gender, race, and sexual orientation.
Anyone passionate about film can become a member, whether you are a
filmmaker, industry professional, or a film lover.
Film
Independent produces the Spirit Awards, the annual celebration honoring
artist-driven films and recognizing
the finest achievements of American independent filmmakers. Film
Independent also produces the Los Angeles Film Festival, showcasing the
best of American and international cinema and the Film Independent at
LACMA Film Series, a year-round, weekly program that
offers unique cinematic experiences for the Los Angeles creative
community and the general public.
With
over 250 annual screenings and events, Film Independent provides access
to a network of like-minded artists
who are driving creativity in the film industry. Film Independent’s
Artist Development program offers free Labs for selected writers,
directors, producers and documentary filmmakers and presents year-round
networking opportunities. Project Involve is Film
Independent’s signature program dedicated to fostering the careers of
talented filmmakers from communities traditionally underrepresented in
the film industry.
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