The narrative film "Bindlestiffs" and the documentary "Getting Up" have won the top audience awards at the 18th annual Slamdance Film Festival, while jury winners include "Welcome to Pine Hill," "Heavy Girls" (pictured) and "No Ashes, No Phoenix."
The awards were announced on Thursday night in Park City, Utah, where Slamdance is running concurrently with the Sundance Film Festival.
To qualify for a Slamdance documentary or narrative competition, a film must be made by a first-time filmmaker working with a budget of less than $1 million.
The awards, from the Slamdance press release:
AUDIENCE AWARDS
Audience Award for Feature Documentary: GETTING UP by Caskey Ebeling
Audience Award for Feature Narrative: BINDLESTIFFS by Andrew Edison
GRAND JURY AWARDS – NARRATIVE
This year’s Slamdance Narrative Jury Prizes were selected by an esteemed panel of industry members: filmmakers Karin Chien and Jason McHugh, and film distribution executive Orly Ravid.
Grand Jury Sparky Award for Feature Narrative: WELCOME TO PINE HILL by Keith Miller, “for its poetic and emotionally honest depiction of one man's final journey in life, crafted from a true spirit of humanity and community."
Special Jury Award for Bold Originality: HEAVY GIRLS by Axel Ranisch, “for its joie de vivre, an incredibly life-affirming film that is presented with a unique vision and an amazing cast."
GRAND JURY AWARDS – DOCUMENTARY
The Documentary Jury—comprised of journalist Mark Bell, filmmakers Aaron Marshall and Kelly Williams—announced the awards with their statements:
Grand Jury Sparky Award for Feature Documentary: NO ASHES, NO PHOENIX by Jens Pfeifer, "for its adeptly piercing and cinematic look at a basketball team's impassioned struggle not for glory, but to just avoid losing."
Grand Jury Sparky Award for Short Documentary: THE PROFESSIONAL by Skylar Neilsen, for "an honest and natural portrayal of work-as-life, and the slowly disappearing craft of an American working man."
GRAND JURY AWARDS – SHORT FILMS
This year’s Short Film Jury Prizes were selected by an esteemed panel of industry members: Iranian-American filmmaker/curator Ehsan Ghoreishi, writer / filmmaker Oona Mekas, and filmmaker and stage veteran Jack Truman.
Grand Jury Sparky Award for Animation: VENUS by Tor Fruergaard, "for its creative use of claymation characters to explore sexual adventure and its lighthearted, touching and memorable story."
Grand Jury Sparky Award for Short Film: I AM JOHN WAYNE by Christina Choe, "for its unique storytelling, cinematography and performances, including the brilliant use of a real horse in an urban environment."
Special Jury Prize for Experimental Short: SOLIPSIST by Andrew Huang, "for its unique blend of live action footage of the human body, puppetry and computer animation that creates a colorful and insightful fantasy world."
Honorable Mention for Best Ensemble: I'M COMING OVER by Sam Handel, "for its extraordinary ensemble which creates a world that extends beyond the film's 25 minute length."
SPECIAL & SPONSORED AWARDS
Spirit of Slamdance Sparky Award: HEAVY GIRLS (Dicke Mädchen) – Axel Ranisch, Heiko Pinkowski, Anne Baeker. Awarded by the Class of 2012 Slamdance Filmmakers to the film team that best embodies the creative, independent, and entrepreneurial spirit of the festival, as well as showing exceptional talent as artists.
The Kodak Vision Award for Best Cinematography: FAITH, LOVE AND WHISKEY by Kristina Nikolova, "for shooting every single frame of this picture in a way that is not only pleasing to the eye, but also strongly supportive to the story being told."
Panasonic AF100 Award for ‘The Five Flavors of Filmmaking’ Competition: JOSH GIBSON, director of the short film Kudzu Vine. Five filmmaking teams created one-minute films during the 2012 Slamdance Film Festival. The winning team exemplifies excellence in visual storytelling and receives a Panasonic AF100 Camera Package.
