‘Alaskan Nets’ Documentary Wins Audience Award at Santa Barbara Film Festival

The documentary “Alaskan Nets,” set on a remote island where the Tsimshian Indians are focused on fishing and basketball, has won the Audience Choice Award at the 2021 Santa Barbara International Film Festival, SBIFF organizers announced on Saturday.

The festival ran from March 31 through April 10 with a combination of virtual presentations and drive-in screenings in the coastal town north of Los Angeles. Audience members who viewed films both online and in drive-ins were eligible to vote for the Audience Choice Award.

The festival also announced an array of jury awards that were chosen by jurors Tony Anselmo, Antwone Fisher, David Freid, Li Cheng, Geoffrey Cowper, Patricia Rosema, Siqi Song, Mark Stafford, Rita Taggart, Paul Walter Hauser, Anthony and Arnette Zerbe. The SBIFF Best Documentary Award went to Nina Stefanka’s “Mirage” (“Miraggio”), a chronicle of West African refugees in Rome, while the award for the best international feature was given to Nisan Dag’s “When I’m Done Dying,” a drama about an aspiring rapper from Istanbul fighting drug addiction.

Alanna Brown’s “Trees of Peace,” about four women thrown together during the 1994 Rwandan genocide, won two awards, the Panavision Spirit Award for Independent Cinema and the ADL Stand Up Award.

Other prizes went to Eduardo Crespo’s “We Will Never Die,” Henrik Ruben Genz’s “Erna at War” and Michael Webber’s “The Conservation Game.”

The winners:

Audience Choice Award: “Alaskan Nets,” Jeff Harasimowicz
Best Documentary Award: “Mirage” (“Miraggio”), Nina Stefanka
Jeffrey C. Barbakow Award – Best International Feature Film: “When I’m Done Dying,” Nisan Dag
Panavision Spirit Award for Independent Cinema: “Trees of Peace,” Alanna Brown
Nueva Vision Award for Spain/Latin America Cinema: “We Will Never Die,” Eduardo Crespo
Valhalla Award for Best Nordic Film: “Erna at War” (“Erna I Krig”), Henrik Ruben Genz
Social Justice Award for Documentary Film: “The Conservation Game,” Michael Webber
The ADL Stand Up Award: “Trees of Peace,” Alanna Brown
Best Documentary Short Film Award: “Pant Hoot,” Richard Reens
Bruce Corwin Award – Best Live-Action Short Film: “Savior,” Christopher Oroza-Nostas
Bruce Corwin Award – Best Animated Short Film: “Kapaemahu,” Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson