‘Becks,’ ‘The Night Guard’ Win Top Prizes at LA Film Festival

“Skid Row Marathon” and “The Keeping Hours” take the top audience awards at Film Independent’s annual festival

Becks
"Becks"

“Becks,” a drama about a lesbian musician adjusting to life back in the conservative small town where she grew up, and “The Night Guard,” a Mexican film about a security guard accused of a crime, won the top jury award at the 2017 Los Angeles Film Festival, Film Independent announced on Thursday.

“Liyana,” a nonfiction film about orphaned children in Swaziland confronting tragedy through storytelling, won the award as the festival’s best documentary.

The only film to win two LA Film Festival awards was Mark Hayes’ “Skid Row Marathon,” a documentary about a superior court judge who trains recovering addicts, alcoholics and convicts from downtown Los Angeles to run marathons. It took the documentary prize in the LA Muse section of the festival, and also won the audience award for documentaries.

The audience award for narrative films went to “The Keeping Hours,” a drama starring Carrie Coon and Lee Pace as parents coping with the loss of a child.

Other prize-winners included “Everything Beautiful is Far Away,” which won the U.S. Fiction Cinematography Award; “And There Was Eve,” which won the LA Muse Documentary Award; and “Serpent,” which won the prize for the festival’s Nightfall section.

Short-film winners included “A Funeral for Lightning,” “Black America Again,” “Swim” and “High & Mighty.”

The LA Film Festival launched on Wednesday, June 14 and ran through June 21, mostly at Arclight Cinemas throughout Los Angeles.

The complete list of LA Film Festival winners:

U.S. Fiction Award: “Becks,” Elizabeth Rohrbaugh and Daniel Powell
U.S. Fiction Cinematography Award: “Everything Beautiful is Far Away,” Christian Sorensen Hansen and Pete Ohs
U.S. Fiction Special Mention for Breakout Performance: Auden Thornton, “Beauty Mark”
U.S. Fiction Special Mention for Directing: Bruce Thierry Cheung, “Don’t Come Back From the Moon”

World Fiction Award: “The Night Guard” (“El Vigilante”), Diego Ros
World Fiction Special Mention for Excellence in Storytelling: “On the Beach at Night Alone,” Hong Sangsoo

Documentary Award: “Liyana,” Amanda Kopp and Aaron Kopp

LA Muse Documentary Award: “Skid Row Marathon,” Mark Hayes
LA Muse Fiction Award: “And Then There Was Eve,” Savannah Bloch
LA Muse Special Mention for Acting: John Carroll Lynch, “Anything”
LA Muse Special Mention for Excellence in Storytelling: “The Classic,” Billy McMillin

Nightfall Award: “Serpent,” Amanda Evans
Nightfall Special Mention for Acting: Kate Nhung, “The Housemaid”

Award for Short Fiction: “A Funeral for Lightning,” Emily Kai Bock
Award for Short Documentary: “Black America Again,” Bradford Young
Short Film Special Mention for Excellence in Storytelling: “Balloonfest,” Nathan Truesdell

Audience Award for Documentary Feature Film: “Skid Row Marathon,” Mark Hayes.
Audience Award for Fiction Feature Film: “The Keeping Hours,” Karen Moncrieff
Audience Award for Short Film: “Swim,” Mari Walker
Audience Award for Web Series: “High & Mighty,” Carlos Lopez Estrada

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