Director Jim Cummings’ Thunder Road was the Grand Jury Winner at SXSW’s narrative feature competition. The honor was bestowed at the 2018 SXSW Film Festival Awards ceremony hosted by actor and comedian Jim Gaffigan at the historic Paramount Theatre in Austin. The proceedings recognized all of the fest’s juried award recipients.
Cummings also wrote and stars in Thunder Road which centers on a police officer struggling to raise his young daughter in the midst of his troubled marriage and a career in chaos.
On the documentary front, the SXSW Grand Jury Award went to People’s Republic of Desire from director Hao Wu. The documentary from China take us to the country’s popular live-streaming showrooms, introducing us to three millennials–a karaoke singer, a migrant worker and a rags-to-riches comedian–who seek fame, fortune and human connection, ultimately finding the same promises and perils online as in their real lives.
Below is a full rundown of juried winners. (Audience Awards will be announced separately on Saturday, March 17, except for Headliners, which will be announced on Monday, March 19.)
Feature Film Grand Jury Awards
Narrative Feature Competition
Grand Jury Winner: Thunder Road
Director: Jim Cummings
Special Jury Recognition For First Feature: Carly Stone
Film: The New Romantic
Special Jury Recognition for Writing: Niljla Mu’min
Film: Jinn
Documentary Feature Competition
Grand Jury Winner: People’s Republic of Desire
Director: Hao Wu
Special Jury Recognition for Best Cast: This One’s For The Ladies
Director: Gene Graham
Special Jury Recognition for Best Feminist Reconsideration of a Male Artist: Garry Winogrand: All Things are Photographable
Director: Sasha Waters Freyer
SXSW Short Film Jury Awards
Narrative Shorts
Jury Award Winner: Emergency
Director: Carey Williams
Special Jury Recognition for Acting:
Actor: Shirley Chen from Krista
Documentary Shorts
Jury Award Winner: My Dead Dad’s Porno Tapes
Director: Charlie Tyrell
Midnight Shorts
Jury Award Winner: Milk
Director: Santiago Menghini
Animated Shorts
Jury Award Winner: Agua Viva
Director: Alexa Lim Haas
Special Jury Recognition: JEOM
Director: Kangmin Kim
Music Videos
Jury Award Winner: “Second Hand Lovers” – Oren Lavie
Director: Oren Lavie
Special Jury Recognition for Acting: “Territory” – The Blaze
Director: The Blaze
Texas Shorts
Jury Award Winner: An Uncertain Future
Director: Iliana Sosa & Chelsea Hernandez
Texas High School Shorts
Jury Award Winner: The Night I Lost My Favorite Jacket
Director: Jenna Krumerman
Special Jury Recognition: CCISD Strong
Director: Sofia Rasmussen
Independent Episodics
Jury Award Winner: Beast
Director: Ben Strang
Special Jury Recognition: She’s the Ticket
Director: Nadia Hallgren
SXSW Film Design Awards
Excellence in Poster Design
Jury Award Winner: The Gospel of Eureka
Designer: Matt Taylor
Special Jury Recognition: A Little Wisdom
Designer: Adam Zhu
Excellence in Title Design
Jury Award Winner: Counterpart
Director: Karin Fong
Special Jury Recognition: Godless
Director: John Likens
SXSW Special Awards
SXSW LUNA® Gamechanger Award – Narrative
Winner: First Match, Olivia Newman
Special Jury Recognition:
Unlovable, Suzi Yoonessi
SXSW LUNA® Chicken & Egg Award – Documentary
Winner: On Her Shoulders Alexandria Bombach
Special Jury Recognition:
¡Las Sandinistas!, Jenny Murray
Louis Black “Lone Star” Award
Winner: Daughters of the Sexual Revolution: The Untold Story of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders
Director: Dana Adam Shapiro
SXSW Adam Yauch Hörnblowér Award
Winner: Prospect, Zeek Earl & Chris Caldwell
Vimeo Staff Picks Award
Presented to: Krista directed by Danny Madden
Karen Schmeer Film Editing Fellowship
Presented to: Kristin Bye
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More