AFI Fest 2014 has announced this year’s Jury and Audience Awards for features and short films included in the New Auteur and Shorts programs. The New Auteurs section highlights first and second-time feature film directors and the Shorts selections represent diverse and varied international perspectives. Grand Jury Awards were presented to Self Made (Boreg), which received the New Auteurs Critics’ Award, and to The Tribe (Pleyma), which garnered the VIZIO Visionary Special Jury Award.
Self Made, an exploration of feminine identity along the Israeli-Palestinian border, was directed by Shira Geffen from Israel. The Tribe, a stark portrait of a school for the deaf, was helmed by Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy from Ukraine.
Special Jury Awards went to Gueros for screenwriting (penned by director Alonso Ruizpalacios and co-writer Gibran Portelo) and Violet for cinematography (shot by Nicolas Karakatsanis).
Juried short film awards
Buffalo Juggalos by Scott Cummings received the Grand Jury Live Action Short Award, and Yearbook by Bernardo Britto earned the Animated Short Award.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognizes AFI Fest Grand Jury Award winners in the Live Action and Animated Shorts categories as qualifiers for the annual Academy Awards Short Film category.
In addition to the grand jury short film prizewinners there were four jury mentions that were worthy of recognition. The Special Jury Mention for Collection was bestowed upon an inspired grouping of micro-shorts: Children’s Song, NDA and Wrong Number from David O’Reilly. A Special Jury Mention for Breakthrough Filmmaker was given to Joe Callendar for Gary Has An AIDS Scare. A Special Jury Mention for Vision went to Kevin Jerome Everson for Sound That. And A Special Jury Mention for Outstanding Achievement in Direction was earned by Morgan Knibbe for Shipwreck.
Audience Awards
The World Cinema Audience Award was bestowed upon Red Army, directed by Gabe Polsky (USA, Russia). The aforementioned Gueros from Mexico took the New Auteurs Audience Award.
The American Independents Audience Award (accompanied by a $60,000 Panavision grant) went to 10,000 KM, directed by Carlos Marques-Marcet (Spain).
And the Breakthrough Audience Award (accompanied by a $5,000 cash prize) went to The Midnight Swim, directed by Sarah Adina Smith (USA).
Far-reaching program
The complete AFI Fest 2014 program included 120 films (75 features, 45 shorts), representing 39 countries. The Opening Night Gala was the World Premiere of J.C. Chandor’s A Most Violent Year. The Closing Night Gala was Bennett Miller’s Foxcatcher.
The many highlights of the festival included a special Tribute to Sophia Loren with a presentation of Marriage Italian Style (Matrinonio All’Italiana); surprise screenings of American Sniper from director Clint Eastwood and Selma featuring a conversation with producers Oprah Winfrey, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, director Ava DuVernay and actor David Oyelowo; an engaging conversation On Acting with actors Michael Keaton and Edward Norton, co-stars in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s current release, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance); a Conversation on Cinematography with Roger Deakins (Unbroken, A Beautiful Mind, Skyfall, The Shawshank Redemption); and a special presentation by Paul Thomas Anderson of the underground cult classic documentary Mondo Hollywood which was listed by the critically acclaimed director as a chief inspiration and influence on his latest film, Inherent Vice, an AFI Fest Gala presentation.
Several international filmmakers and cast members were in attendance, including Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne, the directors of Belgium’s official Foreign Language Film Oscar submission Two Days, One Night (Deux Jours, Une Nuit) with star Marion Cotillard; Xavier Dolan, the director of Mommy, Canada’s official Foreign Language Film Oscar submission; Wim Wenders and Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, the directors of The Salt of the Earth; Bertrand Bonello, the director of France’s official Foreign Language Film Oscar submission Saint Laurent with star Gaspard Ulliel; Shlomi Elkabetz, the director of Gett, The Trial of Viviane Amsalem, Israel’s official Foreign Language Film Oscar submission; Ukrainian filmmaker Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy, director of The Tribe (Pleyma), along with the film’s star Yana Novikova; Damián Szifrón, director of Argentina’s official Foreign Language Film Oscar submission Wild Tales; Viggo Mortensen, the star of Jauja; Timothy Spall, who won the Best Actor award at Cannes for his performance in Mr. Turner; Abderrahmane Sissako, the director of Timbuktu, Mauritania’s official Foreign Language Film Oscar submission; Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement of What We Do In The Shadows; Marc Zinga, star of Toronto’s Discovery Prize winner May Allah Bless France!; and Karidja Touré, the star of Girlhood (Bande De Filles).
