The Jury and Special Award-winners of the 2013 South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival were announced tonight at the Festival’s Awards Ceremony, hosted by comedian Jerrod Carmichael. This year, the Awards returned to the historic Paramount Theatre in Austin, Texas. Feature Films receiving Jury Awards were selected from the Narrative Feature and Documentary Feature Competition categories. Films in these categories, as well as all feature categories (with the exception of Headliners and Special Events), and the Poster and Title Design Competition entrants, are also eligible for 2013 SXSW Film Festival Audience Awards. All Audience Awards will be announced separately on Saturday, March 16. SXSW continues showing films through Saturday, March 16, details can be found at www.sxsw.com/film.
SXSW also announced the Jury Award-winners in Shorts Filmmaking and winners of the SXSW Film Design Awards, as well as Special Awards, including the Louis Black “Lone Star” Award and the SXSW Chicken & Egg Emergent Narrative Woman Director Award.
“We start each year anew, never knowing what’s ahead. We fall in love with the films as we program, but they truly come alive in front of our audience, and the feedback for the entire program this year has been so enthusiastic and rewarding,” said Janet Pierson, Film Conference and Festival Producer. “We know the juries had a tough job, but are grateful for their commitment to the task. We’re thrilled with the quality of the work recognized.”
The 2013 SXSW Film Festival Juries consisted of:
Narrative Feature Competition: Devin Gordon, Dana Harris, Eric Lavalle
Documentary Feature Competition: Brian Brooks, Elvis Mitchell, Maria Popova
Shorts Program: Cullen Conly, Natalie Difford, Jonathan Lisecki
Documentary Shorts: Brian Ackerman, Nancy Schiesari, Ondi Timoner
Animated Shorts: Don Hertzfeld, Austin Kleon
Midnight Shorts: Zack Carlson, Kim Sherman, Aram Tertzakian
Music Videos: King Coffey, Nat Sanders, Benjamin Wintle
Texas High School Shorts: Cole Dabney, Emily Hagins, Bart Weiss
Title Sequence Design: Ian Albinson, Paul Babb, Kurt Volk
Poster Design: Marc English, Tim League, Danny Parker, Zachary Soreff, Kurt Volk
Louis Black “Lone Star”: Victor Diaz, Ann Hornaday, Chris Vognar
The 2013 SXSW Film Festival will host a total of 133 features, consisting of 78 World Premieres, 13 North American Premieres and 9 U.S. Premieres, with 76 first-time directors. 110 shorts will screen as part of 10 overall shorts programs. The nearly 250 films were selected from a record number of overall submissions, over 5,700, comprised of approximately 2,100 features and 3,600 shorts, with an overall increase of 7% over 2012.
The 2013 SXSW Film Festival Award Winners:
Feature Film Jury Awards
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION
Grand Jury Winner: WILLIAM AND THE WINDMILL
Director: Ben Nabors
Special Jury Recognition for Cinematography: “Touba”
Director of Photography: Scott Duncan
Special Jury Recognition for Directing: “We Always Lie To Strangers”
Directors: AJ Schnack & David Wilson
NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION
Grand Jury Winner: “Short Term 12”
Director: Destin Daniel Cretton
Special Jury Recognition for Ensemble Cast: “Burma”
Christopher Abbott
Gaby Hoffmann
Christopher McCann
Dan Bittner
Emily Fleischer
Jacinta Puga
Matt McCarthy
Kelly Aucoin
Special Jury Recognition for Acting: Tishuan Scott, “The Retrieval”
Short Film Jury Awards
NARRATIVE SHORTS
Winner: “Ellen is Leaving”
Director: Michelle Savill
Honorable Mention: “Sequin Raze”
Director: Sarah Gertrude Shapiro
Honorable Mention: SKIN
Director: Jordana Spiro
DOCUMENTARY S