In a ceremony last night at the Austin Convention Center, the Jury and Audience Award winners for the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival were announced. Hosted by comedian Eugene Mirman, the ceremony ran a bit long — and even caused a bit of a ruckus on Twitter, as Variety and other publications released the winners before they were actually announced at the ceremony — but in the end, it was a celebration of an excellent year for SXSW. A year that we’re still covering. As I write this piece of news, our intrepid staff of writers are all over town, seeing movies and putting the final touches on many more reviews of a slate of excellent films.
“I wasn’t sure how we could top or even present a program as strong as SXSW 2009, but it feels like we did,” said Film Conference and Festival Producer Janet Pierson, “There are some films that are rocking crowd pleasers, some that are refining the form or finding a voice, several that are inspiring, and fortunately, a wonderful few that are truly original visions. We are thrilled to be able to celebrate those tonight.”
Only Narrative and Documentary Feature Audience Awards were announced tonight. Spotlight Premieres, Emerging Visions, Lone Star States, 24 Beats Per Second and Midnighters Audience Awards will be announced separately on Monday, March 22.
For the 2010 SXSW Film Festival, 134 feature-length films, including 64 world premieres, were selected from a record 1,572 feature-length film submissions composed of 1,206 U.S. and 366 international feature-length films. 130 shorts were selected from 2,312 short film submissions. In its inaugural year, the Title Design Competition included 18 finalists selected from 101 submissions. The 2010 SXSW Film Festival Awards were hosted by Ovation TV.
The 2010 SXSW Film Festival Award Winners:
Feature Film Jury Awards
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Winner: Marwencol
Director: Jeff Malmberg
Runner-up: War Don Don
Director: Rebecca Richman Cohen
NARRATIVE FEATURE
Winner: Tiny Furniture
Director: Lena Dunham
Special Jury Award – Best Ensemble: Myth of the American Sleepover
Director: David Robert Mitchell
Special Jury Award – Best Individual Performance: Brian Hasenfus in Phillip the Fossil
Director: Garth Donovan
Feature Film Audience Awards
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Winner: For Once in My Life
Director: Jim Bigham & Mark Moormann
NARRATIVE FEATURE
Winner: Brotherhood
Director: Will Canon
*Audience Awards for Spotlight Premieres, Emerging Visions, 24 Beats Per Second, Lone Star States, and Midnighters will be announced on Monday, March 22, 2010.
Short Film Jury Awards
NARRATIVE SHORTS
Winner: Cigarette Candy
Director: Lauren Wolkstein
Runner Up: Teleglobal Dreamin‘
Director: Eric Flanagan
DOCUMENTARY SHORTS
Winner: Quadrangle
Director: Amy Grappell
Runner Up: White Lines and The Fever: The Death of DJ Junebug
Director: Travis Senger
ANIMATED SHORTS
Winner: The Orange
Director: Nick Fox-Gieg
Runner Up: One Square Mile of Earth
Director: Jeff Drew
EXPERIMENTAL SHORTS
Winner: Night Mayor
Director: Guy Maddin
Runner Up: Kids Might Fly
Director: Alex Taylor
MUSIC VIDEOS
Winner: Cinnamon Chasers, “Luv Deluxe”
Director: Saman Keshavarz
Runner Up: Grizzly Bear, “Forest”
Director: Allison Schulnik
TEXAS SHORTS
Winner: Petting Sharks
Director: Craig Elrod
Runner Up: The Big Bends
Director: Jason William Marlow
TIME WARNER CABLE & OVATION YOUNG FILMMAKER SCHOLARSHIP for TEXAS HIGH SCHOOL SHORT
Winner: Give the Dog a Bone
Director: Edward Kelley
Runner Up: The Sleep Project
Director: Whitney Bennett & Matthew Cunningham
SXSW Film Design Awards
EXCELLENCE IN POSTER DESIGN
Winner: Feeder
Designer: Joseph Ernst
Runner Up: Amer
Designer: Gilles Vranckx
Audience Award Winner: Richard Garriott: Man on a Mission
Designer: Michael Anderson
Special Jury Award: Equestrian Sexual Response
Designers: Martim Vian & Zeke Hawkins
EXCELLENCE IN TITLE DESIGN
Winner: Zombieland
Designer: Ben Conrad
Runner Up: earthwork
Designer: Stan Herd
Audience Award Winner: earthwork
Designer: Stan Herd
Special Jury Award: Enter the Void
Designer: Gaspar Noé and Tom Kam
SXSW Special Awards
SXSW WHOLPHIN AWARD
Winner: Quadrangle
Director: Amy Grappell
SXSW CHICKEN & EGG EMERGENT NARRATIVE WOMAN DIRECTOR AWARD
Winner: Lena Dunham for Tiny Furniture
Special Award - The Chicken & Egg Pictures “We Believe in You” Award:
Martha Stephens for Passenger Pigeons
