BEST OF THE FEST
OUR 2023 AWARDS
This year 535 films were submitted from 45 countries around the world – for a total running time of 285 hours, 33 min, 22 seconds, give or take a few.
and were narrowed down to this year’s unique and exciting slate of films. From these films, the festival directors suggested 32 films for award consideration to our Festival Judges.
Don’t forget to vote for the Audience Award!
Following each screening be sure to vote for your favorite film by using Fanmood. It’s easy, scan the QR code on the screen with your smartphone and you’ll go directly to this year’s Audience Award voting page. Click on the film you enjoyed most and you’re done. One vote per person per program. Want to vote the analog way? No problem, we have ballot boxes at each venue.
THE DECISION
Our Festival Judges decided the winners of Best of the Fest, Judges Award, Best Doc Feature, Best Short Narrative, Best Short Doc, Best Short Animation, Best Director, Best Performance, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, Best Editing, Best Musical Score and Audience Award. For a total of $10,000 in awards!
The Ceremony
Don’t miss this year’s winners and awards ceremony, Sunday, June 25th, 7pm at the historic Nevada Theatre. Rumor is there will be cupcakes and champagne to celebrate!
2023 Winners
WINNER: BEST OF THE FEST
I HAVE NO TEARS, AND I MUST CRY
Dir. LUIS FERNANDO PUENTE
(USA, 13min)
Maria Luisa is ready to escape immigration limbo, but when her green card interview takes an unexpected turn, she faces the anxiety of losing the life she had planned.
WINNER: BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE
SCRAPPER
dir. CHARLOTTE REGAN
(UK, 84min)
In this vibrant and inventive father-daughter comedy, Georgie (Lola Campbell) is a dreamy 12-year-old girl who lives alone in her London flat, filling it with magic after the death of her mother. Out of nowhere, her estranged father Jason (Harris Dickinson) arrives and forces her to confront reality. Uninterested in this sudden new parental figure, Georgie is stubbornly resistant to his efforts. As they adjust to their new circumstances, Georgie and Jason find that both father and daughter still have a lot of growing up to do.
WINNER: BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
BEING MICHELLE
dir. ATIN MEHRA
(USA, 1hr 20min)
Being Michelle follows the astonishing journey of a deaf and disabled woman who survived incarceration and abuse under unimaginable circumstances by a system that refused to accommodate her needs as a deaf person with autism. Michelle’s trajectory changed when she met Kim Law, a blind volunteer life coach who teaches classes to people in prison. Today, outside of prison, Kim and Michelle are doing the difficult work of unraveling Michelle’s history, of telling the story of Michelle’s traumatic childhood and her adverse experiences in the criminal justice system. With the support of Kim, Michelle realizes her own voice and strength. Throughout the film, Michelle’s artwork provides her own depiction of the trauma she survived as well as a means to her recovery. Ultimately, Being Michelle is a story of redemption. It is about the bonds between women committed to thriving in a broken system, who are forging a path to healing that can only come through facing the truth and communicating it, together.
WINNER: BEST NARRATIVE SHORT
I HAVE NO TEARS, AND I MUST CRY
Dir. LUIS FERNANDO PUENTE
(USA, 13min)
Maria Luisa is ready to escape immigration limbo, but when her green card interview takes an unexpected turn, she faces the anxiety of losing the life she had planned.
WINNER: BEST Documentary SHORT
THE FEELING OF BEING CLOSE TO YOU
dir. ASH GOH HUA
(Singapore/USA, 12min)
The Feeling of Being Close to You (靠近你的感觉) documents an attempt at healing the trauma of touch between mother and child. Driven by a pure desire for intimacy, the filmmaker and their mother talk openly for the first time about the intergenerational trauma and abuse within their lives. Present day phone conversations are juxtaposed with archival VHS footage, creating a connection between the past and a re-write for the future.
WINNER: BEST ANIMATED SHORT
ICE MERCHANTS
dir. JOÃO GONZALEZ
(Portugal, 14min)
Every day, a father and his son jump with a parachute from their vertiginous cold house, attached to a cliff, to go to the village on the ground, far away where they sell the ice they produce daily.
WINNER: BEST DIRECTOR
Rebecca Landsberry-Baker & Joe Peeler
Bad Press
(USA, 1hr 38min)
When the Muscogee Nation suddenly begins censoring their free press, a rogue reporter fights to expose her government’s corruption in a historic battle that will have ramifications for all of Indian Country.
WINNER: BEST PERFORMANCE
Hugo De Sousa (Barry)
GOOD CONDITION
(USA, 9min)
Barry’s starting over.
WINNER: BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Miguel Drake-McLaughlin
HUMMINGBIRDS
(USA, 1hr 18min)
In this late-night summer self-portrait, best friends Silvia and Beba make magic of everyday moments coming of age on the Texas-Mexico border.
WINNER: BEST EDITING
Kayla Abuda Galang, Matt Stryker
WHEN YOU LEFT ME ON THAT BOULEVARD
(USA, 13min)
Teenager Ly and her cousins get high before a boisterous family Thanksgiving at their auntie’s house in southeast San Diego in 2006
WINNER: BEST MUSICAL SCORE
JOÃO GONZALEZ
ICE MERCHANTS
DIRECTOR / COMPOSER
(Portugal, 14min)
Every day, a father and his son jump with a parachute from their vertiginous cold house, attached to a cliff, to go to the village on the ground, far away where they sell the ice they produce daily.
WINNER: BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Meryl Aquino and Serina Chantrachuck
WHEN YOU LEFT ME ON THAT BOULEVARD
(USA, 13min)
Teenager Ly and her cousins get high before a boisterous family Thanksgiving at their auntie’s house in southeast San Diego in 2006
WINNER: BEST SCREENPLAY
MIKE HANSON, KELLY MOOTHART
THE REVVER
Iris can’t eat, sleep, or finish drawing her masterpiece when her macho neighbor constantly revs his mammoth truck — but now it’s time she takes matters into her own hands.
WINNER: AUDIENCE AWARD
CHASIN' BUTTERFLIES
Dir: JOSHUA HARDING, ADAM HOBBS, MATT KLUG
(USA, 19min)
As a self-taught artist from a one-horse town in rural Alabama, Butch Anthony can’t be easily categorized; nor can his art. In this layered portrait, we meet the eccentric, playful, authentic, charming, and provocative man behind the drive-thru museum, trophy-covered Cadillac, and pontoon pirate ship known as Llatikcuf (read it backwards).