We can’t believe the festival is over – in this unsettling year, we are so grateful for the chance to bring the best in indie film to Birmingham in person and bring a little bit of normalcy to life. Thank you to our filmmakers for sharing your films with us, and to our amazing jurors for your help in choosing this year’s award winners. Some of our awards have cash prizes and some do not – the ones with cash prizes are indicated with a prize value in parentheses.
JURY AWARDS
STUDENT AND FAMILY FILMS
Best Student Film ($250) – Slave 2
Student Film Honorable Mention for Creativity in Editing – Lunar Powers
Best Family Film ($250) – Tobi and the Turbobus
Family Film Honorable Mention – The Treasures of Mrs. Grady’s Library
BLACK LENS
Best Black Lens Film ($250) – Adullam
Honorable Mention for Black Lens as a Must-See Film – After Selma
Black Lens Filmmaker Grant Recipient ($1,000) – Elisha Williams
The Black Lens Filmmaker Grant is sponsored by The Law Firm of Stacey A. Davis.
ALABAMA FILMS
Alan Hunter Best Alabama Feature ($500) – Jasper Mall
Honorable Mention for Outstanding Performance (Virginia Newcomb) and for Strength in Short-Form Storytelling – Doodle
SHOUT
Best SHOUT Feature ($500) – Transhood
Best SHOUT Short ($250) – Vote Neil
Special SHOUT Jury Mention – We
FEATURES
Best Documentary Feature ($1,000) – Feels Good Man
Special Jury Prize for Editing – Coming Clean
Jambor-Franklin Founders’ Award for Best Narrative Feature ($500) – The Immortal Jellyfish
Honorable Mention for Outstanding Performance (Krisha Fairchild) – Freeland
Feature Programmers’ Award ($500) – Giants Being Lonely
Best Life & Liberty Film ($250) – Coming Clean
Spirit of Sidewalk Award – Suzi Quatro
SHORTS
Best Narrative Short ($500) – Public Lot
Best Documentary Short ($500) – Conviction
Best Animated Short ($250) – If Anything Happens I Love You
Reel South SHORT Award ($1,000) – Coup d’Etat Math
Kathryn Tucker Windham Storytelling Award ($250) – Tantalization
Shorts Programmers’ Award ($250) – Good Guy With A Gun
Shorts Honorable Mention – Dafa Metti
Shorts Honorable Mention – Mizuko
AUDIENCE AWARDS
Best Narrative Feature ($250) – The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain
Best Documentary Feature ($250) – Transhood
Best Narrative Short ($150) – Lunar Powers
Best Documentary Short ($150) – Invasion: the Unis’tot’en’s fight for Sovereignty
Best Alabama Film ($150) – Jasper Mall
Best Black Lens Film ($250) – After Selma
Best SHOUT Film ($250) – A Short Story About the Life of Elise
SIDEWRITE SCREENPLAY COMPETITION AWARDS
Best Alabama Screenplay ($250) – “The Sympathetic Martian” by Scott Turner and Jim Torres
Best Short Screenplay ($250) – “Lab Partners” by Tommy Britt
Best Feature Screenplay ($500) – “Riding Shotgun” by Nafi Ayvaci