Florida Film Festival announces 2021 award winners
The Florida Film Festival has announced the grand jury and audience award winners of the 2021 event. The fest took place April 9-22 at Enzian Theater and online, featuring 164 films representing 31 countries.
To honor the festival’s 30th anniversary, the staff hosted a celebration that recognized Florida Film Festival founders Philip and Sigrid Tiedtke as well as Matthew Curtis — who received an award in appreciation of his 25 years of service as the FFF programming director. In honor of Curtis, the festival’s short film audience award has been renamed the Matthew Curtis Audience Award for Best Short Film.
“Matthew’s passion for film, dedication to the festival and stalwart commitment to the vision that ‘Film is Art’ has made him instrumental in shaping the Florida Film Festival and what it means to the community,” said managing director and founding family member Elizabeth Mukherjee in a press release. “FFF wouldn’t be what it is without him, and this award will remind generations to come of his impactful contribution.”
The 2021 FFF winners are as follows.
Shorts
”The Shawl,” directed by Sara Kiener, won the grand jury award for Best Animated Short.
”When We Were Bullies,” directed by Jay Rosenblatt, won the grand jury award for Best Documentary Short. ”Please Hold,” directed by Kristen “KD” Dávila, won the grand jury award for Best Narrative Short.
”I Love Your Guts,” directed by David Janove, won the special jury award for Exceptional Narrative Filmmaking.
”Stuck,” directed by David Mikalson, won the audience award for Best Midnight Short.
”No Man’s Land,” directed by Anna Andersen and
Gabriella Canal, won the Matthew Curtis Audience Award for Best Short Film.
Documentary Features
”The Last Out,” directed by Michael Gassert and Sami Khan, won the grand jury award for Best Documentary Feature.
”Two Gods,” directed by Zeshawn Ali, won the special jury award for Non-Fiction Storytelling.
”Holy Frit,” directed by Justin Monroe, won the audience award for Best Documentary Feature.
Narrative Features
”Materna,” directed by David Gutnik, won the grand jury award for Best Narrative Feature.
”I’m Fine (Thanks for Asking),” directed by Kelley Kali and Angelique Molina, won the special jury award for Persistence of Vision as well as the audience award for Best Narrative Feature.
International
”Rider of Justice,” directed by Anders Thomas Jensen,
won the audience award for Best International Feature. ”Masel Tov Cocktail,” directed by Arkadij Khaet and Mickey Paatzsch, won the audience award for Best International Short.
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