Richard Miron Awards Ceremony Photo by Sydney Walker

Zandashe Brown Award Ceremony Photo by Sydney Walker

The New Orleans Film Society (NOFS) announced jury and audience awards of the 29^th annual New Orleans Film Festival film competitions in addition to the winners of the festival’s inaugural Screenplay Competition.

The 29th New Orleans Film Festival ended last Thursday, October 25th, with the Closing Night Film A Tuba To Cuba with directors T.G. Herrington and Danny Clinch, followed by the Closing Night Party featuring performances by Muevelo and Preservation Hall Jazz Band. The festival has reached a record audience of close to 30.000 attendees in 9 days. Mark your calendars for the 30th annual New Orleans Film Festival: October 16 – 24, 2019. Become a member of the New Orleans Film Society for a year full of films at NewOrleansFilmSociety.org

New Orleans Film Festival 2018 - Jury Award Winners

Narrative Features Competition
The winner of this award receives a $10,000 in-kind camera package sponsored by Panavision as well as Final Draft 10 software.

Winner: Chained for Life, directed by Aaron Schimberg

Documentary Features Competition
The winner of this category receives a DCP Kit sponsored by CRU, Inc, as well as a Vimeo Pro Account, Final Draft 10 software, and a complimentary membership to the International Documentary Association.
Winner: For the Birds, directed by Richard Miron
Special Jury Mention: Jaddoland, directed by Nadia Shihab

Special Jury Mention: Man Made, directed by T Cooper

Best Louisiana Feature Award
The winner of this awards receives a $10,000 camera package sponsored by Panavision, Final Draft 10 software, and a 2TB hard drive sponsored by CRU, Inc.
Winner: This Taco Truck Kills Fascists, directed by Rodrigo Dorfman
Special Jury Mention: This Little Light, directed by Ada McMahon and Wendi Moore-O’Neal

Best Cinematography Prize (Louisiana Feature)
The winner of this category is awarded a $10,000 camera package from VER Camera, New Orleans.
Winner: Zac Manuel for Buckjumping

Best Narrative Short – Academy-Award® Qualifying Category*
The winner of this awards receives $2500 in Kodak film stock, a $2500 cash prize from Vimeo, a DCP Kit sponsored by CRU, Inc., Final Draft 10 software, as well as a Samsung Gear 360 camera.
Winner: Fence, directed by Lendita Zeqiraj
Special Jury Mention: Fatherland, directed by George Sikharulidze
Special Jury Mention: Hair Wolf, directed by Mariama Diallo

Best Documentary Short – Academy-Award® Qualifying Category*
The winner of this award receives software for Final Draft 10, a Vimeo Pro Account, and a complimentary membership to the International Documentary Association.
Winner: Santuario, directed by Pilar Timpane and Christine Delp
Special Jury Mention: The Changing Same, directed by Michele Stephenson and Joe Brewster

Helen Hill Award for Animation – Academy-Award® Qualifying Category*
The winner of this award receives a one-year license for both Toon Boom Storyboard Pro and Toon Boom Harmony Premium.
Winner: Serpentine, directed by Bronwyn Maloney

Honorable Mention for Excellence in Charm and Craft: You Can’t Play With Us, directed by Jason Rhein, Serene Bacigalupi

Best Experimental Short
The winner of this award will receive a Vimeo Pro Account, a Samsung Gear 360 and a 2TB hard drive sponsored by CRU, Inc.
Winner: Please Step Out of the Frame, directed by Karissa Hahn
Special Jury Mention: Giverny I (Négresse Impériale), directed by Ja’Tovia Gary
Special Jury Mention: Fucked Like a Star, directed by Stefanie Saintonge

Best Louisiana Short
The winner of this award receives a Lighting & Grip package from Cinelease worth $5,000, software for Final Draft 10, and a Vimeo Pro Account.
Winner: Blood Runs Down, directed by Zandashe Brown
Special Jury Mention: The Basin, directed by Ian Clark

Best Cinematography Prize (Louisiana Short)
This prize is be presented to a Louisiana Short with a $10,000 camera package from VER Camera, New Orleans.
Winner: Bron Moyi for Wings

Vimeo Staff Pick Prize
Winner: Group from directors Benjamin Allen, Claire Cai, Meghan Wells, Jack Mullinkosson, and Haley Saunders

REEL SOUTH Short Film Award
Winner: The Basin from director Ian Spencer Cook

Award for Best Sound
The winner of this award receives a $3,500 post-sound work credit by Apex Post.
Winner: The True Don Quixote

*The jury-award winners of these categories automatically qualify for consideration for the Annual Academy Awards® without the standard theatrical run, provided the film otherwise complies with the Academy rules.

New Orleans Film Festival 2018 - Audience Award Winners by Category

Spotlight Films – Green Book, dir. Peter Farrelly

Narrative Features – Solace, dir. Tchaiko Omewale

Documentary Features – Tie between United Skates, dir. Tina Brown & Dyana Winkler and While I Breathe, I Hope, dir. Emily Harrold

Louisiana Features (Narrative) – The True Don Quixote, dir. Chris Poché

Louisiana Feature (Documentary) – Tie between Buckjumping, dir. Lily Keber and A Tuba to Cuba, dir. T.G. Herrington & Danny Clinch

Animated Shorts –  Negative Space, dir. Ru Kuwahata & Max Porter

Narrative Shorts –  okaasan (mom), dir. Kana Hatakeyama

Documentary Shorts –  Come and Take It, dir. PJ Raval & Ellen Spiro

Experimental Shorts –  Giverny I (Négresse Impériale), dir. Ja’Tovia Gary

Episodic – Nice, dir. Andrew Ahn
 

Louisiana Shorts – Tie between Black Back, dir. Kiyoko McCrae & Jason Foster and The Children of Central City, dir. Emma Scott

New Orleans Film Festival 2018 - Screenplay Competition Winners

Feature Screenplays Winner ($1000 Prize)– Audrey 2.0 by Imogen Grace
 

Short Screenplays Winner ($500 Prize)  – The Frog by Tate Nova & Courtney Powell

Episodic Screenplays Winner  ($500 Prize) – The Reservoir by Dylan Allen (Teleplay), Eddy Vallante + Dylan Allen (Story)

Louisiana Screenplay Competition Winners –

Thanks to the Louisiana Film & Entertainment Association for sponsoring a $1000 prize for the best screenplay from a Louisiana-based writer and a runner-up prize at $500.
First Prize – Empyrean by Meghann McCracken
Runner Up – Bird by Renso Amariz

SUPPORT FOR THE 29^TH NEW ORLEANS FILM FESTIVAL CAME FROM…

The 29th New Orleans Film Festival’s Marquee sponsors are 21^st Century Fox and New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation.

Chloe Wine Collection is the festival’s Official Wine Sponsor. The New Orleans Advocate is the festival’s Signature Media Sponsor. The Contemporary Arts Center of New Orleans is an official sponsor of the festival HUB.

Producing, Premiere and Premiere Trade sponsors include The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences, Auction House Market, Bond Moroch, the City of New Orleans, Cox Communications, Creative Film Connections, The Helis Foundation, Hilton New Orleans Riverside, Kyotocolor, Louisiana Entertainment, Louisiana Office of Tourism, The New Orleans Hotel Collection, Panavision, Restore the Mississippi River Delta, Second Line Stages, Solomon Group, SGPS Showrig, True Value Rental, and VER.

Grantors include the the the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, the Arts Council of New Orleans, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Greater New Orleans Foundation, The Helis Foundation, Jazz & Heritage Foundation, Louisiana Division of the Arts, South Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

ABOUT THE NEW ORLEANS FILM SOCIETY
The New Orleans Film Society discovers, cultivates, and amplifies diverse voices of filmmakers who tell the stories of our time. Founded in 1989, NOFS produces the Academy-accredited New Orleans Film Festival annually and invests year-round in building a vibrant film culture in the South to share transformative cinematic experiences with audiences, and connect dynamic filmmakers to career-advancing resources. Year-round programming includes free and low-cost screenings for members and the broader community of cinephiles in New Orleans, a 20-year running French Film Festival featuring contemporary and classic French cinema, and filmmaker professional development programs created to nurture diverse voices in filmmaking in the American South. NOFS is a 501(c)(3) organization.

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