The LA Muse Jury awarded the following special mentions:
Special Mention for Acting: John Carroll Lynch of Anything
Country: USA
Director: Timothy McNeil
Screenwriter: Timothy McNeil
Producer: Louise Runge, Ofrit Peres, Micah Hauptman
Cast: John Carroll Lynch, Matt Bomer, Maura Tierney, Margot Bingham, Micah Hauptman
Film Description: After the death of his wife, a man moves from Mississippi to a run-down Hollywood apartment, where he meets someone new. World Premiere
Special Mention for Excellence in Storytelling: The Classic, directed by Billy McMillin
Country: USA
Screenwriter: Billy McMillin
Producer: Christopher Leggett, Rafael Marmor, Timm Oberwelland, Billy McMillin
Cast: Mario Ramirez, Joseph Silva, Sammy Hernandez, Stevie Williams, Javier Cid, Lorenzo Hernandez, Alfred Robledo
Film Description: Two predominantly Latino high schools square off annually in one of the oldest and most heated football rivalries in the country: the East LA Classic. It doesn't get more American than this. World Premiere
Nightfall Award
Winner: Serpent, directed by Amanda Evans
Screenwriter: Amanda Evans
Producer: Greig Buckle
Cast: Sarah Dumont, Tom Ainsley
Film Description: When a young couple take a getaway aimed at reviving their romance, they find themselves trapped in a tent with a venomous snake and a backlog of secrets, and realize that only one of them can make it out alive. World Premiere
The Nightfall Jury awarded the following special mention:
Special Mention for Acting: Kate Nhung of The Housemaid
Country: USA/Vietnam
Director: Derek Nguyen
Screenwriter: Derek Nguyen
Producer: Timothy Linh Bui
Cast: Nhung Kate, Jean-Michel Richaud, Kim Xuan, Rosie Fellner, Phi Phung, Kien An
Film Description: After an orphaned Vietnamese girl is hired to be a housemaid at a haunted rubber plantation in 1953 French Indochina, she unexpectedly falls in love with the French landowner and awakens the vengeful ghost of his dead wife. North American Premiere
Award for Short Film
Winner: A Funeral for Lightning, directed by Emily Kai Bock. USA/Canada.
Film Description: Seven months pregnant and stuck in a sleepy corner of Tennessee, a young woman begins to question the promises made by her charismatic husband.
The Shorts Jury awarded the following special mentions:
Special Mention for Excellence in Storytelling: Balloonfest, directed by Nathan Truesdell. USA
Film Description: Cleveland attempts to overcome its nickname, "The Mistake by the Lake," by launching a bunch of balloons.
Award for Documentary Short
Winner: Black America Again, directed by Bradford Young. USA
Film Description: Inspired by Common's Black America Again, this portrait is a celebration of the beauty, strength, perseverance and spirit of the black community in these troubling times.
Audience Award for Fiction Feature Film
Winner: The Keeping Hours, directed by Karen Moncrieff
Producers: Jason Blum, John Miranda
Cast: Lee Pace, Carrie Coon, Sander Thomas, Amy Smart, Ana Ortiz, Ray Baker
Film Description: Years after the death of their son and their subsequent estrangement, a couple reunites under supernatural circumstances. World Premiere.
This award is given to the fiction feature audiences liked most as voted by a tabulated rating system. Select fiction feature-length films screening in the following sections were eligible for the Audience Award for Best Fiction Feature: U.S. Fiction, World Fiction, LA Muse, Nightfall and Premieres.
Audience Award for Documentary Feature Film
Winner: Skid Row Marathon, directed by Mark Hayes
Producers: Gabriele Hayes, Doug Blush
Featuring: Judge Craig Mitchell, Ben Shirley, Rafael Cabrera, Rebecca Hayes, David Askew
Film Description: On LA's Skid Row, a criminal court judge organizes a running club comprised of homeless, recovering and paroled men and women who seek to rediscover their sense of self-worth and dignity. World Premiere
This award is given to the documentary feature audiences liked most as voted by a tabulated rating system. Select documentary feature-length films screening in the following sections were eligible for the Audience Award for Documentary Feature: Documentary LA Muse and Premieres.
Audience Award for Short Film
Winner: Swim, directed by Mari Walker
Country: USA
Film Description: As summer draws to a close, a young trans girl finds freedom in a secret midnight swim.
This award is given to the short film audiences liked most as voted by a tabulated rating system. Short films screening in the Shorts Programs or before feature films in the Festival were eligible for the Audience Award for Short Film.
Audience Award for Web-series
Winner: High & Mighty, directed by Carlos Lopez Estrada
Country: USA
