LA Film Festival Announces Its 2018 Winners

The LA Film Festival announced the winners of the 2018 Festival at the Awards Reception presided over by Festival Director Jennifer Cochis and Film Independent President Josh Welsh. Cochis and Welsh also took the opportunity to thank the more than 50 generous sponsors, funders and media partners without whom the Festival would not be possible.

“We congratulate all of the filmmakers that shared their work with the LA Film Festival,” said Festival Director, Jennifer Cochis. “These awards honor the wide range of exceptional storytelling we’ve been sincerely delighted to present. All of us are looking forward to wider audiences discovering these stories in the year ahead.”

“A festival is made up of many groups – the filmmakers and the audience, of course, but also the sponsors and funders who make it all possible,” said Film Independent President Josh Welsh. “We are profoundly thankful to all the companies, foundations, and individuals who have financially supported the LA Film Festival without whom we truly would not be here.”

Festival Guest Director, Emmy-award-winning, Lauren Greenfield (Generation Wealth, Queen of Versailles) was awarded the Spirit of Independence Award at the event for her work advancing the cause of independent film and championing creative freedom as a celebrated documentarian, famed photographer and artist.

The Festival’s juried awards include: the U.S. Fiction Award, World Fiction Award, Documentary Award, LA Muse Awards, Nightfall Award, Music Video Award, Episodic Award, well as the Short Fiction Award and the Short Documentary Award. Audience awards are presented for Fiction Feature Film, Documentary Feature Film, Episodic Story, Episodic Pilot, Short Film, Music Video and Series from the Web.

The LA Film Festival kicked off on Thursday, September 20 with the World Premiere of Andrew Slater’s Echo in the Canyon, with a performance with special guests Jackson Browne, Jade Castrinos, Jakob Dylan, Chan Marshall (aka Cat Power) and Michelle Phillips. Gala screenings during the Festival included Eva Vives’ All About Nina, Ike Barinholtz’s The Oath, Rupert Everett’s The Happy Prince and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi & Jimmy Chin’s documentary Free Solo.

Additionally the 25th anniversary of Film Independent’s diversity mentorship initiative Project Involve honored Effie T. Brown (Real Women Have Curves, Dear White People), Jon M. Chu (GI Joe: Retaliation, Crazy Rich Asians), Cherien Dabis (Amreeka, Empire) and MACRO’s Founder & CEO Charles D. King (Mudbound, Fences) at the home of Catharine and Jeffrey Soros during the Festival and the inaugural New Wave brunch celebrated the work of Stephanie Beatriz (Brooklyn Nine Nine), Jay Ellis (Insecure), Dominique Fishback (The Hate U Give), Jorge Lendeborg Jr. (Bumblebee), Leonardo Nam (Westworld) and Millicent Simmonds (A Quiet Place).

VR and immersive storytelling were showcased at The Portal in partnership with Loyola Marymount University School of Film and Television at their new Playa Vista campus. Lastly, over two days We the People offered a free series committed to advancing inclusion within the entertainment industry by serving as a solution-oriented call to action, Regina Hall (The Hate U Give, Support the Girls) was the keynote conversation.

The Festival’s competitions featured a diverse slate of 40 feature films, 41 short films and 10 short episodic works representing 26 countries. Across the competition categories 42% of the films are directed by women and 39% are directed by people of color.

The Festival will close later today with the World Premiere of David Raymond’s Nomis starring Henry Cavill, Sir Ben Kingsley, Nathan Fillion, Minka Kelly, Alexandra Daddario and Stanley Tucci at the ArcLight Hollywood Cinerama Dome and the Closing Night Documentary will be the LA Premiere of Dyana Winkler and Tina Brown’s United Skates at the ArcLight Culver City.

Awards were given out in the following categories:

The U.S. Fiction Award

This Teacher, dir. Mark Jackson, World Premiere

Screenwriters: Mark Jackson, Dana Thompson

Producers: Mark Jackson, Dana Thompson, Gigi Graff, Josh Mandel, Javier Gonzalez

Cast: Hafsia Herzi, Sarah Kazemy, Lucy Walters, Kevin Kane, Lev Gorn

U.S. Fiction Special Mention

In Reality, dir. Ann Lupo, California Premiere

Screenwriters: Ann Lupo, Esteban Pedraza, Aaron Pryka

Producers: Ann Lupo, Nadine Martinez, Holly Meehl

Cast: Ann Lupo, Miles G. Jackson, Kimiko Glenn, Jill Eikenberry, Olivia Washington, Esteban Pedraza, Lauren E. Banks

World Fiction Award

Winner: Border, dir. Ali Abbasi, California Premiere

Screenwriters: Ali Abbasi, Isabella Eklöf, John Ajvide Lindqvis

Producers: Nina Bisgaard, Peter Gustafsson, Petra Jönsson

Cast: Eva Melander, Eero Milonoff, Jörgen Thorsson

Jury Members: Roxanne Benjamin (actress/director, V/H/S), Anna Rogers (COO/VP Production at The Art of Elysium/EB Studios), Yuval Sharon (Artistic Director, TheIndustry in Los Angeles)

World Fiction Special Jury Prize, Directing

The Day I Lost My Shadow, dir. Soudade Kaadan, US Premiere

Screenwriters: Soudade Kaadan

Producers: Amira Kaadan

Cast: Sawsan Arshid, Reham Al Kasar, Samer Ismail, Ahmad Ali

Documentary Award

hillbilly, dir. Sally Rubin & Ashley York, LA Premiere

Producers: Sally Rubin & Ashley York

Featuring: bell hooks, Billy Redden, Ronny Cox, Frank X Walker, Crystal Good, Silas Howard

Jury Members: Michael Bodie (director/professor, USC School of Cinematic Arts), Hans Charles (Cinematographer, 13th), Rae Dawn Chong (actress, The Color Purple)

Documentary Special Jury Award for Excellence in Social Justice Storytelling

False Confessions, dir. Katrine Philp, North American Premiere

Producers: Katrine A. Sahlstrøm

LA Muse Award

Winner: Staycation, dir. Tanuj Chopra, World Premiere

Screenwriters: Tanuj Chopra, Anthony Ma, Grace Su

Producer: Lalithra Fernando

Cast: Anthony Ma, Grace Su

Jury Members: Tamar Halpern (filmmaker, Llyn Foulkes One Man Band), Jorge Lendeborg (actor, Bumblebee), Jamil Walker Smith (director, The American Dream, actor, Code Black)

LA Muse Documentary Award

Winner: Fire on the Hill dir. Brett Fallentine, World Premiere

Producers: Brett Fallentine, Jordana Glick-Franzheim, Steven Amato

Jury Members: Tamar Halpern (filmmaker, Llyn Foulkes One Man Band), Jorge Lendeborg Jr. (actor, Bumblebee), Jamil Walker Smith (director, The American Dream, actor, Code Black)

LA Muse Special Mention, Best Ensemble Cast

Winner: Solace, dir. Tchaiko Omawale, World Premiere

Screenwriter: Tchaiko Omawale

Producers: Tchaiko Omawale, Maya Emelle, Hope Olaide Wilson, Sabine Hoffman, Sascha Brown Rice

Cast: Hope Olaide Wilson, Lynn Whitfield, Chelsea Tavares, Glynn Turman, Luke Rampersad, Sydney Bennett

Nightfall Award

The Dead Center, dir. Billy Senese, World Premiere

Screenwriters: Billy Senese

Producers: Billy Senese, Denis Deck, Jonathan Rogers, Shane Carruth

Cast: Shane Carruth, Poorna Jagannathan, Jeremy Childs, Billy Feehely

Jury Members: Niyia Mack (producer, Delusion: The Blue Blade), Alex Neustaedter (actor, A.X.L.), Sarah Adina Smith (director, Legion, Room 104)

Nightfall Special Jury Prize, Lead Actor

Actor: Ashleigh Morghan

Film: Head Count, dir. Elle Callahan, World Premiere

Screenwriters: Michael Nader

Producers: Samuel Sandweiss, Brandon Somerhalder

Nightfall Special Jury Prize, Ensemble Cast

Cast: Barak Hardley, Jackie Tohn, Magnús Jónsson, Birna Rún Eiriksdóttir, Tom Wright, Stacey Moseley, Michael Nanfria, Michole Briana White, Bryndís Haraldsdíttir

Film: Spell, dir. Brendan Walter, World Premiere

Screenwriter: Barak Hardley

Producers: Brendan Walter, Jon Lullo, Barak Hardley, Katy Stoll, Eleanor WIlson

Award for Short Fiction

The Passage, dir. Kitao Sakurai

Jury Members: Missy Laney (Director of Development, Adult Swim), Caleb Spencer (Managing Director, Nashville Film Festival), Garth Trinidad (DJ, KCRW)

Award for Documentary Short

One Leg In, One Leg Out, dir. Lisa Rideout

Jury Members: Missy Laney (Director of Development, Adult Swim), Caleb Spencer (Managing Director, Nashville Film Festival), Garth Trinidad (DJ, KCRW)

Web Episodes Jury Award

Psusy, dir. Anna Duckworth

Jury Members: Missy Laney (Director of Development, Adult Swim), Caleb Spencer (Managing Director, Nashville Film Festival), Garth Trinidad (DJ, KCRW)

Audience Award for Fiction Feature Film

Brian Banks, dir. Tom Shadyac, World Premiere

Screenwriter: Doug Atchison

Producers: Amy Baer, Monica Levinson, Shivani Rawat

Cast: Aldis Hodge, Greg Kinnear, Sherri Shepherd, Tiffany Dupont, Xosha Roquemore

Audience Award for Documentary Feature Film

Stuntman, dir. Kurt Mattila, World Premiere

Producers: Dwayne Johnson, Dany Garcia, Hiram Garcia and Brian Gewirtz (Seven Bucks Productions), Steven Golebiowski, Kurt Mattila, Eddie Braun (Driven Pictures)

Featuring: Eddie Braun, Gary Davis, Conrad E. Palmisano, Buddy Joe Hooker, Scott Truax, Meg Braun

Audience Award for Music Video

Clutch, dir. Christopher Ripley

Audience Award for Short Film

Weekends, dir. Trevor Jimenez

Audience Award for Episodic Story

Revenge Tour, dir. Andrew Carter

Audience Award for Episodic Pilot

40 & Single, dir. Leila Djansi, World Premiere

Seattle Story Award

I’m Sorry Happy Birthday, dir. Claire Buss, World Premiere