The 28th annual festival highlights jury selections from the film and script competitions
AUSTIN, TX (November 1, 2021) — Austin Film Festival (AFF), the premier Festival to recognize the writer’s contribution to film, television, theatre, and new media, is thrilled to announce the 2021 Film Competition Jury and Audience Award winners alongside the script competition winners. This year, there were 9 Jury Award winners, 11 Audience Award winners, and 18 script competition winners. The competitions received over 6,000 film submissions and over 14,000 script submissions.
THE FOLLOWING FILM JURY AWARDS WERE SELECTED BY CATEGORY
- Narrative Feature: DISFLUENCY, written and directed by Anna Baumgarten
- Documentary Feature presented by FloSports: BURIED, directed by Jared Drake and Steven Siig
- Comedy Vanguard Feature: HOLIDAYS AT ALL COST, written and directed by Stevan Lee Mraovitch
- Dark Matters Feature: JACINTO, written and directed by Javi Camino
- Narrative Short: PLAY IT AGAIN, directed by Dan Abramovici, written by Liam Gareau and Myrthin Stagg
- Narrative Student Short: UNMOTHERED, written and directed by Urvashi Pathania
- Documentary Short presented by FloSports: WONDERFULLY MADE, directed by Benita Ozoude
- Animated Short: RED SHOES, directed by Anna Paděrová, written by Anna Paděrová and Matěj Podskalský
- Produced Digital Series: CARY IN RETROGRADE, written and directed by Priya Domfeh and Philipp Yaw
- Enderby Entertainment Fellowship Award: FARANAK, written and directed by Mehrnoush Alia
Film Jury winners were selected by jurors including Robert Townsend (writer/director HOLLYWOOD SHUFFLE, THE FIVE HEARTBEATS), Claire Bargout (Director of TV Development, SpectreVision), Dave Kajganich (creator/showrunner of THE TERROR), Siqi Song (Academy Award-nominated director of SISTER) and Milan Chakraborty (Head of Film, Marginal MediaWorks).
Following each screening, audience members cast their votes for the Audience Award, recognizing the audience’s Festival favorites among the 2021 film slate.
THE FOLLOWING AUDIENCE AWARD WINNERS WERE SELECTED BY CATEGORY
- Marquee Feature: LARRY FLYNT FOR PRESIDENT written and directed by Nadia Szold
- Narrative Feature: UNSILENCED, written and directed by Leon Lee
- Documentary Feature: WITH THIS BREATH I FLY, directed by Sam French and Clementine Malpas
- Dark Matters Feature: CRAM, written and directed by Abie Sidell
- Comedy Feature: HOLIDAYS AT ALL COSTS, written and directed by Stevan Lee Mraovitch
- Texas Independent Feature: BUCK ALAMO, written and directed by Ben Epstein
- Narrative Short: JEFF CAN’T SWIM, written by Jon Ebeling, directed by Michaela Myers
- Documentary Short: STREET REPORTER, written and directed by Laura Waters Hinson
- Animated Short: THE SNOW BALL, written and directed by Rick MacDonald
- Narrative Student Short: LAST STRIKE, written and directed by Zan Gillies
- Produced Digital Series: FLUX, written by Alex DiBucci, directed by Jacob Stern and Alex DiBucci
The 2021 Script Competition winners were chosen from a record field of 14,648 scripts entered in the Screenplay, Digital Series, Playwriting, and Fiction Podcast Competitions. The winners were selected by a distinguished panel of industry judges including, Matthew Michael Carnahan (writer DARK WATERS) , Felischa Marye (creator BIGGER), Peter Craig (writer THE TOWN), and April Shih (writer YOU’RE THE WORST).
The Script Competition winners from 2021 are as follows:
- Drama Feature Screenplay Award presented by Writers Guild of America, East: ATALANTA by Amanda Smith
- Comedy Feature Screenplay Award: OLIVER AND THE FIREFLY by Brandon Steiner
- Horror Feature Screenplay Award: CAULIFLOWER by Daniel Jackson
- Sci-Fi Feature Screenplay Award: MINIMUM COMFORTABLE DISTANCE by Steven Snell
- Drama Teleplay Pilot Award: BLACKJACK by Emily Kim
- Comedy Teleplay Pilot Award: CUDDLEBUG by Jenna-Marie Warnecke
- Drama Teleplay Spec Award: MINDHUNTER: SOMETIMES THE DRAGON WINS by Peter Lee
- Comedy Teleplay Spec Award: PEN15: BEST FRIENDS FOREVER by Hannah Rae Dillon
- Short Screenplay Award: THE GREAT WINGZINI by Shaun Radecki
- Playwriting Award: FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF A CANOE by Amy Dellagiarino
- Fiction Podcast Award: PEARLS & PIE WITH GRETA by Jake Hart and Rebecca Ann Johnson
- Digital Series Award: PLASMADROME by Kendra Viteri-Lynn and Phoebe Zimmerer
- Enderby Entertainment Award: WHIZ BANG by Joshua Sheehan
- AMC One-Hour Pilot Award: MEADERVILLE by Bryce Berkowitz
- Warner Bros. Television Pilot Award presented by WarnerMedia: A WHOLE PRODUCTION by Pam Hugi and Jen Diamond
- Rooster Teeth BIPOC Fellowship: HEART STRINGS by Jasper Chen
- Rooster Teeth Women & Animation Fellowship: GREEN-WOOD: AN ANIMATED SERIES by Rebecca Louise Miller
- Josephson Entertainment Fellowship: WERE By Carter Friend and LOST AND FOUND by Theresa Chiu
The Austin Film Festival ran from October 21 to October 28, 2021 offering film and conference programming both in-person and online. Next year’s Austin Film Festival and Writers Conference will be held from October 27 to November 3, 2022. For more information about the Austin Film Festival and its programming, please visit www.austinfilmfestival.com.
###
ABOUT AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL:
Austin Film Festival (AFF) is a non-profit organization dedicated to furthering the art, craft, and business of writers and filmmakers and recognizing their contributions to film, television, and new media. AFF champions the work of aspiring and established writers and filmmakers by providing unique cultural events and services, enhancing public awareness and participation, and encouraging dynamic and long-lasting community partnerships. AFF is supported in part by the City of Austin Economic Development Department, the Texas Commission on the Arts, Alice Kleberg Reynolds Foundation, and JP’s Peace Love and Happiness Foundation.