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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF
2017 HISCOX INSURANCE AUDIENCE AND COURAGE AWARDS, FILM COMPETITION, AND SCRIPT COMPETITION AWARDS
AUSTIN, Texas— November 7, 2017— Austin Film Festival (AFF), the premier Festival to recognize the writer’s contribution to film, is pleased to announce its 2017 Hiscox Audience and Courage Award Winners, Jury Film Competition Award winners, and the Script Competition winners. The 2018 Film and Script Competitions will officially open December 6, 2017.
After each Festival screening, audiences voted for the Hiscox Audience Awards, recognizing film favorites among the 2017 slate.
The following Hiscox Audience Award winners were selected by category:
Narrative Feature: Beauty Mark, written by Harris Doran
Documentary Feature (tie): Transformer, directed by Michael Del Monte
Documentary Feature (tie): Mr. Fish: Cartooning from the Deep End, directed by Pablo Bryant
Dark Matters Feature: The Landing, written by David Dodson and Mark Dodson
Comedy Vanguard Feature: Don’t Talk to Irene, written by Pat Mills
Narrative Short: So Much Yellow, written by Erica Milsom
Documentary Short: So Damn Glad, directed by Justin Lubke
Animated Short: Negative Space, written by Max Porter and Ru Kuwahata
Narrative Student Short: Towards the Sun, written by Elie Choufany and Monica Santis
Scripted Digital Series: Cleaner Daze, created by Tess Sweet and Daniel Gambelin
Marquee Feature: Mudbound, written by Dee Rees and Virgil Williams
Marquee Television: The Deuce (S1E08: “My Name is Ruby”), written by George Pelecanos and David Simon
One film was selected to receive the Hiscox Courage Award. Voted on by the audience, the Hiscox Courage Award is presented to the film that best embodies the virtue of courage and to the filmmaker who best embraced the risk to share the story. The 2017 Hiscox Courage Award went to Coming to My Senses, directed by Dominic Gill. Coming to My Senses is a documentary feature that follows Aaron Baker, a man who faces insurmountable odds and learns to walk again after breaking his neck in a motocross accident, leaving him paralyzed from the neck down.
The following Jury Award winners were selected by category:
Narrative Feature: In Blue, written by Jan Willem den Bok and Jaap van Heusden
Narrative Feature Honorable Mention: Boost, written by Darren Curtis
Documentary Feature in partnership with POV: Transformer, directed by Michael Del Monte
Comedy Vanguard Feature: Don’t Talk to Irene, written by Pat Mills
Dark Matters Feature: Freddy/Eddy, written by Tini Tüllman
Narrative Short presented by ShortsTV: Demon, written by Caleb Slain
Narrative Student Short: Towards the Sun, written by Elie Choufany and Monica Santis
Documentary Short: Los Comandos, directed by Joshua Bennett and Juliana Schatz-Preston
Animated Short: Second to None, written by Vincent Gallagher
Scripted Digital Series presented by Stage 13: Cleaner Daze, created by Tess Sweet and Daniel Gambelin
The following Script Competition winners were selected by category:
Drama Screenplay Award presented by the Writers Guild of America, East: Brokenhearted by Caroline Hopkins
Comedy Screenplay Award presented by Sony Pictures Animation: The Olympian by Troy Anthony Miller
Sci-Fi Screenplay Award presented by Skybound Entertainment: Every Horizon Beyond by Henry Tranton
Enderby Entertainment Award: Apacheria by Andrew Reuland & Joey Grossfield
Horror Screenplay Award: Family Photos by Chad Harris
AMC One-Hour Pilot Award: Breakfield by Caitlin Schneiderhan
Sitcom Pilot Award: The Big D by Jill Taylor
Short Screenplay Award: Ringneck by Michael Allcock
Scripted Digital Series Award presented by Stage 13: The Range by Adam Groff
One-Hour Spec Award: Black Mirror: Punchbag by Steven Snell
Sitcom Spec Award: You’re the Worst: Antiversary by Cara Brown
Playwriting Award underwritten by Sweetwood Creative: Signature Photo by Michael Bucklin
Fiction Podcast Award presented by Public Radio International: How to Build a Fire by Kat Sandler
The 2017 Producers Book & Print Source List is now available to download. This document contains loglines and contact information for the year’s top scripts in the Script Competition as well as the Print Source List of all films screened at the 24th Annual Austin Film Festival. The book can be downloaded here.
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. This project is supported in part by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Development Department and the Texas Commission on the Arts.
ABOUT HISCOX
Hiscox is a global specialist insurer, headquartered in Bermuda and listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE:HSX). Our ambition is to be a respected specialist insurer with a diverse portfolio by product and geography. We believe that building balance between catastrophe-exposed business and less volatile local specialty business gives us opportunities for profitable growth throughout the insurance cycle. It’s a long-standing strategy which in 2016 helped generate gross premiums written of £2,402.6 million and a record profit before tax of £354.5 million.
The Hiscox Group employs over 2,300 people in 13 countries, and has customers worldwide. Through the retail businesses in the UK, Europe and the US, we offer a range of specialist insurance for professionals and business customers as well as homeowners. Internationally traded, bigger ticket business and reinsurance is underwritten through Hiscox London Market and Hiscox Re and ILS.
Our values define our business, with a focus on people, quality, courage and excellence in execution. We pride ourselves on being true to our word and our award-winning claims service is testament to that. This information is neither intended nor should be construed to be a solicitation for the purchase of insurance by any US person or entity.
For further information, visit www.hiscox.com.