RiverRun Award Winners 2017
The theaters are closed, the projectors have been shut down, and RiverRun 2017 is a wrap. The festival closed out last night with a screening of James Gray's phenomenal new film, The Lost City of Z, but not before the winners of the 2017 jury awards were announced. I'm glad to see the love for The Ornithologist and Quest, which were my favorite films playing in competition at this year's festival. As always, the winners are an eclectic and diverse group of films, each unique and worthy it its own way. Next year will mark the 20th annual RiverRun Film Festival, but before we put 2017 to bed and look forward to next year's milestone, here is the complete list of this year's winners:
Best Narrative Feature Award AFTER LOVE / France / Belgium (Director: Joachim Lafosse) —
The Peter Brunette Award for Best Director – Narrative Feature was presented to: João Pedro Rodrigues, THE ORNITHOLOGIST / Portugal / France / Brazil
Outstanding Performance – Bérénice Bejo (AFTER LOVE)
Best Screenplay – Raja Amari (FOREIGN BODY)
Best Cinematography – Pablo Paniagua (DARK SKULL)
Visionary Award – DAYVEON / USA (Director: Amman Abbasi)
Human Rights Award – WINDOW HORSES / Canada (Director: Ann Marie Flemming)
RiverRun’s 2017 Narrative Features jurors included: Brian Belovarac, Clint Bowie, Lisa Lucas, and Epiphany Huffman.
DOCUMENTARY FEATURES COMPETITION
Best Documentary Feature: QUEST / USA (Director: Jonathan Olshefski)
Honorable Mentions — Documentary Features were presented to:
SACRED (Director: Thomas Lennon)
FOREVER PURE / UK / Israel / Russia (Director: Maya Zinshtein)
THE ISLANDS AND THE WHALES / UK / DENMARK (Director: Mike Day)
RiverRun’s 2017 Documentary Features Competition jurors included: Caroline Breder-Watts, Jason Gorber and Dolly Turner.
SHORTS COMPETITION
Best Documentary Short: WAITING FOR HASSANA / Nigeria (Director: Ifunanya Maduka)
Honorable Mention: SOURTOE: THE STORY OF THE SORRY CANNIBAL / Canada (Director: Daniel Roher)
Best Narrative Short was a tie and presented to:
APOLO81 / Spain (Director: Óscar Bernàcer)
WEG MET WILLEM / Netherlands (Director Willem Bosch)
Best Student Narrative Short: THE DAM / Australia / (Director: Brendon McDonall)
RiverRun’s 2017 Narrative Shorts jurors included: Gregory Von Hausch, James E. Duff, Summer Shelton and Andrew Mirmanesh.
Best Animated Short: LOVE / Hungary / France (Director: Réka Bucsi)
Best Student Animated Short: LETHE / UK (Director: Kat Michaelides)
RiverRun’s 2017 Animated Shorts jurors included: Jake Armstrong, Joy Buran and Noelle Melody.
AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARDS
Altered States - 11:55
Documentary - UNREST
Narrative - LITTLE WING
Best Overall Score (with a 4.97 out of 5.0) - PURPLE DREAMS
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| AFTER LOVE |
NARRATIVE FEATURES COMPETITION
Best Narrative Feature Award AFTER LOVE / France / Belgium (Director: Joachim Lafosse) —
The Peter Brunette Award for Best Director – Narrative Feature was presented to: João Pedro Rodrigues, THE ORNITHOLOGIST / Portugal / France / Brazil
Outstanding Performance – Bérénice Bejo (AFTER LOVE)
Best Screenplay – Raja Amari (FOREIGN BODY)
Best Cinematography – Pablo Paniagua (DARK SKULL)
Visionary Award – DAYVEON / USA (Director: Amman Abbasi)
Human Rights Award – WINDOW HORSES / Canada (Director: Ann Marie Flemming)
RiverRun’s 2017 Narrative Features jurors included: Brian Belovarac, Clint Bowie, Lisa Lucas, and Epiphany Huffman.
 |
| QUEST |
DOCUMENTARY FEATURES COMPETITION
Best Documentary Feature: QUEST / USA (Director: Jonathan Olshefski)
Honorable Mentions — Documentary Features were presented to:
SACRED (Director: Thomas Lennon)
FOREVER PURE / UK / Israel / Russia (Director: Maya Zinshtein)
THE ISLANDS AND THE WHALES / UK / DENMARK (Director: Mike Day)
RiverRun’s 2017 Documentary Features Competition jurors included: Caroline Breder-Watts, Jason Gorber and Dolly Turner.
 |
| WAITING FOR HASSANA |
SHORTS COMPETITION
Best Documentary Short: WAITING FOR HASSANA / Nigeria (Director: Ifunanya Maduka)
Honorable Mention: SOURTOE: THE STORY OF THE SORRY CANNIBAL / Canada (Director: Daniel Roher)
Best Narrative Short was a tie and presented to:
APOLO81 / Spain (Director: Óscar Bernàcer)
WEG MET WILLEM / Netherlands (Director Willem Bosch)
Best Student Narrative Short: THE DAM / Australia / (Director: Brendon McDonall)
RiverRun’s 2017 Narrative Shorts jurors included: Gregory Von Hausch, James E. Duff, Summer Shelton and Andrew Mirmanesh.
Best Animated Short: LOVE / Hungary / France (Director: Réka Bucsi)
Best Student Animated Short: LETHE / UK (Director: Kat Michaelides)
RiverRun’s 2017 Animated Shorts jurors included: Jake Armstrong, Joy Buran and Noelle Melody.
 |
| PURPLE DREAMS |
AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARDS
Altered States - 11:55
Documentary - UNREST
Narrative - LITTLE WING
Best Overall Score (with a 4.97 out of 5.0) - PURPLE DREAMS
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