SXSW 2015 Awards: Kickstarter Funded film 'Krisha' Wins Grand Jury Prize
The SXSW Film Festival has announced its annual Grand Jury Prizes with "Krisha" winning the Narrative competition and "Peace Officer" winning for best documentary.
Directed by Trey Edward Shults, "Krisha" marks the director's first feature film and it is also a film based on the award-winning short film of the same title. "Krisha" was part of the competition slate, which was made up of 10 films.
"Krisha" tells the story of a woman who reunites with her family for a holiday gathering and sees it as an opportunity to fix her past mistakes, cook the family turkey, and prove to her loved ones that she has changed for the better.
The film follows a series of successful SXSW Grand Prize winners. Last year, "Fort Tilden" won the coveted award and went on to play at multiple film festivals including Raindance, Chicago International and Montclair.
In 2013, "Short Term 12" won the Grand Prize and quickly became one of the best reviewed films of the year. It was also nominated for Indie Spirit awards, won a Gotham award and was also nominated for the Critics' Choice Award for Best Actress.
In 2012, "Gimme the Loot" won the Grand Prize at SXSW and later went on to play at the Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain regard sidebar. It also played at the New Directors/New Films Festival and the Los Angeles Film Festival. The movie was also nominated for an Indie Spirit Award and was later released by IFC Films.
Other winner Narrative winners have included "Natural Selection," Lena Dunham's breakout film "Tiny Furniture" and "Made in China."
In the documentary category, Brad Barber's "Peace Officer" won the Documentary competition. The film tells the story of a former sheriff who stops at nothing to confront the SWAT team he founded. The documentary received its world premiere and was received with ecstatic praise.
The two big winners have yet to acquire distribution but if the films continue to play in the festival circuit they will most likely garner the attention of a distributor.
Other winners included "Creative Control" by director Benjamin Dickinson. The film won the Special Jury Recognition for Visual Excellence. Alex Sichel, Elizabeth Giamatti won the Special Jury Recognition for directing prize for their documentary "A Woman Like Me."
The SXSW Film festival is one of the most prestigious festivals in world and it has discovered a number of new filmmakers and storytellers.
The festival showed over 145 feature films from around the world and will continue Saturday March 21.
Complete list of winners:
Feature Film Jury Awards
NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION
Grand Jury Winner: "Krisha"- Director: Trey Edward Shults
Special Jury Recognition for Visual Excellence: "Creative Control"-Director: Benjamin Dickinson
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION
Grand Jury Winner: "Peace Officer"-Directors: Scott Christopherson, Brad Barber
Special Jury Recognition for Directing: "A Woman Like Me"-Directors: Alex Sichel, Elizabeth Giamatti
Special Jury Recognition for Editing: "Twinsters"-Directors: Samantha Futerman, Ryan Miyamoto
Short Film Jury Awards
NARRATIVE SHORTS
Winner: "Pink Grapefruit"-Director: Michael Mohan
Special Jury Recognition:"Share"-Director: Pippa Bianco
DOCUMENTARY SHORTS
Winner:"Boxeadora"-Director: Meg Smaker
MIDNIGHT SHORTS
Winner: "Kiss Kiss Fingerbang"-Director: Gillian Wallace Horvat
ANIMATED SHORTS
Winner: "World of Tomorrow"-Director: Don Hertzfeldt
Special Jury Recognition: "teeth"-Directors: Daniel Gray, Tom Brown
MUSIC VIDEOS
Winner: Paolo Nutini - "Iron Sky"- Director: Daniel Wolfe
Special Jury Recognition: DJ Snake featuring Lil' Jon - "Turn Down for What"-Director: DANIELS
TEXAS SHORTS
Winner:"The Samaritans"-Director: John Bryant
TEXAS HIGH SCHOOL SHORTS
Winner:"It's A Thing"-Directors: Meredith Morran, Sage McCommas
SXSW Film Design Awards
EXCELLENCE IN POSTER DESIGN
Winner: "Manson Family Vacation"-Designer: Yen Tan
Special Jury Recognition:"The Ecstasy of Wilko Johnson"-Designer: Jonny Halifax
EXCELLENCE IN TITLE DESIGN
Winner:"Manhattan"-Designer: Dan Gregoras for Imaginary Forces
Special Jury Recognition: "The Fitzroy"-Designers: Chris Tozer, Marko Anstice
SXSW Special Awards
SXSW Gamechanger Award-Winner: Yvonne Kerékgyártó, "Free Entry"
Louis Black "Lone Star" Award
Winner: "Western"-Directors: Bill Ross, Turner Ross
Karen Schmeer Film Editing Fellowship
Presented to: Anna Gustavi