Back together in person after two years of going virtual during the pandemic, the Austin-based SXSW Film Festival has announced its juried prizes. As in previous editions, the awards show happened at the midpoint of the nine-day event, before SXSW’s music events suck much of the attention away from film screenings.
The top prize in narrative feature competition went to “I Love My Dad,” written and directed by James Morosini, who also stars as a younger version of himself in this uncomfortable retelling of how he was catfished by his father (played by Patton Oswalt).
“Morosini displays massive empathy as a filmmaker to get into the mind of the father he feels betrayed by, and also as an actor portraying the impact of that betrayal,” said the jury, who also gave special jury prizes to the cast and crew of “It Is in Us All” and Elizaveta Yankovskaya, star of the Russian film “Nika.”
Best documentary feature honors went to director Rosa Ruth Boesten’s “Master of Light,” a portrait of once-incarcerated painter George Anthony Morton’s steps to rebuild his life after prison, which impressed its jury for its empathy as well.
“With astonishing intimacy, the film’s visuals build an artful bridge between two- and three-dimensional realms that are deeply rooted and utterly transcendent,” the jury explained. “Put this painting of a film in a museum, next to a Rembrandt and a Morton.”
SXSW audience award voting will continue through Monday morning, March 21, with popular winners to be announced that week.
See the complete list of winners below:
Feature Film Grand Jury Awards
NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION Presented by Panavision
Winner: “I Love My Dad” directed by James Morosini
Special Jury Recognition for Extraordinary Cinematic Vision: Cast and Crew, “It Is in Us All”
Special Jury Recognition for Breakthrough Performance: Elizaveta Yankovskaya, “Nika”
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION Presented by IMAX
Winner: “Master of Light” directed by Rosa Ruth Boesten
Special Jury Recognition for Exceptional Intimacy in Storytelling: “Bad Axe” directed by David Siev
Special Jury Recognition for Acting in a Documentary: Steve Glew, “Pez Outlaw”
Short Film Grand Jury Awards Presented by IMDbPro
NARRATIVE SHORTS
Winner: “All the Crows in the World” directed by Tang Yi
Special Jury Recognition for Directing and Community Filmmaking: “Glitter Ain’t Gold” directed by Christian Nolan Jones
Special Jury Recognition for Outstanding Performances: Aphrodite Armstrong, Kyle Riggs, “West by God”
DOCUMENTARY SHORTS
Winner: “Long Line of Ladies” directed by Rayka Zehtabchi, Shaandiin Tome
Special Jury Recognition for Visual Reflection: “not even for a moment do things stand still” directed by Jamie Meltzer
MIDNIGHT SHORTS
Winner: “Moshari” directed by Nuhash Humayun
Special Jury Recognition for Powerful “Short Trip”: “Omi” directed by Kelly Fyffe-Marshall
ANIMATED SHORTS
Winner: “Bestia” directed by Hugo Covarrubias
Special Jury Recognition for Unexpected Emotion: “Les Larmes de la Seine”
directed by Yanis Belaid, Eliott Benard
MUSIC VIDEOS
Winner: Desirée Dawson – “Meet Me at the Light” directed by Alexander Farah
Special Jury Recognition for How the Hell Did They Do That?!: Waze & Odyssey, George Michael, Mary J. Blige & Tommy Theo – “Always” — directed by Nelson de Castro
Special Jury Recognition for Going the Extra Mile: Myd – “Let You Speak” directed by Dan Carr
TEXAS SHORTS
Winner: “Folk Frontera” directed by Alejandra Vasquez, Sam Osborn
Special Jury Recognition for Vision: “Birds” directed by Katherine Propper
TEXAS HIGH SCHOOL SHORTS
Winner: “Honeybee” directed by Emilio Vazquez Reyes
Special Jury Recognition for Artistic Expression: “It’s Getting Bad Again” directed by Sarah Reyes
Episodic Pilot Competition
Winner: “Something Undone” directed by Nicole Dorsey
Special Jury Recognition for Unique Vision in Writing and Directing: “My Year of Dicks” from showrunner Pamela RibonBest
SXSW Film Design Awards Presented by Adobe
POSTER DESIGN COMPETITION
Winner: “More Than I Remember” designed by Yen Tan, Maya Edelman
Special Jury Recognition: “The Sentence of Michael Thompson” designed by Juan Miguel Marin
TITLE DESIGN COMPETITION:
Winner: “Foundation Title Sequence” designed by Ronnie Koff
Special Jury Recognition: “The White Lotus Title Sequence” designed by Katrina Crawford, Mark Bashore
XR Experience Competition
Winner: “On the Morning You Wake (To the End of the World)” directed by Dr. Jamaica Heolomeleikalani Osorio, Mike Brett, Steve Jamison, Pierre Zandrowicz, Arnaud Colinart
Special Jury Recognition for Immersive Storytelling: “(Hi)story of a Painting: The Light in the Shadow” directed by Quentin Darras, Gaëlle Mourre
SXSW Special Awards
Fandor New Voices Award: “What We Leave Behind” directed by Iliana Sosa
Adam Yauch Hörnblowér Award: “Chee$e” directed by Damian Marcano
Adobe Editing Award: “Everything Everywhere All At Once” edited by Paul Rogers
Louis Black “Lone Star” Award: “What We Leave Behind” directed by Iliana Sosa
ZEISS Cinematography Award: Gio Park, “A Vanishing Fog”
Mailchimp Support the Shorts Award: “The Voice Actress” directed by Anna J. Takayama