This year’s SXSW Film Festival received hundreds of submissions from individuals eager to showcase their talent and creativity, and after much deliberation by a select jury and the audience, nineteen films swaggered away with a giant belt buckle (literally) during the 2011 SXSW Film Awards on Tuesday, March 15.
The CEO of Ovation, Charles Segars, said a few introductory words at the start of the ceremony and then handed the microphone over to the film awards emcee, Owen Egerton. The following films and individuals were the award winners of various categories.
Short Film Jury Awards
Texas High School Shorts
Runner Up – Volition directed by Maqui Gaona
Runner Up – Eggs directed by Gabriel Lopez, Eric Ochoa
Best Animated – The History of Nikola Tesla directed by Jeremiah Warren
Winner – (__) (Blank) directed by Chad Warner
Texas Short
8 directed by Julie Gould, Daniel Laabs
Music Videos
Hollerado “Americanarama” directed by Greg Jardin
Animated Shorts
The Wonder Hospital directed by Beomsik Shimbe Shim
Documentary Shorts
Mothersbane directed by Jason Jakaitis
Narrative Shorts
Pioneer directed by David Lowery
Special Awards
SXSW Wholphin Awards
The Eagleman Stag directed by Mikey Please
SXSW Chicken and EGG Emergent Narrative Woman Director Award
Green directed by Sophia Takal
Louis Black/Lone Star Award
INCENDIARY: The Willingham Case directed by Steve Mims, Joe Bailey
SXSW Film Design Awards
Excellence in Poster Design
Jury Award: Green by Sophia Takal
Audience Award: Silver Bullets by Joe Swanberg
Excellence in Title Design
Jury Award: Blue Valentine by Jim Helton
Audience Award: Blue Valentine by Jim Helton
Feature Film Audience Awards
Spotlight Premieres
Becoming Santa directed by Jeff Myers
Emerging Visions
Weekend (UK) directed by Andrew Haigh
Documentary Feature
Kumare directed by Vikram Gandhi
Narrative Feature
Natural Selection directed by Robbie Pickering
Feature Film Jury Awards
Best Editing
Documentary: Where Soldiers Come From by Kyle Henry, Heather Courtney
Narrative: Natural Selection edited by Michelle Tesoro
Best Cinematography
Documentary: Dragonslayer directed by Eric Koretz
Narrative: A Year in Mooring by Elliot Davis
Best Score/Music
The City Dark with music by The Fisherman Three and Ben Fries
Best Screenplay
Natural Selection directed by Robbie Pickering
Breakthrough Performances
Evan Ross in 96 Minutes
Rachael Harris in Natural Selection
Matt O’ Leary in Natural Selection
Grand Jury Award
Documentary: Dragonslayer directed by Tristan Patterson
Narrative: Natural Selection directed by Robbie Pickering
Out of hundreds upon hundreds of initial submissions, volunteers screen and select a few hundred to be shown at the SXSW Film Festival. Simply to be screened within the theaters of downtown Austin and surrounding areas is an accomplishment in itself. Congratulations to all the winners and attendees of the 2011 SXSW Film Festival!