There may not have been a SXSW Film Festival this year due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus, but that did not stop awards. The 2020 Jury and Special Award winners of the 27th SXSW Film Festival, announced the winners of the film festival, which includes Chicago-based filmmaker Jiayan “Jenny” Shi’s documentary, Finding Yingying, distributed by Kartemquin.
“When we curated and announced our slate for the 2020 SXSW Film Festival, filled with an array of wonderful films we were excited to share with our unique audience, we had no idea of the unprecedented impact that Coronavirus would have on all our lives,” said Janet Pierson, Director of Film. “Our hearts were broken for all the filmmakers who invested so much time and talent in their work, hoping for a transformative experience at our event. We’re honored to at least be able to present our juried and special awards.”
ALSO READ: Kartemquin Films’ Quinn diagnosed with COVID-19
This year’s program comprised of 135 Features – including 99 World Premieres, 9 North American Premieres, 5 U.S. Premieres, and 75 films from first-time filmmakers – and 119 Shorts including 22 Music Videos, 12 Episodic Premieres, 7 Special Events, 14 Episodic Pilots in 2 curated programs, 30 Title Design Entries, and 27 Virtual Cinema Projects.
See all of the winners below:
2020 SXSW FILM FESTIVAL AWARDS
Feature Film Grand Jury Awards
Narrative Feature Competition
Winner: Shithouse
Director: Cooper Raiff
Special Jury Recognition for Directing: Topside
Directors: Celine Held, Logan George
Special Jury Recognition for Acting: Really Love
Director: Angel Kristi Williams
Actors: Kofi Siriboe, Yootha Wong-Loi-Sing
Documentary Feature Competition
Winner: An Elephant in the Room
Director: Katrine Philp
Special Jury Recognition for Achievement in Documentary Storytelling: The Donut King
Director: Alice Gu
Special Jury Recognition for Breakthrough Voice: Finding Yingying
Director: Jiayan “Jenny” Shi
Short Film Grand Jury Awards
Narrative Shorts
Winner: White Eye
Director: Tomer Shushan
Special Jury Recognition for Acting: Dirty
Director: Matthew Puccini
Actors: Morgan Sullivan, Manny Dunn
Special Jury Recognition: Darling
Director: Saim Sadiq
Special Jury Recognition: Single
Director: Ashley Eakin
Documentary Shorts
Winner: No Crying at the Dinner Table
Director: Carol Nguyen
Special Jury Recognition: Mizuko
Directors: Katelyn Rebelo, Kira Dane
Special Jury Recognition: Día de la Madre
Directors: Ashley Brandon, Dennis Höhne
Midnight Shorts
Winner: Regret
Director: Santiago Menghini
Special Jury Recognition: Laura Hasn’t Slept
Director: Parker Finn
Special Jury Recognition for Creature Design: Stucco
Directors: Janina Gavankar, Russo Schelling
Animated Shorts
Winner: Symbiosis
Director: Nadja Andrasev
Special Jury Recognition: No, I Don’t Want to Dance!
Director: Andrea Vinciguerra
Special Jury Recognition: The Shawl
Director: Sara Kiener
Music Videos
Winner: 070 Shake – ‘Nice to Have’
Director: Noah Lee
Special Jury Recognition for Animation: Mitski – ‘A Pearl’
Directors: Saad Moosajee, Art Camp
Special Jury Recognition for Direction: The Lumineers – ‘Gloria’
Director: Kevin Phillips
Texas Shorts
Winner: Just Hold On
Directors: Sam Davis, Rayka Zehtabchi
Special Jury Recognition: Coup d’etat Math
Director: Sai Selvarajan
Texas High School Shorts
Winner: Wish Upon a Snowman
Director: Miu Nakata
Special Jury Recognition for Narrative: Ultimatum
Director: Kai Hashimoto
Special Jury Recognition for Documentary: Unveiled
Director: Sofia Bajwa
Special Jury Recognition for Animation: The Orchard
Director: Zeke French
Episodic Pilot Competition
Winner: Embrace
Director: Jessica Sanders
Special Jury Recognition for Drama: Chemo Brain
Director: Kristian Håskjold
Special Jury Recognition for Comedy: Lusty Crest
Director: Kati Skelton
Film Design Awards
Excellence in Poster Design
Winner: Laura Hasn’t Slept
Designer: Olivier Courbet
Special Jury Recognition: The Donut King
Designers: Andrew Hem, Charlie Le
Excellence in Title Design
Winner: See
Designer: Karin Fong
Special Jury Recognition: Why We Hate
Designers: Allison Brownmoore, Anthony Brownmoore
Special Awards
Adam Yauch Hörnblowér Award
Winner: In & of Itself
Director: Frank Oz
Adobe Editing Award
Winner: You Cannot Kill David Arquette
Editors: Paul Rogers, Additional Editing by David Darg
Final Draft Screenwriters Award
Winner: Best Summer Ever
Screenwriters: Michael Parks Randa, Will Halby, Terra Mackintosh, Andrew Pilkington, Lauren Smitelli
Louis Black “Lone Star” Award
Winner: Miss Juneteenth
Director: Channing Godfrey Peoples
Special Jury Recognition for Performance: Bull
Director: Annie Silverstein
Actor: Rob Morgan
Special Jury Recognition for Documentary: Boys State
Directors: Amanda McBaine, Jesse Moss
Vimeo Staff Picks Award
Winner: Vert
Director: Kate Cox
ZEISS Cinematography Award
2020 SXSW Film Festival Announces Jury and Special AwardsWinner: Echoes of the Invisible
Director: Steve Elkins
2020 SXSW FILM FESTIVAL JURIES
- Narrative Feature Competition: Rebecca Keegan, Rodrigo Perez, Kim Yutani
- Documentary Feature Competition: Bilge Ebiri, Naomi Fry, Dino Ramos
- Narrative Shorts Program: Penelope Bartlett, Monica Castillo, Greta Fuentes
- Documentary Shorts: Marjon Javadi, Allison Willmore
- Animated Shorts: Katie Krentz, Hana Shimizu, Asalle Tanha
- Midnight Shorts: Jonathan Barkan, Derek Kinongo, Brittany Klesic
- Music Videos: Jason Baum, Chaka and Qi Dada
- Texas Shorts: Denise Hernandez, Jenny Jacobi, Martin C. Jones
- Texas High School Shorts: Jonathan Case, Jazmyne Moreno, Barton Weiss
- Episodic Pilots: Mitch Hurwitz, Emily Nussbaum, Shelby Stone
- Louis Black “Lone Star”: Kathy Blackwell, David Fear, Richard Whittaker
- Excellence in Title Design: Ryan Butterworth, Alex Johnson
- Excellence in Poster Design: Becky Cloonan, Barak Epstein, Kevin Tong
SOURCE: SXSW
