The 2018 Nashville Film Festival Announces 2018 Feature Award Winners

The 49th Annual NASHVILLE Film Festival concluded its 10-day festival of can't miss events with a sold-out screening of hillbilly. On Friday, May 18, the highly-anticipated announcement of the 2018 Feature Award Winners were announced. Winning films were selected from a jury from industry representatives from across the country.

Below are the winners in each category:

Feature Film Awards

Narrative Competition Grand Jury Prize - Romany Malco, Prison Logic

Documentary Competition Grand Jury Prize - Bing Liu, Minding the Gap

Belmont University New Directors Competition Grand Jury Prize - Jim Cummings, Thunder Road

Animation Compeition Grand Jury Prize - Benjamin Renner & Patrick Imbert, The Big Bad FOX and Other Tales

Music Films/Music City Grand Jury Prize - Scott Balcerek, Satan & Adam

Short Film Awards

Live Action Short - Grand Jury Prize - Cyril Aris, The President's Visit

US Narrative Short - Julio O. Ramos, Debris

International Narrative Short - Nicolas Boucart, Icarus

Animated Short - Grand Jury Prize - Trevor Jiminez, Weekends

Documentary Short - Grand Jury Prize - Gordon Quinn, '63 Boycott

Experimental Short - Grand Jury Prize - Douwe Dijkstra, Green Screen Gringo

Student Short - Grand Jury Prize - Maria Eriksson-Hecht, Schoolyard Blues

Young Filmmakers Short - Alex Alford & Zak Denley, The Hitchhiker's Guide to Suburbia

Episodic Awards

Short Form - The Passage

Long Form - Tammy's Tiny Tea Time - The Full Series

VR | 360

Grand Jury Prize - I Am a Man, created by Derek Ham

Honorable Mention - MicroGiants, created by Yifu Zhou

Graveyard Shift Awards

Graveyard Shift Grand Jury Prize for Feature Film - Mickey Reece, Mickey Reece's Alien

Graveyard Shift Grand Jury Prize for Short Film - Bo MaGuire, Socks on Fire: Uncle John and the COPPER Headed Water Rattlers

Graveyard Shift, Best Actress - Cate Jones, Mickey Reece's Alien

Graveyard Shift, Best Actor (tie) - C.J. Jones, Door in the Woods

Graveyard Shift, Best Actor (tie) - Jacob Ryan Snovel, Mickey Reece's Alien

Special Jury Prize for Imagination Philosophical and Scientific Rigor and Visual Inventiveness, Graveyard Shift - The LaPlace's Demon

Tennessee Awards

Tennessee First Grand Jury Prize Feature - Brett Hanover, Rukus

Tennessee First Grand Jury Prize Narrative Short - Hillary Bell, Hunter

Tennessee First Grand Jury Prize Documentary Short - Karen Bullis, Kathy Lee Heuston, Clarksville, 1937

Tennessee First Grand Jury Prize Student Short - Jason Luckett, Pilots

Song

Best Original Song - "Talk to Me," from Blindspotting. Written by Anthony Hamilton

Audience Awards

Narrative Competition - Prison Logic

Documentary Competition - Weed the People

New Directors Competition - Mountain Rest

Music Films/Music City Competition - If I Leave Here Tomorrow: A Film About Lynyrd Skynyrd (tie)

Music Films/Music City Competition - Stay Human (tie)

Special Presentations - Sammy Davis Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me

Spectrum - Into the Okavango

Graveyard Shift - The Odds

Tennessee First - Other Versions of You

Non-Cash Awards

Honorable Mention, Narrative Competition - Robert Machoian, Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck, When She Runs

Best Actor, Narrative Competition - Romany Malco, Prison Logic

Best Actress, Narrative Competition - Elise Van't Laar in Craving

Best Screenplay - Vivien Qu, Angels Wear White

Best Music - Carl Thiel, Prison Logic

Special Jury Prize for Breakout Performances by a Young Actress - Meijun Zhou & Vicky Chen in Angels Wear White

Honorable Mention, Documentary Competition - Laura Nix, Inventing Tomorrow

Special Jury Prize for Openly and Honestly Expressing Love at a Critical Time - Ron Yassen, Crossroads

Honorable Mention, New Directors Competition (tie) - Bierta Zeqiri, The Marriage

Honorable Mention, New Directors Competition (tie) - Takashi Doscher, Still

Honorable Mention, Music Films/Music City Competition - Stephen Kijack, If I Leave Here Tomorrow: A Film About Lynyrd Skynyrd

Honorable Mention, Graveyard Shift Competition - Christopher Kirkley, Zerzura

Honorable Mention, Best International Short - Estefania Cortés, Miss Wamba

Honorable Mention, Best U.S. Short - Carey Williams, Emergency

Honorable Mention, Best Animated Short - Florian Brauch, Kim Tailhades, Matthieu Pujol, Romain Thirion, Yohan Thireau, Hybrids

Special Jury Prize, Actor in a Narrative Short - Tom Doran, Time Traveller

Special Jury Prize, Actress in a Narrative Short - Shaquita Lopez, Audition

Special Jury Prize for Unique and Important Storytelling - Fabien Gorgeart, The Devil is in the Details

Honorable Mention, Documentary Short - Shelby Hadden, Tightly Wound

Honorable Mention, Documentary Short - Maris Curran, While I Yet Live

Honorable Mention, Experimental Short - Eve Duhame, Julian Vallée, Strangers

Honorable Mention, Best Graveyard Shift Short - John Boisen, Björn Fävremark, Paralys

Honorable Mention Colleg Student Short - Alireza Ghasemi, Lunch Time

Honorable Mention, Best Tennessee Narrative Short - Chad Cunningham, The Order

Special Jury Prize for Best Tennessee Animated Short - John McAmis, QWERTY

Special Jury Prize for Cinematography - Luca Caruso-Moro, Every Grain of Rice

Special Jury Prize for Music Films/Music City - Bathtubs Over Broadway

Sponsored Awards

VER Prize for Cinematography - Ashley Connor, Mountain Rest

Lipscomb University Prize of the Ecumenical Jury - Nicolo Donato, Across the Waters

ABOUT NASHVILLE FILM FESTIVAL

May 10-19, 2018, the NASHVILLE Film Festival celebrated its 49th annual event with 10 days of can't miss film premieres, red carpet events and informational panels featuring industry leaders. The Festival, which was voted one of "50 Film Festivals worth the entry fee" by MovieMaker Magazine, highlighted as One of the Best Film Festival Prizes by Film Festival Today and named by Brooks Institute as one of the top 5 film festivals in the U.S., presents the best in World Cinema, American indies, documentaries, and numerous short form programs by veteran masters, up-and-coming directors, and first-time filmmakers. With Oscar Award qualifying status and numerous well-attended shorts programs, the NASHVILLE Film Festival has screened many prize-winning narrative and animated shorts including 13 Assassins, (500) Days of Summer, Cyrus and Academy Award nominees, I Am Love, Ajami, and Dogtooth. Celebrity honorees and participants have included Oprah Winfrey, Susan Sarandon, William Shatner, William H. Macy, Al Gore, Nicole Kidman, Danny Glover, Vincent D'Onofrio and many more. Additional information on the festival and its 2018 schedule can be found at nashvillefilmfestival.org.